Cartonnage mummy case, Late Ptolemaic Dynasty to Early Roman Empire, c.50 BC-AD 50 (painted &...

This mummy case is made of cartonnage, a material similar to papier-mâché, but using layers of linen rather than paper. The face is modeled in plaster and gilded, with glass inlays. The body is painted with traditional, age-old funerary motifs: the god Osiris, seated and mummiform; the fetish of Abydos, holy city of Osiris, flanked by standing deities (Thoth and Shu); a Horus falcon with outspread wings, and the bark of Sokar. Below these are the sandaled feet of the deceased. On the sides are rows of seated deities. On the top of the head are a winged scarab beetle flanked by Anubis jackals. On the foot are painted the soles of the deceased’s sandals, flanked by scorpions for protection.