Some remarks on the development of rishi coffins

The appearance of rishi coffins during the Seventeenth Dynasty does not mean a sudden break with the previous traditions, but rather it expresses an evolution that probably begins at the end of the Middle Kingdom/Thirteenth Dynasty. It seems erroneous to consider the origin of the anthropoid rishi coffins as an external (either foreign or local – i.e. the Theban tradition) cultural tradition overlapping to a pre-existing one. It is possible that the power vacuum, which existed after the end of the Middle Kingdom, and the following rise of the Seventeenth Dynasty in Thebes, could have caused the emerging of new cultural and artistic stimuli. The article analyses these inputs probably developed in Thebes over a long time at a lower level.