Throughout the Bronze Age, Egyptian
culture
strongly influenced the peoples of
ancient
Palestine, including the Philistines.
Among
the
many customs borrowed from Egypt was the
tradition of burying deceased
individuals of
high
rank in coffins modeled after the human
form.
Most probably, those interred in this
fashion
were Philistine aristocrats who emulated
Egyptian ways, though it is possible
that
they
might have been provincial officials of
the
Egyptian kingdom. This rare and
magnificent
terracotta mask, a fragment of a full-
sized
casket, depicts the face of man who
stares
back
at us from beyond the grave. Although
his
features reveal the influence of
Egyptian
mummy
cases, the high headdress suggests that
this
coffin is of Philistine origin. The
modeling
and
painting are lively and quick, a local
variation
of
the more refined Egyptian style. This
bold
expressionism gives the fragment a vital
presence. Though the portrait is hardly
an
accurate one, it conveys the energy of a
real
human life, an energy still felt
thousand of
years
later.
- (X.0384)
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