Ibis Egg Mummy
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
The CT scan reproduced here shows that this egg-shaped wrapping conceals what is probably a small bird. Egyptian priests incubated bird eggs, which perhaps were taken from nests or laid by birds in captivity. Priests in animal sanctuaries took responsibility for breeding and feeding the birds until it was time to make them into mummies.
MEDIUM
Animal remains, linen
DATES
30 B.C.E. – 100 C.E.
PERIOD
Early Roman Period
DIMENSIONS
2 1/2 × 2 1/2 × 3 in. (6.4 × 6.4 × 7.6 cm)
as mounted: 3 1/2 × 5 × 5 in. (8.9 × 12.7 × 12.7 cm)
(show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER
14.654
CREDIT LINE
Gift of the Egypt Exploration Fund
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Ibis Egg Mummy, 30 B.C.E. – 100 C.E. Animal remains, linen, 2 1/2 × 2 1/2 × 3 in. (6.4 × 6.4 × 7.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Egypt Exploration Fund, 14.654. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (Gavin Ashworth,er), 14.654_Gavin_Ashworth_photograph.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 14.654_Gavin_Ashworth_photograph.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph (Gavin Ashworth, photographer), 2012
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a
Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply.
Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online
application form (charges apply).
For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the
United States Library of Congress,
Cornell University,
Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and
Copyright Watch.
For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our
blog posts on copyright.
If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact
copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and
we welcome any additional information you might have.
We're the linen strips soaked with something that would make them adhere?
Yes, the linen was soaked with a type of natural resin.