Object class: Coffins / Collection place: Northern Africa / Accession number: Acc.72 - Hearst Museum Portal Search Results

Start Over Object class Coffins Collection place Northern Africa Accession number Acc.72

Hearst Museum object titled Sarcophagus lid, accession number 5-522, described as Stone sarcophagus lid of heavy gray stone; estimated weight: 7600 pounds; XXVI Dynasty. Inscription: "Head physician, chief of the Libyans, Psmtk (Psamtek/Psametik). According to Kea Johnston, "As for the Doctor himself, he was an overseer of an enclave of Libyan mercenaries as well as the Chief of Physicians. He had the wealth and proximity to the king to build himself a magnificent tomb in the form of a room-sized underground sarcophagus. Of his family, we know very little beyond their names. His mother was named Tagemiraset, and his father was Harsiese. He may also have been related to a lady named Setjairetbinet, whose intact burial was found in a side-room of his tomb." "Strangely, the Doctor was never buried in his tomb, and the basalt sarcophagus lid was left propped above its basin, waiting for his body to be deposited inside. Maspero (1900) thinks he might have died in the struggles with the Persians that ended the Dynasty.