Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (16.2004(2005))

NAQLUN

EGYPT

were simply cut in half and not even
stripped of bark. The same can be said of
the slats, struts and supports, all of which
appear to have been made of waste
branches cut to shape in the most general
fashion (without stripping the bark,
disregarding holes and cracks, etc). T. 383
is an excellent example of a coffin put
together from whatever the person
making it had within reach [Fig. 11}.
This brings me to another question: Were
all the coffins made by professional car-
penters? Coffin T. 383 is the best proof
that as in other matters, so in the case of
coffin-making there is always a wide
range to consider, from the expensive

containers ordered from professional
workshops by well-to-do relatives (if not
by the person himself in anticipation of
future needs) to the poor-man's box nailed
together in some backyard from whatever
the compassionate craftsman had on hand.
The forty coffins documented this year
illustrated the full range, from very fine
pieces made of well selected wood and re-
vealing sound joinery, through the average
production where quality wood was used,
joinery was on an average, generally ac-
ceptable level and with evidence of some
patching, and finally, the poorest pieces,
poorly constructed (but sound), made of
waste wood and, characteristically, of re-


Fig. 11. Poor quality and poor workmanship: example of coffin T. 383
(Photo I. Zych)

220