The sarcophagus of Wereshnefer is a really interesting piece in the MET. Wereshnefer was a priest of the goddesses πΉππͺ Mut ππΏπ, Nephytys π ππ, Satis π΄ππππ and Neith ππππ and he lived during the 30th Dynasty to the early Ptolemaic Period. Despite being a priest πΉπ in Upper Egypt ππ ππ, his sarcophagus was found at Saqqara.
One of the interesting things about his very large coffin is that the funerary/religious texts that are engraved into the stone are from writings that predate Wereshnefer by about one thousand years! The lid (which is pictured) shows images and texts related to the sun’s journey through the sky πͺππ― during the day πππΊπ³, which in Egyptian religion, acts as a metaphor for the journey from death π ππ± to life πΉ that one would take while accompanying the sun π³πΊ.
What is so interesting about Wereshnefer’s sarcophagus is that it shows the Earth πΎπΎ as being round. This is the first evidence that scientists and historians have of the Earth πΎπΎ being depicted as a round object (as we know, most people thought that the Earth πΎπΎ was flat). Nut πππ―π, the goddess πΉπ of the sky πͺππ―, is seen arched over the rounded Earth πΎπΎ and is supported by Shu ππ ±π, the god πΉ of the atmosphere. At Nut’s πππ―π feet is Geb π ππ, the god πΉ of the Earth πΎπΎ. It is fascinating to me that the Egyptians πππππͺ would depict the Earth as being round!