© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Peter Harholdt.

ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Mummy with Cartonnage Trappings

Place CreatedEgypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

Periodlate Ptolemaic Period

Date167-30 BCE

MediumHuman remains, linen, cartonnage, pigment, gilt

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

Dimensions67 x 10 x 17 5/16 in. (170.2 x 25.4 x 44 cm)

Object number1921.006

Label TextThe start of the Ptolemaic Period witnessed a change in both the form and decoration of funerary equipment. The production of decorated anthropoid coffins declined even as the wrapping and embellishment of mummies became more elaborate. The inner coffins and mummy boards found in previous periods were replaced by trappings made of cartonnage. Consisting of layers of linen soaked with an adhesive and thinly coated with plaster, cartonnage was an inexpensive, easily manufactured alternative to wood. Ptolemaic mummies were typically equipped with a helmet-style mask, a boot for the feet, and several panels along the body that were fastened to the shroud.

The mummy shown here, that of a middle-aged man, wears a mask with a gilded face, identifying him with the sun god. The chest is covered by one panel in the shape of a broad collar and another depicting a winged scarab and Nut, the goddess of the sky, who spreads her wings protectively across the body. The plaque atop the legs shows the mummy resting on a lion bed, with the goddesses Isis and Nephthys mourning at either end, just as they did for their brother Osiris, god of the dead. The foot case is adorned with figures of Anubis, the god of embalming, in the form of a reclining jackal. Rows of rearing cobras crowned with solar disks appear in the place of the toes.

A single column of text, a standard offering formula, runs the length of the leg panel and foot case. Unfortunately, the name of the deceased is not included. Cartonnage trappings were frequently fabricated quickly or even purchased ready-made, with carelessly executed texts that omit details such as the name of the individual.
Exhibition HistoryEmory on the Mall, Lenox Square, Atlanta, Georgia, April 21-28, 1969
A Preview of the Collections, Schatten Gallery, February 15 - April 4, 1982
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, May 11, 1993 - July 2000
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 2001 - Present
Published ReferencesEmory University Museum of Art and Archaeology, A Preview of the Collections (Atlanta: The Museum, 1982), 8.
Bonna Wescoat and Monique Seefried, "Emory University Museum of Art and Archaeology Reopens," Archaeology 38, no. 3 (1985): 60-63.
Cover of Atlanta Weekly, June 8, 1986.
Michael C. Carlos Museum Museum Handbook (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum 1996), 26.
Gay Robins, The Art of Ancient Egypt (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1997), 250.
Peter Lacovara, "The New Galleries of Egyptian and Near Eastern Art at the Michael C. Carlos Museum," Minerva: The International Review of Ancient Art and Archaeology (September/October 2001): 9-16.
Peter Lacovara and Betsy Teasley Trope, The Realm of Osiris (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum 2001), 57.
Peter Lacovara and Jasper Gaunt, "From Pharaohs to Emperors: Egyptian, Near Eastern & Classical Antiquities at Emory," Minerva: The International Review of Ancient Art and Archaeology (January/February 2006): 9-16.
Joel M. LeMon, "Through the Museum with the Bible," SBL Forum, May 2006.

ProvenanceAcquired for Emory University Museum by William Shelton (1875-1959), ca. 1920.

Status

On view

Collections