Shrew Coffin with Mummy
Description
Object Label: Shrews and ichneumons both prey on snakes and therefore won the Egyptians’ admiration and worship. Though snakes could turn their powers to protecting kings and queens, serpents also threatened the sun god Re on his journey through the next world. Egyptian religion made room for both the positive and negative aspects of certain animals. The shrew mummy bundle shows that more than one animal was sometimes included in one package. Caption: Shrew Coffin with Mummy, 664–332 B.C.E.. Wood, pigment, animal remains, linen, 37.1362Ea Coffin: 3 1/4 × 2 5/8 × 6 3/4 in. (8.3 × 6.7 × 17.1 cm) 37.136Eb Panel: 1 3/8 × 1/4 × 6 1/8 in. (3.5 × 0.6 × 15.5 cm) 37.1362Ec (Mummy): 1 × 1 × 4 13/16 in. (2.6 × 2.6 × 12.3 cm) mount (display dims with door closed): 3 1/4 × 3 × 6 7/8 in. (8.3 × 7.6 × 17.5 cm) mount (display dims with door open): 3 1/4 × 3 × 8 1/2 in. (8.3 × 7.6 × 21. Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1362Ea-c. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (Gavin Ashworth, photographer))
AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano
Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
A small, rectangular wooden coffin painted in red and pale colors, with a dark animal-shaped element on top that likely represents a shrew.
The object appears as a low, rectangular container with squared ends, its exterior covered by worn paint. The top surface and sides show red/brown ground with lighter decorative areas and blocks of pigment, suggesting painted paneling or iconographic layout typical of animal coffins. On the upper side sits a dark, curled, elongated shape resembling an animal body (consistent with a shrew being mummified and placed in a coffin). No clearly legible hieroglyphs or inscriptions are visible in this image; the painted marks look abraded and are not confidently readable. The overall finish and pigments are consistent with a Late Period–style animal coffin, though fine details are indistinct due to wear.
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 37.1362Ea-c tier-2
- BKM-Object 117914 tier-2
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.