Image Gallery
Female with Earring, Mummy Portrait, Hawara
Mummy portrait of a young girl with short (or pulled back) hair, from Hawara cemetery, Egypt. 1st-2nd centuries CE.
The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London (with thanks to The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, UCL).
The Petrie Museum has the largest collection of these "portraits" outside of Egypt. Originally, these portraits were placed over the mummified body; these images were hailed as the first lifelike representations of real people on their first exhibition in London in 1888. The portraits were excavated in 1888-1889 and 1910-1911. This girl wears a central gold leaf pendant on her head and small gold earrings. There is a gold chain necklace with an oval pendant in the center. Her face was damaged by a tool. The intact left eye has an aquamarine blue color. The panel was split longitudinally into three major sections. It was conserved in 1984 and remounted in 1989 by Helena Jaeschke.
Questions & Answers
Could women rule in ancient Egypt?
- There were queens in ancient Egypt - such as Hatshepsut and Cleopatra VII - but this was generally frowned upon because the first divine king, the god Osiris, was male and so Egyptian monarchs were also.
Did women have equal rights in ancient Egypt?
- Women had nearly equal rights in ancient Egypt. Men were the heads of households and so were considered authority figures in other areas, but women could be supervisors, priestesses, overseers, and scribes.
What were some of the jobs performed by women in ancient Egypt?
- Women in ancient Egypt were basket-weavers, bakers, brewers, cooks, musicians, dancers, launderers, as well as scribes, estate managers, priestesses, artisans, weavers, professional mourners, and waitresses.
What was the most powerful position a woman could hold in ancient Egypt?
- After the Middle Kingdom, the most powerful position a woman could hold in ancient Egypt was God's Wife of Amun, the female counterpoint of the High Priest of Amun.
