© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Michael McKelvey.

ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Mirror

Place FoundEgypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodNew Kingdom

Date1539-1077 BCE

MediumBronze, wood

Credit LineCollected by William A. Shelton, funded by John A. Manget

Dimensions10 1/2 x 5 3/16 in. (26.7 x 13.2 cm)

Object number1921.041

Label TextIn addition to their practical function, mirrors had a religious and funerary significance for the ancient Egyptians. The reflecting portion, made of metal and highly polished, was equated with the sun disk, the outward manifestation of the sun god Ra. Mirrors were also closely associated with the goddess Hathor, associated with sexuality, fertility, and birth, who was depicted with a sun disk on her head. The recurring cycle of the sun's setting in the west at night and rising in the east the next day gave the ancient Egyptians the hope of life after death. Hathor was believed to aid the rebirth of the deceased into the next life, just as she presided over birth into this life. The symbolism of mirrors, therefore, made them an ideal item of burial equipment and explains why they were so frequently placed in tombs and depicted in funerary scenes.
Exhibition HistoryA Preview of the Collections, Schatten Gallery, February 15 - April 4, 1982
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, May 11, 1993 - Spring 1998
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, October 6, 2001 - September 9, 2022
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, September 19, 2022 - Present
Published ReferencesPeter Lacovara and Betsy Teasley Trope, The Realm of Osiris (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum 2001), 28.

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