The lid depicts the deceased wearing a striated,
tripartite wig together with a false beard. His
upper chest is ornamented with an elaborate and
very large broad collar, its terminals ending in
falcon-heads capped by sun discs. Below is a
seated, winged goddess, apparently not named,
but perhaps to be identified as Nut by virtue of
the sun disc worn as an attribute on her head.
Her image is flanked to the left and right by a
single wadjet, or sacred eye.
The panels of inscription arranged horizontally
across the field in which she sits contain the
name of the deceased, Irit-Her-iru, literally,
“May the eye of the god Horus be directed
against them.” The name connotes protection
and was doubtless given to the deceased in life
to protect him from harm.
The field in which the goddess tentatively
identified as Nut sits is flanked to the left and
right by somewhat damaged images of the
goddess Isis and her sister, Nephthys,
respectively; the identify of these goddesses is
assured both by the snippets of hieroglyphs
which preserve their names as well as by their
attributes.
The legs of the deceased are framed by
depictions of six mummiform deities, three to
each side, one on top of the other, and these two
vertical compositions end with the jackal Anubis
seated “atop his shrine.” In keeping with ancient
Egyptian conventions of orientation, the images
of Anubis have been rotated 180 degrees.
The front of the sarcophagus at the level of the
toes contains a frieze of ankh and was signs and
a single row of hieroglyphs which again contain
the name of the deceased.
The inscriptions on the sarcophagus in the three
fields to the far left are illegible, but the
hieroglyphs in the corresponding three fields to
the right are clear:
Top:
May he grant a good burial.
Middle:
The Osiris (=the deceased, named) Irit-Her-iru
Bottom:
[May he grant] offerings.
The orientation of the signs within the four
vertical columns of hieroglyphs presents an
interesting order which was probably due to
magical concerns.
The signs in the left most column may be
translated as:
A prayer recited by the god Imsety.
A prayer recited by the god Hapy.
A prayer recited by Horus foremost of…..
On behalf of the deceased named, Irit-Her-iru
Second column from the right continues in the
second column from the left:
A boon which the king gives to the god Osiris,
who is foremost of the Westerners, who is also
the great god, who is likewise the lord of
Abydos, that he might give a good burial in
addition to bread and beer, oxen and fowl, wine
and milk,
incense, alabaster and cloth, all things good and
pure together with offerings, good and pure, to
the Osiris (=the deceased, named) Irit-Her-
iru….who is the son of the mistress of the
house.
Rightmost column:
A prayer recited by Duamutef.
A prayer recited by Qebsenuef.
A prayer recited by…..
On behalf of the deceased named, Irit-Her-iru,
true of voice.
- (F.111A)
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