bavarikon4UDescription
This "mask" originally formed the head of a larger-than-life human coffin lid covered with a feather pattern. This form is characteristic for the epoch of the Second Intermediate Period (c. 1700-1550 B.C.) and is also known in a simpler version in the non-royal area. Above the wig is the feather pattern of the vulture bonnet, a headgear worn by queens. A sculpturally worked vulture's head is added above the forehead. The inside of the coffin mask is completely inscribed. A total of 30 lines of the inscription have been preserved. It contains texts from the Book of the Dead, a guide to the afterlife for the deceased. This is the oldest version of this text genre to date.
Within the Book of the Dead's texts, the title, name and descent of Satdjehuti, "Daughter of Thoth", are preserved with the epithet Satibu, she is called "King's Daughter and King's Sister, born of the King's Wife Teti-Scheri". She therefore belongs to the royal family of the Ahmosids, the 17th dynasty Theban royal family (around 1570 BC). The appreciation of the royal family's female members can be seen particularly clearly in their impressive coffins, which are superior to those of the male rulers in size and quality. While coffins usually show the deceased in a strongly idealising manner, this is an impressive portrait: the formation of the mouth with the semicircular notch above the chin is typical.