Mummy with a Painted Mask Depicting a Woman Holding a Goblet

Mummy with a Painted Mask Depicting a Woman Holding a Goblet

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This mummified body still includes the original linen wrappings and belongs to a woman whose name is unknown. The wrapping and cover of her mummy are representative of customs prevalent at the time of the last burials according to the Egyptian tradition. The woman's wreathed head rests upon a gold pillow. Her white tunic has broad black clavi (stripes), and she wears a mantle with greenish black orbiculi (circular ornaments), ornaments popular from the late third century. Numerous burials from the Roman Period were found in the forecourts of the temple of King Mentuhotep II (ca. 2061-2010BCE). The king's temple was no longer in use but the nearby temple of Hatshepsut served as a sanctuary to the Greek god Asklepios and the Egyptian deified sages Imhotep and Amenhotep, son of Hapu. Pilgrims would sleep there to seek magical healing of ailments, and a burial nearby would be considered beneficial to the deceased.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Mummy with a Painted Mask Depicting a Woman Holding a GobletMummy with a Painted Mask Depicting a Woman Holding a GobletMummy with a Painted Mask Depicting a Woman Holding a GobletMummy with a Painted Mask Depicting a Woman Holding a GobletMummy with a Painted Mask Depicting a Woman Holding a Goblet

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.