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While completing examples of depictions of women wearing decorative belts [https://colorsandstones.eu] I found information about a portrait from Egypt, now in the Egyptian Museum in Turin (Inv. no. S 18177), which to my surprise is described as an image of a man.
Portrait comes probably from Antinoe and is dated to the 2nd – 3rd century. It is a part of the collection of
The depicted person wears gold earrings with pearls, a torc-type necklace, and a typically female belt. I think researchers are being misled by a hairstyle that looks short, like a contemporary boy’s hairstyle. We don not really know what hairstyle this person has, because the picture is incomplete, a lot of it is missing.

Pic. 2) Portrait of a young girl holding an ankh and wearing a sun symbol flanked by cobra heads, Egypt, late 3rd C, probably from Antinoopolis. ( Photo by Werner Forman >> Universal Images Group/Getty Images ) Moscow, the museum of the Church of Christ Saver

Very similar portrait from 3rd century Egypt is in Moscow, in the museum of the Church of Christ Saver (Pic. 2). It depicts of a young girl in a dalmatic, wearing pearl earrings, a necklace, and a belt with a big medallion. Looks like this girl has a very short haircut.

To compare a few examples of other female portraits from that time, which there is no doubt that they represent young women (Pic. 3-5). These women have their hair pulled back tight and in a bun.


  • Egyptian Museum in Turin Inv. no. S 18177 https://collezioni.museoegizio.it

    Nicola, Gian Luigi (a cura di), De gypso et coloribus: atti dei corsi estivi dell’Accademia Albertina (Aramengo d’Asti, 2001 e 2002), Torino 2002, pp. 206-7

    Parlasca, Klaus, Repertorio d’arte dell’Egitto Greco-Romano: Serie B: Vol II, Roma 1977, pp. 86-87
  • I RITRATTI DI MUMMIA DEL PERIODO GRECO-ROMANO DA ANTINOUPOLIS Alessandra Vinciguerra
    Rivista degli studi orientali. Nuova Serie, Vol. 85, Fasc. 1/4 (2012), pp. 553-581 https://www.jstor.org
  • Repertorio d’arte dell’Egitto greco-romano. Serie B; 2003; Achille Adriani, Klaus Parlasca, Hans G. Frenz
  • Погребальная пелена из Музея Храма Христа Спасителя в Москве, Фридманн Аполлинария Михайловна an article

    “Погребальная пелена из Музея Храма Христа Спасителя в Москве представляет собой поясное изображение девочки в двухцветной далматике с символом анх в правой руке. Пелена принадлежат так называемому антинопольскому типу, датируемому серединой — концом III вв. н.э. Известно более 20 подобных пелен, большая часть которых была найдена при раскопках некрополя Антинополя в 1896-1911 гг. Предварительное изучение свидетельствует о том, что московская пелена была изготовлена в Антинополе во второй половине III в. н.э.”
  • Mummy portraits: Investigating regional variations, Maryan Ragheb Sobhy Ragheb American University in Cairo
  • Jordan Alexis Dopp RECONTEXTUALIZING THE CHARLESTON MUMMY PORTRAIT an article