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3,000-Year-Old Egyptian Coffin Includes Drawing That Looks Just Like Marge Simpson

By Jessica Stewart on June 25, 2024

Egyptian coffin with painting that looks like Marge Simpson

Photo: Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities

Marge Simpson has been a pop culture icon since she first appeared on television screens in 1987. But from the looks of things, she might be older than you think. In 2023, archeologists in Egypt revealed several treasures that they'd unearthed, including a 3,000-year-old coffin. When experts opened the casket at a press conference, eagle-eyed viewers noticed a painting of a woman inside the coffin's cover that looked all too familiar.

With a tall blue coif, yellow skin, and a light green dress, the woman looked shockingly like The Simpsons' matriarch. In reality, she's actually the daughter of a high priest in El-Ashmunein, and her name is Tadi Ist. The sarcophagus was discovered in an ancient cemetery in Minya, an Egyptian city on the western bank of the Nile. The cemetery was filled with the tombs of high-ranking officials and priests, and the archeologists were able to excavate numerous treasures.

The cemetery dates back to the 20th Dynasty, the last to rule during Egypt's New Kingdom Period. Stretching from 1189 BCE to 1077 BCE, it was a period when the pharaohs lost enormous power to high priests. The Marge Simpson sarcophagus, while drawing much amusement from commenters on Reddit, is actually quite important.

The portrait of the high priestess is surrounded by 12 depictions of her in different positions. These are representations of the 12 hours, with officials from the Supreme Council of Antiquities stating, “It is a rare and important scene ever. Every scene of the hour has its shape.”

While the Marge Simpson sarcophagus is just one of over 25,000 artifacts found at the site, its discovery has been a fun way to merge popular culture and archeology.