Collection
/
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Mummy Mask of Woman

1st century B.C.E.

1 of 3

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)

Title

Mummy Mask of Woman

Date

1st century B.C.E.

Period

Late Period

Geography

Place made: Egypt

Medium

Linen, stucco, pigment

Classification

Funerary Object

Dimensions

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

Credit Line

Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

Accession Number

72.11

Rights

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.

Frequent Art Questions

  • 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!

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