The culture of recycling has become more common in our world to serve a more important goal: preserving the environment and preventing pollution. However, it seems ancient Egyptians practiced recycling thousands of years ago, according to a study of an ancient coffin stored at the Bologna Archaeological Museum.
The new study managed to form a deep understanding of the coffin’s falcon-like wooden structure inspired by Montu, God of war in Ancient Egypt.
Published in the February issue of the Journal of Imaging, the study was carried out by an Italian team including researchers from different fields led by Fauzia Albertin from the department of physics and astronomy at the University of Bologna.
To get the information and data they need, the team used different tools including radiocarbon dating to analyze the wood, and X-ray computed tomography to examine the manufacturing details and identify the types of wood.
The radiocarbon dating revealed that the studied coffin dating to the 15th-16th dynasty in Ancient Egypt, was made using a wooden board from an older coffin that dates to the New Kingdom of Egypt ruled by the 18th-19th dynasty (1539-1186 BC).
Concentrated samples taken from the wooden structure helped the researchers identify two timbers. All the samples taken from the coffin planks were found to be of Ficus sycomorus. All the connecting elements, both dowels and tenons, were found to be of Tamarix.
The local fig tree (Ficus sycomorus) has been frequently found in the identification of wood used for Egyptian coffins, particularly for wide and long coffin planks. Fig tree wood is light and easy to work with, an important feature for the tools available in that period.
The CT scan of the coffin revealed many details about its construction. The coffin assembly began with the joining of the two planks of the floorboard. On this planking, the single large planks of the sides were placed. The side planks and floorboard were probably glued together and later joined with long, round dowels inserted in opposing holes made in the thickness of the wood.
The team then moved on to the construction of another planking, the front of the lid, which was then affixed to the single large planks of the sides with long round dowels, to give strength to the obtained parallelepiped structure. The parallelepiped structure obtained was then closed at the ends, adding the planking of the upper head wall, as well as the feet, pedestal, and foot board.
