Artifact overview
Coffin Text No. 76 is an artifact ( Inscription) related to the mythological story named 'Egyptian Hermopolis.' The artifact's condition is Excellent and it is currently located at in , , catalogued as record number Coffin Text 76. The language of the text contained is Middle Egyptian (Egyptian Hieroglyphs writing system). Its estimated date is 2150—1650 BCE, which is a range based on available data and scholarship. The mythology associated with this artifact includes the Egyptian belief system and related deities: Atum.
About this artifact
Basic details
| Condition | Excellent |
| Date created | 2150—1650 BCE |
| Language | Middle Egyptian |
| Writing system | Egyptian Hieroglyphs (script) |
| Myth portion | Spell no. 76 |
Provenience
| Discovery | Hermopolis, Egypt |
Museum record data
Item specifications
| Museum No. | Coffin Text 76 |
Mythological contents
Egyptian Religion
The contents of this artifact may depict or reference the following myths and deities associated with this belief system.
Associated myths and deities
| Myths | Egyptian Hermopolis |
| Deities | Atum |
Coffin Text No. 76 is a spell contained within the Coffin Texts, an Egyptian funerary inscription (in ink) on ancient coffins. The text seems to translate the Hermopolis creation myth. The Coffin Texts do not come from one source directly, but are sourced from a number of different coffins that were recovered as artifacts. Different publications include different artifact sources.
de Buck and Gardiner (1938)
Adriaan de Buck and Alan Henderson Gardiner published artifact sketches in a 1938 publication by the Oriental Institute Press of the University of Chicago. [1]
Render
See a rendering of the artifact in images, text, and other form factors. Where available, a translation is included.
Digital scan
OMNIKA Reader
Good news. This original artifact is digitized and available in the OMNIKA Library.
Full Translation
Archaic Egyptian ⟶ English a
| Source a Lesko, "CT Spell No. 76 / Utterance 301," 94-95. More info launch |
All texts
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Mythological contents
This artifact contains mythological contents associated with Egyptian Religion. The main narrative mentioned may be Egyptian Hermopolis, a Creation myth. The deities depicted or mentioned in the artifact may be: Atum.
Parent belief system
- Egyptian Religion · Polytheistic
The religion of ancient Egypt represents a cultural identity that lasted from ca. 3500 BCE to 300 CE, and included hundreds of myths, deities, and customs.
Learn more
Associated myth
Egyptian Hermopolis Creation mythNuthsell
Before the world began, eight deities called the Ogdoad (sometimes the 'Ennead') were separated into four men and four women. They lived in primedal water and rose out of the water to create what we know as land, the sun, and everything else we inhabit on Earth.
Read more
Deities depicted
Artifact condition
The artifact named 'Coffin Text 76' is appraised as being in Excellent condition based on how much reliance is placed on other resources to make it complete and readable.
| Condition | Excellent | Just OK | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  | |
| Completeness | More than 80% | 50 - 80% | Less than 50% |
| Fragmentation | Minor | Moderate | Significant |
| Damage | Minor | Moderate | Significant |
| Legibility | Highly readable | Somewhat readable | Unintelligible |
What's a 'joined' artifact?
A joined artifact is one that was originally part of the other and was broken or fragmented at some point in time. Joins are common among clay tablets because they may get broken during discovery and transportation. The join is notated with the + sign. For example, if tablets A000 and Z999 are joined, we would express this relationship by grouping them as A000 + Z999 to indicate they are related.
If the fragments are owned, maintained, and cataloged by separate museums then classifying the join relationship is critical for accurate translations.
Cite this page
OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. "Coffin Text No. 76." OMNIKA – World Mythology Index, OMNIKA Foundation, 20 Nov. 2019, omnika.org/stable/327. Accessed 9 May. 2026.
OMNIKA (2019, November 20). Coffin Text No. 76. Retrieved from https://omnika.org/stable/327
OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. "Coffin Text No. 76." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created November 20, 2019. Accessed May 9, 2026. https://omnika.org/stable/327.
