About Facts Net

ABOUT FACTS NET
Ancient

*Can't Open A File? Click here for free viewers and audio players

Mummy Pictures
Photo Source: The Metropolitan Museum Of Art www.metmuseum.org

A strange custom developed in Egypt during the time of the Roman occupation. People would take pieces of wood and paint the portrait of the deceased on it for inclusion in the tomb. Some of these paintings are very realistic and quite well painted. I would imagine that the family of the deceased went to a professional artist and commissioned him to do the work. The Metropolitan Museum of Art had a show with several of these pictures on display. I thought you might be interested in these pictures for several reasons:

1. They depict people who were actually died in the Egyptian Roman period.
2. They are quite good.
3. They might reflect a religious belief of the time.

The photo above is very interesting. It shows that not only was the mummy picture included in the grave site but that it was actually inserted into the bandages of the mummy to appear where the original face would be.

The photo above is an enlargement of the same photo. It gives you a better idea about how carefully the mummy painting was inserted. It is quite realistic and is of almost photographic quality. Remember this is a person who actually lived and died at the time. The painting dates to about 100 AD.

This is a portrait of another woman. It dates back to roughly the same time period as the first painting. Notice that this picture is a little fuller. Both paintings depict the women in their best jewelry, and probably finest clothes.

Here is a painting of a man. It also shows more than just the head. This man wears no jewelry, perhaps he was not rich enough to afford any. He died about 150 AD.

This is a very realistic painting of a boy who died about 150 AD. His name is inscribed in Greek. It was Eutyches.

Here is one that they took a step further. It is a mummy mask of a woman made from painted plaster and cartonnage. It dates back to about 60 AD. This woman seems to have been quite well off, notice the abundance of gold jewelry. Whether she really owned all this jewelry or it was just added to the mask, we will never know.

The above mummy painting seems to be unusual because it depicts the entire person. As you can see it shows a woman in the standing position. The workmanship doesn't seem to be as good as the other paintings. Notice her left hand, it doesn't seem to have been drawn correctly.

This picture is believed to be that of a priest who died about 150 AD.

The last picture is that of a young girl that died about 150 AD. Notice how she is depicted, it sort of reminds you of an angel.

I don't know exactly why these beautiful depictions of people were placed in their tombs. I could guess and say that it had something to do with the after life, but if that were true than why weren't Egyptians doing this long before this period. Could it be that the pictures were placed there so that if the graves were ever discovered we would know what the mummy looked like in life? It was due to the influence of the Greeks and Romans that realistic type portraits were created. The Greeks and Romans prized realistic art and this must have influenced the Egyptians;.

Leave Your Comments On This Article