Ibis Coffin (Thoth)
Description
Object Label: This elaborate ancient gilded ibis coffin contains a simple ibis mummy. Most coffins of this type have bronze heads and feet. Scientific testing suggests that the silver fittings seen here are quite likely modern replacements for original bronze fittings. Caption: Ibis Coffin (Thoth), 305–30 B.C.E.. Wood, silver, gold leaf, gesso, rock crystal, pigment, 16 3/4 x 8 x 22 in. (42.5 x 20.3 x 55.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 49.48a-b. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (Gavin Ashworth, photographer)) Tags Brooklyn Icons
AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano
Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
A stylized ibis-shaped coffin or container with a silver-toned bird head and a gold-toned body, shown standing on a wooden base.
The object depicts a long-bodied ibis (or ibis-like bird) arranged horizontally on a separate base. The head is rendered in a metallic, silver-toned material with a long curved beak; small details around the eye suggest inlaid or painted ornamentation. The body is predominantly gold-toned, with visible surface wear and faint decorative traces along the length. The tail and wing areas are blackened or darkly outlined, and the lower portion transitions into darker bands. The bird is mounted on a rectangular wooden support with a visible edge, indicating it is a constructed sculpture/coffin element rather than a natural object. No legible inscriptions or clear hieroglyphic bands are visible in this image, and no Greek/Coptic/Arabic text is apparent.
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 49.48a-b tier-2
- BKM-Object 3532 tier-2
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.