Falcon-form case containing a corn mummy 332–30 B.C.

This falcon-headed coffin does not contain an actual mummy but a symbolic Osiris mummy stuffed with grain and sand. The falcon head on the coffin and the hieroglyphic text on the painted lid indicates it is associated with the funerary deity Ptah-Sokar-Osiris.

Such coffins and 'mummies' were prepared and buried in annual rites at certain centres as part of the mysteries of Osiris. Subsequent germination of the grain would symbolize the possibility of new life offered by Osiris.

This particular example is of a type associated with the site of Tuna el-Gebel.

This particular example is of a type associated with the site of Tuna el-Gebel.