Global InformationAnthropoid ceramic coffins information
The anthropoid ceramic coffins of the Late Bronze Age Levant are a unique burial practice that is a synthesis of Egyptian and Near Eastern ideologies. The coffins date from the 14th to 10th centuries BCE and have been found at Deir el-Balah, Beth Shean, Lachish, Tell el-Far’ah, Sahab, and most recently in the Jezreel Valley in 2013.[1] The coffins show Egyptian influence in the Ancient Near East and exhibit many Egyptian qualities in the depictions on the face masks on the lids. The lids can be separated into two artistic categories, the natural and grotesque, and the bodies are separated into type A, tapered from the shoulders, and type B, cylindrical.[2] The graves contain wealthy funerary offerings from a variety of origins from Cyprus, Mycenae, Egypt, Phoenicia, and Canaan. The graves appear to be originally reserved for Egyptian officials and then later became a part of Canaanite and Philistine culture.[3]
- ^ [Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, pg. 285]
- ^ [The Cemetery at Deir el-Balah, 1973, p. 2]
- ^ [Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, p. 327]