mummy human girl

Mummy of a female child in brown hempen swathings, one side coated in starch of rye, no appearance of boiling.

Early: -332 Late: -30 Period: Ptolemaic or Greek period

L(mummy): 880 mm

In Egypt from the Pre-Dynastic period in the 4th millenium BC until the 1st millenium AD it was normal for bodies to be mummified before burial, to accord with beliefs about the well-being of the deceased after death. The technique was developed from early desiccation and wrapping to more elaborate embalming procedures and removal of the viscera, accompanied by the development of coffins of decorated wood and, later, cartonnage. This is a mummy of a female child of about 9or 10 years. The body has been wrapped in brown hemp which are coated on one side with rye starch. An X-ray shows a payrus scroll had been placed on her chest. The mummy case is made of cartonnage, a moulded mixture of plaster and linen, and is in two pieces, a bottom and a lid. It has been elaborately gilded and painted in pink, green, red, brown and black. The bottom has a depiction of the god of the underworld, Osiris, who is regularly shown as a mummified king. The top is a realistic depiction of a miniature adult woman dressed in festal costume, with an elaborate headdress, made-up face, particularly the eyes, a coloured robe and exposed breasts. The mummy and its case date from the Ptolomaic period, the period of the Roman occupation of Egypt, about 50-150 AD.

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