Zev Radovan

Typical anthropoid coffins like these six restored examples stood between 5 and 7 feet tall. Despite variations in their appearance, they were all made of clay from Deir el-Balah. Further, all of them were made using the so-called coil technique; the coffin makers rolled the clay into rope shapes, or coils, and then wound them into the desired coffin shape. The completed coffins were either cylindrical or had the suggestion of shoulders and a more traditional mummy shape. Some of the coffins have rows of small holes in them, probably for the drainage of body fluids.