Image Gallery
Head of a Mummy from Ptolemaic-Roman Egypt
This is the upper part of the mummy of an unknown young man; probably, his age was below 21 years. The rest of the mummy is intact but is not shown here. The mummy was discovered in the 1820s. The elaborate preparation of this mummy is highly idiosyncratic and recalls the style of mummification used in the Old Kingdom.
Before wrapping the body of the man, the embalmers carefully modelled the facial features, using resin-soaked linen; the nose strikingly and unusually maintains and assumes its prominent form. The scalp above the forehead was left unwrapped; the hair, as well as part of its underlying skull, can be seen. The embalmers painted the facial features on the wrappings. Ptolemaic-Roman Period, after 305 BCE. From Thebes, modern-day Egypt.
The British Museum, London.
Bibliography
- Arrazia, B. et al. The Chinchorro Culture: A Comparative Perspective.The archaeology of the earliest human mummification, accessed 14 Jun 2024.
Questions & Answers
Where can you find mummies?
- Mummification was (and in some places and certain cases still is) practiced in many parts of the world. The intentional preservation of the body is best known from the ancient Egyptian culture, but mummies have been found all over the world.
How old is the oldest mummy ever found?
- The oldest intentionally preserved mummies come from the Chichorro culture, which flourished from c. 9000 to c. 3500 years ago in modern-day Chile. The complex mortuary practices of this culture that produced the first intentionally preserved mummies date back to c. 7000-7500 years ago.
