Research Paper on:
Artwork of Egypt's Rishi Coffins

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
the afterlife. This can be seen in how the ancient Egyptians focused on funeral art, and, in particular, the ways in which the coffin would convey the deceased to the  afterlife. A common feature of coffin art, especially from the Middle Kingdom, was to include stylized divine wings that wrapped around the deceased (Anonymous, 2001). This symbolized that the  deceased was blessed with divine protection in the afterlife (Anonymous, 2001). The concept of protective wings that surround the body is one that is common through the history of dynastic  Egypt. Typically the wings were either across the chest or wrapped around the coffin from the sides. A later development was the Rishi or "feathered coffin" which occurred during the  Second Intermediate Period between the Middle and New Kingdoms (Anonymous, 2001). The term rishi comes from the Arabic term for "feathered" and  is used to describe the mummiform coffins form (Lacovara, 1990). These coffins display elaborate designs of either scales or feathers, which are arranged so that they form a cloak that  frames the body (Lacovara, 1990). Many of the designs on the coffins of this turbulent era were royal motifs that were appropriated by private individuals. Therefore, the symbol of the  vulture and the cobra frequently are found on both royal and private mummiform coffins from this period. This era of transition marks a shift from the naturalistic rendering of  these animals in the Middle Kingdom to the more stylized versions of the New Kingdom. (Lacovara, 1990). Also during this transitional period, there was clearly a good deal of fluctuation  in both the proportion of the heads relative to the bodies and the type of feather pattern on the wings. Some coffins have truly outlandish pectorals with absurdly large heads