PRIFYSGOL ABERTAWE,
SWANSEA UNIVERSITY.

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W1912 The Sycamore Tree Goddess

The scene of the sycamore goddess providing nourishment to the deceased is commonly placed at the foot end of 21^st Dynasty coffins (Billing 2002, 293), for example ÄS6265 from Wein (CAA 1994). Our coffin is thus no exception. While the roots of the idea of the tree goddess go back to the Pyramid Texts (Billing 2002), depictions were not common until the New Kingdom, the first example being in the tomb of Tuthmosis III.

On our coffin, the figure of the tree goddess with the Ma'at feather stands in front of the tree with an offering for the Musician (kneeling). The text to the right of the goddess states that she is Nut, though that to the left mentions Ma'at. Most 21st Dynasty coffins represent the tree goddess as Nut, though she may also be Isis, Hathor, Ma'at or simply 'The Lady of the West'. The syncretic nature of such goddesses is common in ancient Egypt. The ba bird of the musician is shown between the figures of the musician and the tree goddess. Such depictions of tree goddesses reviving the deceased are common from the 18th Dynasty and the Centre has another depiction of such a scene. 

Further reading

Billing, N. 2002. Nut The goddess of life in text and iconography. Uppsala