Dr. Campbell Price investigates a striking New Kingdom mummy mask in the third in his series featuring key items from the collection of the Manchester Museum.
This unusual mummy mask (Accession no. 7931)came to the Manchester Museum from the collection of local architect William Sharp Ogden in 1925, and reputedly derives from the Luxor area. At some point after its arrival in the Museum the mask was subject to modern restoration for display.
The mask is made from cartonnage, a material resembling papier-mâché, made from layers of linen and plaster. It has been painted and the face has been covered in a fine layer of gold. Cartonnage was used for mummy masks from the Middle Kingdom onwards, but became a very popular material for entire coffins by the Third Intermediate Period. The addition of gold leaf, for those who could afford it, emphasised a connection between the deceased and the gods – whose flesh was believed to be of untarnishable gold. The face is not a portrait but a generic image of the deceased; recognition of the deceased by its wandering ba-spirit was by means of an inscribed name.
This story is from the Issue 100 edition of Ancient Egypt.
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This story is from the Issue 100 edition of Ancient Egypt.
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