<em>Mummy Mask of Woman</em>, 1st century B.C.E. Linen, stucco, pigment, 18 7/8 x 14 x 7 in. (48 x 35.5 x 17.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 72.11. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 72.11_PS9.jpg)

Mummy Mask of Woman, 1st century B.C.E. Linen, stucco, pigment, 18 7/8 x 14 x 7 in. (48 x 35.5 x 17.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 72.11. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 72.11_PS9.jpg)

DOWNLOAD

Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Who are the two woman on this head cloth.

The two women are Isis (on the left) and Nephthys (on the right). These two goddesses are sisters and, among other things, were considered archetypal mourners. The woman who owned this mask wanted to show these goddesses mourning over her they was they mourned over the god Osiris.

Tell me more.

This mummy mask of a woman is a great example of the way that mummies may have been adorned during the Roman Period in Egypt.

You will notice that a large amount of detail is focused in this bust. Much of the imagery that at one time would have covered the entire mummy now was concentrated on a mask like this. On the wig you can even see funerary scenes.

You can see a similar bust, Mummy Mask of a Man, nearby. I recommend comparing the two to the Cartonnage of Nespanetjerenpare nearby, which comes from an earlier time and has decoration all over the body, but comparatively simple face and hair.

Thank you!!

What did they use for their eyeliner and eyebrows? Was it ash, tar? Where they able to remove it, wash it off?

For eyeliner, ancient Egyptians primarily used kohl which is made from grinding an antimony-based mineral called stibnite and mixing it with oil.

And yes, it could wash off!

Mummy Mask of Woman

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: 19th Dynasty to Roman Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

MEDIUM Linen, stucco, pigment

Place Made: Egypt

DATES 1st century B.C.E.

PERIOD Late Period

DIMENSIONS 18 7/8 x 14 x 7 in. (48 x 35.5 x 17.8 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 72.11

CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION One linen and stucco mummy mask of a woman wearing a tripartite wig with forehead curls. Also wearing a diadem with Wdt eye on front. Wig vertically striped in green and yellow. Lappets of wig decorated. Left, Isis kneeling, facing center: right: Nephthys kneeling, facing center. A broad collar is painted between the lappets and geometric designs fill remaining spaces below, and the right and left of the two lappets. The face and ears are white with eyes and brows indicated in green and black. Colors: White, brown, yellow (discolored), green (discolored), orange, black. Condition: Face intact. Crack on right ear. Top of mask intact. Entire back crushed in and most of paint and stucco gone. Lower left and right front bib bent. General overall flaking of the paint. Separate box with several pieces of stucco and paint. Front between lappets incrusted with sand and dirt.

EXHIBITIONS

Ancient Egyptian Art

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view on the 19th Dynasty to Roman Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

CAPTION Mummy Mask of Woman, 1st century B.C.E. Linen, stucco, pigment, 18 7/8 x 14 x 7 in. (48 x 35.5 x 17.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 72.11. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 72.11_PS9.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 72.11_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2016

"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.