Funerary Mask of Estate Manager Wah

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In keeping with his important position as the estate manager of a wealthy nobleman, Wah's body had been carefully mummified and wrapped in hundreds of yards of linen. Within the wrappings were standard pieces of funerary jewelry (40.3.1), an array of personal jewelry (40.3.16), and three exceptional scarab bracelets (40.3.12, 40.3.13, 40.3.14). Wah was also provided with this mummy mask, its face covered with gold foil. The rather pinched features are neither masculine nor feminine, the gender of the owner being indicated by a mustache and a full beard, which has been enhanced with a thin piece of wood jutting down from the chin. The natural hairline, including short sideburns, is visible along the forehead beneath the striped headcloth. The chest of the mask has been painted with a broad collar made of tubular beads. The colors of the mask, in particular the gold skin and blue hair, are reminiscent of the Egyptian idea that the skin of the gods was gold and the hair was of lapis lazuli.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.

Metropolitan Museum of Art