The Sarcophagus of Sha-Amun-em-su, a singer priestess of the Temple of Amun in Thebes, in ancient Egypt during the 8th century B.C.E.
This sarcophagus was a present offered by the Khedive of Egypt Ismail to the Emperor of Brazil D. Pedro II when he visited Egypt in 1876. D. Pedro II kept it standing upright in his study, near a window. When winds forced the window open one day, the coffin was hit by a window-catch, breaking part of its side. Its left side was then repaired; this feature was still visible today.
The feminine face was painted to resemble natural skin color. The blue wig is decorated with yellow vulture wings and yellow and red bands. The decoration was largely executed in dark green, red, and yellow on a white background. A ram-headed bird extends its wings across the lid as a sign of protection. Two uraei, one with the Crown of Upper Egypt and one with that of Lower Egypt, flank the talons and tail of the bird. Opposite each serpent stand two Sons of Horus. On the right is Imset, with a human head, and Hapy, with the head of a baboon. On the left, Duamutef (with the head of a jackal) and Qebehsenuf (with the head of a falcon) were destroyed in the storm and poorly restored. The two sides of the coffin are separated by the ankh sign, which stands for life. The style of the coffin is characteristic of the 8th or 9th centuries B.C.
The title of “Songstress of the Sanctuary of Amun” that Sha-Amun-em-su bears marks her out as a member of a special group that existed in Thebes during the 9th to 6th centuries B.C. These women assisted the God’s Wife of Amun during the rituals enacted in the great temple of Amun in Thebes.
The coffin of a singer priestess from Ancient Egypt is feared to have been destroying amid a huge fire that engulfed the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro. Mustafa Waziri, Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, expressed his deep regret over what happened, calling is “a great loss to humanity and historical heritage.”
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