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The Egyptian coffins project

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Melanie Pitkin reports on her visit to Cairo

19 Oct 2018

Between 9-18th October, I travelled to Egypt with the support of a Marlay Travel Grant to share the latest research for the Fitzwilliam Museum’s Egyptian Coffins Project and soft launch the project’s new online resource. Particular focus was placed on the findings of two coffin sets from the Museum’s collection - the 21st Dynasty yellow coffin set of Nespawershefyt and the 25th Dynasty coffin set of Pakepu, in order to highlight the types of discoveries that we have made by taking a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach to the study of ancient Egyptian coffins. That is, one that brings together advanced imaging techniques, such as Computed Tomography (CT) scanning and X-radiography, with a range of subject specialists, including Egyptologists, conservators, a pigment specialist, an expert in ancient woodworking techniques, an expert in historical painting techniques and a consultant radiologist.

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How to make an Egyptian coffin

10 Oct 2018

Our latest book, featuring the work of the Fitzwilliam Museum’s Egyptian coffins project, has just been published.

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Complex layered structures on Pakepu's inner coffin

10 Oct 2018

At the Second Vatican Coffin Conference in 2017, the Fitzwilliam Museum’s coffins project team presented a paper about a striking feature of the inner coffin of Pakepu.

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Soft launch of the Egyptian Coffins Project in Cairo

08 Oct 2018

From 9 to 18th October, Melanie Pitkin travelled to Egypt to give a series of talks about the Fitzwilliam Museum’s Egyptian coffins project and to ‘soft launch’ this online coffins resource. We were pleased to be able to share the results of our project with colleagues from Egypt, but we also wanted to test the new website, which will form the basis of our online publication of the Museum’s Egyptian coffin collection. Feedback from our colleagues enable us to improve the way we present information and to find out what further resources people are looking for.

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