The coffin and mummy board of Nespawershefyt (also known as Nes-Amun) dates from the Third Intermediate Period of Egypt, between 990-940 BC. It is decorated in the ‘yellow coffin’ style, with elaborate religious scenes and bands of text.

Nespawershefyt was Chief of Scribes, a high-ranking civil servant in the Temple of Amun Re at Karnak. He rose through the ranks during his lifetime, and his coffin was updated to reflect his changing responsibilities, with his titles as Supervisor of Craftsmen’s Workshops in Karnak and the Supervisor of Temple Scribes of Amun-Re being inscribed over the top of the old ones.

It was found in Thebes and donated to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge in 1822 by Barnard Hanbury and George Waddington. It is now on display in the museum and forms the centrepiece for their Egyptian funerary displays.

Fitzwilliam Museum Object Number: E.1.1822