Anthropoid ceramic coffins of the Late Bronze Age Levant are coffins with human features that date from the 14th to 10th centuries BC. These coffins have been found at Deir el-Balah, Beth Shean, Lachish, Tell el-Far’ah, Sahab, and most recently in the Jezreel Valley in 2013.[Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, pg. 285] 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.[The Cemetery at Deir el-Balah, 1973, p. 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.[Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, p. 327]
History The anthropoid clay coffins are generally believed to have been a product of the First Dynasty in Egypt that were gradually disseminated to other regions and peoples.[Perry, W.J. "Sumer and Egypt." Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland: Vol. 29 (February 1929), 20.] They were one of several forms of burial practised by Sumerians at Ur and the Egyptians.[Perry, W.J. "Sumer and Egypt." Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland: Vol. 29 (February 1929), 30.] There is some disagreement about the social and economic associations of this form of burial among scholars.
Burial customs used by the Egyptians include inhumation, clay coffins, and tombs with stairways and vaulting. Clay coffins are often associated with the poorest graves in Egyptian society, though not always in Levant.[Perry, W.J. "Sumer and Egypt." Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland: Vol. 29 (February 1929), 29–30.]
In 1929 George Horsfield, Director of Antiquities for Transjordan, was alerted to the existence of a tomb near the city of Sahab. He notified W.F. Albright who personally visited the site. He describes the tomb as cistern-like and located on a hill [Albright 295]. He notes that the writing found here has no known identification, being dissimilar to both Semitic and Arabic.[Albright, W. F. "Clay Coffin from Sahab in Transjordan." American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Jul.–Sep.,1932), 296–297.] Albright describes his finds at this tomb as similar to findings at Beth-shan and Tell el-Far’ah, examined by Rowe and Petrie respectively.[Albright, W. F. "Clay Coffin from Sahab in Transjordan." American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Jul.–Sep.,1932), 298.] The objects found here are in stark contrast to those found at Canaanite tombs and are more closely associated with the Philistines.[Albright, W. F. "Clay Coffin from Sahab in Transjordan." American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep.,1932), 298-299.] Generally, the findings suggest a date between the 11th and 12th centuries for the creation of these tombs.[Albright, W. F. "Clay Coffin from Sahab in Transjordan." American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Jul.–Sep.,1932), 299–300.]
In Egypt, Petries discovered several burials near Tell Nebesheh in 1885. As a result of the pottery he located here, he described the tombs as Cypriote and suggested that they were from the 5th to 7th century B.C.[Albright, W. F. "Clay Coffin from Sahab in Transjordan." American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Jul.–Sep.,1932), 301.] At Tell el-Yahuidiyeh in 1888, Naville discovered several tumuli tombs. He described the pottery he found as Cypriote because he thought it was similar to Petrie's findings. However, it was actually Canaanite in origin.[Albright, W. F. "Clay Coffin from Sahab in Transjordan." American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Jul.–Sep.,1932), 303.] A scarab found at this site dates to the 11–12th century. Some have suggested that the Philistines influenced the development of these sites, however it is more likely that they are a result of Egyptian influence.[Albright, W. F. "Clay Coffin from Sahab in Transjordan." American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Jul.–Sep.,1932), 305-306.]
In 1973, Trude Dothan described recent findings at the cemetery of Deir el-Balah in Canaan. Items found here can be said to have arrived from a variety of sources. However, there is evidence of strong Egyptian influence on local items as well as items imported from Egypt.[Dothan, Trude. ‘’Excavations at the Cemetery of Deir el-Balah’’. Qedem, Monographs of the Institute of Archaeology: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1979. 134–135.] This is the earliest site of anthropoid coffins in Canaan. There is speculation about the source of the development of anthropoid coffins at this site, but Dothan believes that the source is more likely Egyptian than Philistine.[Dothan, Trude. ‘’Excavations at the Cemetery of Deir el-Balah’’. Qedem, Monographs of the Institute of Archaeology: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1979. 145.] Items here date from the 11-13th centuries.[Dothan, Trude. ‘’Excavations at the Cemetery of Deir el-Balah’’. Qedem, Monographs of the Institute of Archaeology: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1979. 135.]
