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Golden mummies from Egypt with 3D jewelry

The gilded cartonnage outer decoration of the mummified body of a woman. From Hawara, c.AD 100.
© Julia Thorne, Manchester Museum
https://the-past.com/feature/going-for-gold-reconsidering-mummies-from-the-graeco-roman-period/
Lady Isaious, Hawara, 1st century. Manchester Museum
https://egyptmanchester.wordpress.com/2020/05/29/the-gilded-mummy-of-lady-isaious/

Lady Isaious, Hawara, 1st century
https://egyptmanchester.wordpress.com/2020/05/29/the-gilded-mummy-of-lady-isaious/

“The few mummies with gilded masks or strikingly life-like painted panel portraits were rarely identified by name. One particularly striking lady was labelled in Greek letters at the top of her gilded cartonnage mask. Initially interpreted as ‘Demetria, wife of Icaious’ this is more likely to be a patronymic: Isaious (or Isarous) daughter of Demetrios (Ἰσαι̣οῦς/Ἰσαρ̣οῦς Δημη[τρίου]).

Lady Isaious dates to the First Century CE, and exemplifies multicultural expectations for eternity among the elite of the Faiyum area of the Graeco-Roman Period. The upper part of the mummy is covered by an elaborately modelled mask; the resulting impression is of the idealised appearance of a Roman lady of high status. The deceased holds a wreath, wears an elaborate coiffure of lightly waved hair and tight corkscrew curls, and has a full face reminiscent of some Ptolemaic ideals. The rich jewellery comprises necklaces set with semi-precious stones and snake bracelets of the sort that harnessed the serpent’s protective power from more ancient contexts. While an obvious signifier of wealth, the use of gold left alludes to the concept of divine flesh being made of gold – and the act of gilding as being a means of protection.”

© Julia Thorne
https://museumcrush.org/manchester-golden-mummies-heralds-new-direction-for-egyptology-exhibitions/

Mummy cartonnage of a child, gilded, partly painted.
Made of linen and gesso, decorated with gold leaf, glass, faience. 1st century

The bust of a girl is gilded, only a few elements are painted.
Her eyes are inlaid with glass. She wears a tunic with two stripes painted black, an elaborate coiffure, and has a great deal of fine jewelry. She has two necklaces, one particularly striking, with three large oval stones that are made of black and green faience.
She wears also very big serpent bracelets, and armlets with red and black stones.
The hands of the deceased are crossed over her chest, in her right hand a person holds a garland of flowers painted in pink.

The entire cartonnage with the lower part wrapped in painted linen with depictions of Egyptian deities and rituals related to the passage to the afterlife.

Isis priestess

©Museo Egizio [Egyptian Museum, Turin, Italy] inv. no. S. 17134; 100-200 CE
https://collezioni.museoegizio.it
“This remarkable female mummy cover in gilded cartonnage with crystal eyes was donated to the Museum by the collector Garré. 
The woman has a Roman hairstyle half-covered by a veil, a fringed cloak (himation) knotted at her chest, snake-shaped bracelets and a necklace of pink flowers, all elements connected to the cult of Isis”
Golden girl [Isis knot], sarcophagus Hawara, 2nd C, Museum Cairo
[read more]
Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 69.35. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum) https://www.brooklynmuseum.org

Mummy Cartonnage of a Woman, 1st century C.E. Linen, gesso, gold leaf, glass, faience, 58.4 x 35.6 x 22.9 cm

“Mummy cartonnage of a woman with draped garment [Isis knot], elaborate coiffure, eyes inlaid with glass, necklace (formerly inlaid throughout) and garland. There are also serpent-armlets, in relief, on the upper arms and wrists. The front is mostly gilded, but wreath and top and sides of head are painted.”

Photo by Mary Harrsch https://www.flickr.com
© Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, University College London, UC28084
Gilded mummy cartonnage; woman, face and arms gilt, wreath of red flowers in right hand, double headed snake bracelet on both forearms, necklace and pectoral and earrings. Roman Period, Hawara (149CE-30BCE) height 50 cm width 40 cm.
Female stucco-shrouded portrait mummy (CG 33281) housed at the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, Cairo. © I. Badr [Decorated bodies]
Young female mummy (CG 33281). (© I. Badr)

Decorated bodies for eternal life: A multidisciplinary study of late Roman Period stucco-shrouded portrait mummies from Saqqara (Egypt)
Stephanie Zesch

Stucco-shrouded portrait mummies housed at the Dresden State Art Collections. (A) male mummy (Aeg 777); (B) female mummy (Aeg 778) (© Sculpture Collection, Dresden State Art Collections, photos: H.-P. Klut/E. Estel). [Decorated bodies]
(A) male (Aeg 777) with a so-called kantharos in his right hand and a garland or a folded wreath of blossoms in his left hand. Note also the Greek inscription below his right forearm; (B) female (Aeg 778) with a so-called lekythos in her right hand. (© Sculpture Collection, Dresden State Art Collections, photos: M. Gander/M. Loth).

Decorated bodies for eternal life: A multidisciplinary study of late Roman Period stucco-shrouded portrait mummies from Saqqara (Egypt)
Stephanie Zesch

The gilded cartonnage mummy mask for a man, holding a wreath and a book roll. From Hawara, 2nd century AD.
© Julia Thorne, Manchester Museum
https://the-past.com/feature/going-for-gold-reconsidering-mummies-from-the-graeco-roman-period/
  • Gilding Technique and Conservation of a Gilded Greco-Roman Cartonnage in Hurghada Museum
    Dr. Gehan Adel Mahmoud, Restoration Department, Faculty of Archaeology, Luxor University 2020.
Golden-Mummies-of-Egypt-book-2019Pobierz

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