Rishi coffin ca. 1580-1479 B.C. Second Intermediate Period-Early New Kingdom Discovered in a rock-cut chamber built off the courtyard of a large Middle Kingdom tomb, this is an example of a rishi coffin, identified as such by the feather pattern painted on the lid. Such coffins appear first in the late Middle Kingdom, and are characteristic of late Dynasty 17 and early Dynasty 18, especially at Thebes. A royal nemes headdress, painted in reds and greens with black detailing, frames the triangular, crudely modeled and painted face. On the top of the head is a vulture. This usurpation of royal iconography is seen in a number of contexts in the Middle Kingdom and later, and seems to be related to the identification of the deceased with Osiris, king of the dead, and with mortuary rituals. The mummy-like form, which had only recently become common in the late Middle Kingdom, also links this type to mummification. Around the neck of the deceased is a broad festival collar with falcon-head te