The Egyptian Sarcophagus of an Ancient Diva

3D Model

This sarcophagus contains the body of the “Songstress of Thebes” or as like to call her, the Beyonce of ancient Egypt. Songstresses were said to commune with the gods through their music, so it is difficult (even in our rock idolizing culture) to understand the importance associated with music in ancient Egypt. This is from the Third Intermediate Period or some time between 945–712 B.C. The sarcophagus was part of the Robert Hay collection. Robert Hay was a 19th century Egyptologist and antiquarian that worked in the “Valley of the Kings” for more than eight years. Upon his death in 1863 Robert Hay’s work, containing antiquities, casts, drawings, watercolors, and artifacts, were sold to the British Museum, with some works (this one) being purchased by the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston. To learn more about Egyptian deities, symbols, and the life of Robert Hay, check out the annotations.

This is part of the Specterras Digital Repatriation Project.