The cartonnage

Cartonnage body case of the priest Duaneteref

Cartonnage and paint
Twenty-Second Dynasty, c. 945-715 BC
Illahun, Dyke Ridge Cemetery
Bolton Museum 1892.7.2b.

Excavated by Flinders Petrie in 1888, given to Bolton Museum by Annie and John Barlow

Duaneteref’s body case is made from cartonnage, a mixture of mud-plaster and linen which could be moulded to shape around a mud or wood form. The mummified body was inserted in the back of the case, which was then sewn shut and painted.

Although cartonnage coffins were cheaper to produce than wooden ones, price was not the main criterion for the sudden popularity of cartonnage in the 22nd Dynasty; the kings of the period were buried in cartonnage cases with elaborate gilded decoration.

Like the wooden outer coffin, the decoration on the cartonnage provides Duaneteref with magical protection and shows him as a successfully transformed ‘Osiris’, united with the god of the underworld.

Duaneteref’s blue wig recalls representations of the gods, while the crossed red ‘mummy braces’ over the large floral collar are first seen in depictions of Osiris. Below this, a ram-headed falcon, symbol of the rising sun and thus the reborn deceased, spreads its wings protectively over his body.

Anubis, the god of mummification and burial, is shown in the form of a black jackal sitting above a column of inscription naming Duaneteref. This is flanked by two winged falcons. Below this are two mummiform deities and two tyet amulets, representing loops of cloth and conferring the protection of the goddess Isis, sister and wife of Osiris. Two winged Eyes of Horus guard the mummy’s feet.

Duaneteref’s coffin and cartonnage protected his body and soul for almost three thousand years, but in the end they proved no match for Petrie’s shovel. Petrie stated that a mummy of this period “is usually black dust and bones”, and Duaneteref’s body was re-buried in Egypt while his funerary equipment was sent to England