The coffin, found in the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel during work to install a gas pipeline, was part of a burial site dating back to the 13th century BC.
The 3,300-year-old cylindrical clay sarcophagus featured a rare anthropoidal lid - a cover in the shape of a person.
It was surrounded by "a variety of pottery consisting mainly of storage vessels for food, tableware, cultic vessels and animal bones," according to a statement by Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).
"Since the vessels interred with the individual were produced locally, we assume the deceased was an official of Canaanite origin who was engaged in the service of the Egyptian government," researchers said.
Another, less likely possibility is that the coffin belonged to a wealthy local individual who imitated Egyptian funerary customs.
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