The angular, unpolished appearance of this coffin attests to the decline in quality of burial equipment during the later stages of Egyptian rule. The crude, unsophisticated decoration of this piece suggests that it was produced by a provincial artisan, rather than a high-status atelier.
The Goddess of the West appears on the bottom of the base, identified by the falcon standard upon her head, which represents the hieroglyph meaning "west." The Egyptian associated the West, where the sun sets each evening, with the entrance to the underworld. The goddess guarded the necropolis and the dead during the dangerous transition to the afterlife.
