Upper Part of an Anthropoid Coffin

Plastered and painted wood. Middle Kingdom or later. Possibly Dynasty 12, 1991-1782 B.C. This coffin fragment demonstrates the role tradition and continuity played in Egyptian culture; is it 4,000 years old, or 2,600 years old? Anthropoid coffins are first encountered in the Middle Kingdom. They have plain white bodies, big eyes, large collars, and black or green faces, and were intended to make the dead person look like Osiris, god of the dead. Coffins in the New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period became more elaborately painted and colored, but the Late Period sees a revival of interest in older customs. Some Late Period coffins also have plain white bodies, green faces, and beaded collars. How should this piece be dates? It’s hard to be sure, short of destructive sampling and testing, but we feel the present balance of evidence makes it a Middle Kingdom original, rather than a later piece inspired by the past.