Coffins
In a cemetery south of Deir el-Balah anthropoid coffins were found when locals were reclaiming sand dunes.[Dothan, Trude. ‘’Excavations at the Cemetery of Deir el-Balah’’. Qedem, Monographs of the Institute of Archaeology: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1979. 1] The coffins were found among a few simple burials and when unearthed appeared to be in pristine shape, however they were actually being held together by the sand that had filled the cracks and was supporting the frame of the coffin from external pressure.[Dothan, Trude. ‘’Excavations at the Cemetery of Deir el-Balah’’. Qedem, Monographs of the Institute of Archaeology: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1979. 3] In antiquity many coffins had fallen prey to grave robbers. These disturbed coffins, even though looted of their valuable objects, still hold a great deal of importance. Examining the coffins themselves proves to be of great value. In earlier times, at the end of the Predynastic Period and during the First Dynasty of Sumer and Egypt, clay coffins were imitations of ornamental wooden ones.[Perry, W.J. "Sumer and Egypt." Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland: Vol. 29 (February 1929), 28–33.] Although most commonly found in single graves, at Tell el-Yahudiyeh there were many coffins placed next to one another in rows. These coffins were painted and plain, painted coffins are not commonly mentioned.[Albright, W. F. "Clay Coffin from Sahab in Transjordan." American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Jul.–Sep.,1932), 295–306.]
Ceramics Local clay was used for the building of these coffins. Due to the large length, girth, and the weight it seems ideal for the construction to take place near the final burial place. Moving them long distances wouldn't have been feasible as the heavy clay would have been fragile. The material makeup of the clay has many impurities; rocks, sand, potsherds, and straw can be found in the shards.[Dothan, Trude. Excavations at the Cemetery of Deir el-Balah. Qedem, Monographs of the Institute of Archaeology: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1979. 99] The inconsistencies in the property of the clay would not have been detrimental to the coffin’s stability, it would in fact have helped the structure. Rocks, sand, grit, and broken shards in the clay would have allowed for less stress on the form while it was drying. This stronger clay would have made the surface require more smoothing attention.
Construction technique The coffins were coil built. This technique is done with large amounts of clay formed into coils and then layered upon one another with water or slip to act as a binder between layers. Large objects can be built in stages this way as a result of the lower sections being allowed to dry to support the continued additions of clay. Tapered at one or both ends.[Bloch-Smith, Elizabeth. "Life in Judah from the Perspective of the Dead." Near Eastern Archaeology, Vol. 65, No. 2, The Archaeology of the Death (Jun., 2002), 135.] There is evidence that the lids were cut out of the forms after the initial building, to be reworked and molded; this would have been done at the leather hard stage when the clay was firm but still mailable. The facial features tend to be formed by molding with the clay that is part of the formed lid, with lids of the grotesque style applying more clay to the surface.[Albright, W. F. "Clay Coffin from Sahab in Transjordan." American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep.,1932), 295–306.] Attention was paid most notably to the face lids, secondly to the exterior of the coffin, which was smoothed down and compressed back into itself. And lastly the interior was left rough and undefined with coils still notable. Some times handles can be found along the sides of the coffins, used for carrying as well as adapted and molded into representing the facial features on the lids.[Albright, W. F. "Clay Coffin from Sahab in Transjordan." American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Jul.-Sep.,1932), 295-306.] Handles seem to be one of the local variations of coffins; they are found in Transjordan and Beth-shan. The formations of the arms sculpted thinly along the edge of the lid are a conceptual representation and on a majority of the coffins they are not overly defined. There are instances of painted or scribed hieroglyphs on the exteriors of the coffins, though they are usually crudely rendered.
Completing and firing The lids of the coffins are more often in better shape then the main bodies. The coffins found in Tomb 116 at Deir el-Balah have lids that are nearly intact while the bodies of the coffins, being fragile, broke easily upon excavation.[Dothan, Trude. ‘’Excavations at the Cemetery of Deir el-Balah’’. Qedem, Monographs of the Institute of Archaeology: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1979. 30] The stability of the clay was determined by how it was treated and how it has been fired. More durable ceramic pieces had been fired to a higher temperature, allowing the clay to dehydrate and burn off all of the water that was mixed into it to create a malleable material to craft and mold. With the smaller face masks, where more time was devoted to sculpting, molding and carving the features, more care had been taken to ensure that they would last. "The coffins were fired in an open fire at a low temperature, which would account for the sometimes crumbly and mottled material."[Dothan, Trude. ‘’Excavations at the Cemetery of Deir el-Balah’’. Qedem, Monographs of the Institute of Archaeology: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1979. 90]
Face lids Face Lids fall into two categories, naturalistic or grotesque.
Naturalistic Naturalistic Coffin Lids have a clearly shown face.