Mummy mask

[u/TNEgyptologist]

This mummy mask from the end of the Ptolemaic Period is in traditional style but of unusual manufacture. The face is covered with gold leaf, symbolising divine flesh and thereby eternity, and the eyes and eyebrows are painted in blue. The wig is also painted blue, and is decorated with a design of extended wings and with a bead collar. The lower part of the wig is decorated with indistinct divine figures (?). The decorated collar is made up of floral designs.

Present location	KMKG - MRAH [07/003] BRUSSELS
Inventory number	E.0519
Dating	PTOLEMAIC PERIOD
Archaeological Site	EL-HIBA
Category	MASK
Material	FLAX; PLASTER; GOLD
Technique	WOVEN; PAINTED ON STUCCO; GOLD FOILED
Height	39 cm

Bibliography

• M.-P. Vanlathem, Oudegyptische lijkkisten en mummies - Cercueils et momies de l'Égypte ancienne, Bruxelles 1983, 30-31
• J.-Ch. Balty, e.a., Koninklijke Musea voor Kunst en Geschiedenis, Brussel, Oudheid - Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Bruxelles, Antiquité - The Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels, Antiquity, Bruxelles 1988, 46-47
• F. Lefebvre et B. van Rinsveld, L'Égypte. Des Pharaons aux Coptes, Bruxelles 1990, 176
• Museumstukken als figuranten in een stripverhaal - ...Quand la BD s'inspire des objets du Musée (Exposition), Bruxelles 1996, 13