Corner of a Bandage Inscribed with the Cartouche of Neferure

Corner of a Bandage Inscribed with the Cartouche of Neferure

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This fragment of linen is from a sheet that was used to wrap the mummy of Ramose, the father of Senenmut (36.3.252). The fringes had been torn off, but an ink inscription with a cartouche enclosing the name of Neferure, Hatshepsut's daughter, was preserved in one corner indicating that the sheet had at one time been used in the household of the princess. The sheet was of coarse, loosely woven fabric about 16 feet long (193 cm) and 53 inches wide (133 cm) and it showed much previous wear. Linen was a valuable commodity in ancient Egypt, and when it had served its function for the living, it was repurposed for use in mummification. A bandage on Ramose's mummy was also marked with the name of Neferure (36.3.149).

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Corner of a Bandage Inscribed with the Cartouche of NeferureCorner of a Bandage Inscribed with the Cartouche of NeferureCorner of a Bandage Inscribed with the Cartouche of NeferureCorner of a Bandage Inscribed with the Cartouche of NeferureCorner of a Bandage Inscribed with the Cartouche of Neferure

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.