This gorgeous cartonnage mask reveals that the
traditional Egyptian arts continued to flourish
even under Roman rule. In fact, the Egyptian
style was reinvigorated with a healthy dose of
Roman classicism that elegantly merges with the
stylized traditions of Egypt. A broad band
behind the head is decorated with two scenes of
the four crouching sons of Horus holding ankhs
and wearing solar disks: jackal-headed
Duamutef, guardian of the stomach; hawk-
headed Qebsnuf, guardian of the intestines;
baboon-headed Hapi, guardian of the lungs and
human-headed Imsety, guardian of the liver. On
top is Horus standing on spindly legs with his
head left, represented with blue, white, and pink
body feathers and blue and white wings, holding
an ankh in each hand. The wig around the man's
face is painted with blue, pink, and white bands
of feathers with blue and white vertical stripes
below them that cover his forehead and the area
behind his ears. On either side below is a flower
and two bands of diagonal blue and white
stripes. Covering the chest are five rows of four
blue inverted triangles in a lined background;
chained dogs flank this section. What may have
been an uraeas cobra ornament originally
projecting from the man's forehead is now
broken off. The portrait of the man reveal the
Roman influence of heightened realism and
individualized features including black bushy
eyebrows, nicely rendered eyes with eye lashes, a
somewhat broad nose, and a slightly smiling
mouth. This mask alone tells us that
mummification continued into the Roman period,
where the production of elaborate ceremonial
funerary art continued with renewed vitality.
- (X.0030)
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