Coffins :-

Prehistoric Egyptians were buried without coffins in simple pits dug in the ground, which at times brought about a natural mummification of the body, though it may be doubted that this kind of preservation had any influence on the development of their embalming techniques. In the late fourth millennium some corpses were wrapped in mats, from the Old Kingdom on upper class Egyptians began to be buried in coffins made of basketry, wood, clay or even stone, referred to as sarcophagi, which housed the ka in the ever developing tombs the rich constructed. Towards the end of the Old Kingdom the coffins were decorated with food offerings, and during the Middle Kingdom they were inscribed with spells ^[12] and maps of the beyond were painted on them for the deceased to make use of. The coffin texts were replaced by the Books of Dead written on papyrus scrolls, but from the late New Kingdom on the inside of coffins was often decorated again and during the Late Period they were inscribed with excerpts from the Book of the Dead.
The form of the coffins changed significantly over the centuries. At first the deceased were buried in a foetal or flexed position and the coffins were accordingly rather short and vaulted. By the 4th dynasty the corpses were stretched out flat on their backs and the coffins became longer and somewhat flatter, The 12th dynasty saw the coffins taking on the shape of a mummy.^[12] At times a number of coffins were put inside each other. Tutankhamen for instance was protected by three coffins. The outer sarcophagus had a relief of the recumbent king as Osiris carved into it, the one in the middle made of wood decorated with gold and semi-precious stones was mummiform as was the inner coffin made of solid gold.

Lid of slipper coffin
Courtesy Simon Hayter ^[1]

    Most Egyptians could not afford burials with expensive stone sarcophagi or even just decorated wooden coffins and continued to inter their loved ones in simple pits often without any coffins at all and few of these poorest of burials have left traces, or in coffins made of cheap materials, which, if they were organic, would generally decay and disappear together with the body. But if clay was used chances were they would survive millennia. Such were the slipper coffins, large ceramic receptacles made on potters' wheels, into which the corpse was slid and which were then sealed with a lid. They were customary in Canaan when the Egyptians had outposts there in the Late Bronze Age, and were adopted by some as fashion of burial ^[13] and still used as late as Roman times.^[14]
    But even such specially made earthenware pots were beyond the means of many, and dead babies for instance were at times placed in old terracotta jars whose mouths had been enlarged by breaking off pieces of the lip, and which were then sealed with mud.^[15]

Ptolemaic coffin frame made of ribs of palm leaves
(Loat 1904, Plate XVIII)

Mats were at times used to wrap the corpse ^[16], a fragile coffin was constructed of ribs of palm leaves or the deceased might be buried in a basket.^[17] Often an attempt was made to decorate these coffins. The Ptolemaic palm leave coffin mentioned had been painted green and pink, and figures of protective deities were at times painted on pottery coffins.^[

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