Length: 91.000 cm
Width: 30.500 cm http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aes/m/mummy_of_a_child.aspx |
Mummy of a Child
From Hawara, Egypt
Roman Period, AD 40-55 · The mummy was discovered by Flinders Petrie, near the pyramid at Hawara in 1887 or 1888 · Gathered from Petrie’s notes, it is believed that this child’s mother mummy is now in the Cairo Museum · The mummy has been carefully wrapped, with a well illustrated portrait of the dead child drawn on the outside of the wrappings · Over the mummy there is cloth painted with many different scenes of the Egyptian religious tradition, e.g. the Nut goddess located at the top of the mummy · In the middle of the child’s mummy there is a circle which was meant have text, but was never written · CT scans of the mummy displays that the mummy did belonged to a child · A tumor has been found on one of the child’s leg bones |
What does this artefact tell us about Egyptian society? |
The Mummy of a Child tells us that the Egyptians valued the afterlife of the dead. Before the body was placed in the tomb it was cautiously wrapped in delicate cloth, with a well-drawn portrait of the dead on the outside of the cloth. Although there are portraits of the dead men, women or children there are often many different painted scenes to do with the Egyptian religious tradition, such as the Nut goddess located on the top of this mummy. After the body has been properly sealed in the tomb, the tomb would be decorated with prepossessing drawing; there will often be a section dedicated to text on the tomb.
The British Museum 2015, Mummy of a child, British Museum, London, accessed 7 May 2015, <http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aes/m/mummy_of_a_child.aspx>.
|