Thothirdes
Thothirdes may be familiar to those of you who have seen her on display in the 3rd floor Egyptian Galleries. She was deinstalled and brought up to the lab this week so that we could prepare her for a trip to the hospital. Fortunately, her mummy seems to not have been disturbed, and she is a good candidate for the CT (computed tomography scanning) we are planning on doing at North Shore University Hospital.
X-radiographs were take in the 1930′s of this mummy. Unfortunately, those radiographs were made using nitrate based filmed and are no longer in a state of preservation to be of use.
When we removed her body from the coffin, the beautiful painting below was revealed. The coffin, without the body, is now on back on display in the 3rd floor galleries. You can come by and see this painting until the end of June when we plan on returning Thothirdes’s body to her coffin.
In addition to the painting on the inside, her coffin is painted on all sides, including the underside as seen here in this image.
We look forward to sharing the information about Thothirdes that might be revealed in the CT scans.
Lisa Bruno
Objects Conservator
Samantha:
May 7th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
What a great surprise! I can’t wait to visit the museum to see it. Are there any preservation measures that can be taken to preserve the painted wood?
Lisa Bruno:
May 11th, 2009 at 9:43 am
Samantha – As a matter of fact, I did do a small amount of consolidation to make sure that loose pieces of paint will remain secure to the wood. Besides trying to maintain a stable climate, applying adhesive below paint flakes is the next most common preservation measure. The paint in this case was fairly stable, but a few areas needed to be secured with adhesive before returning to display. Lisa
Pat:
May 28th, 2009 at 10:56 am
Do we know if that is a goddess painted on the bottom and who she is? I’ve looked at her, but could not make out details. Also, is the beard on her cover a sign of royalty or is there another reason?
Edward Bleiberg, Curator Egyptian Art, Brooklyn Museum:
May 28th, 2009 at 11:30 am
Great question, Pat. I wish I could be sure of the answer. You would expect the sky goddess Nut inside a coffin. This figure seems to be dressed as Isis, however. The beard is broken, but is most likely the curved beard of Osiris. The decoration seems to emphasize the relationship the deceased wants to have with the divine couple Osiris and Isis.
Pat:
May 28th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Thanks, Ed. Someone on one of my tours asked about the beard, which I had not noticed. Also, got a copy of the Collier/Manley hieroglyphs book and find it easier to reference than my Gardiner’s-and a lot lighter!
Dee:
August 7th, 2011 at 7:58 pm
How soon will there be more details about Thothirdes? Ever since I saw her mummy at the museum a few years ago, I have been obsessed with finding out more about her, unfortunately there isn’t much information to be found.
Edward Bleiberg, Curator of Egyptian Art, Brooklyn Museum:
August 11th, 2011 at 1:29 pm
Dee, One thing I can tell you is that we now know that Thothirdes is a man, even though earlier curators thought this mummy was a woman. The recent CT-scans establish without a doubt that he is male. We also know that his internal organs were returned to his chest cavity after they were mummified. This probably allowed him to buy “dummy” Canopic jars, the kind that were never hollowed. Thothirdes’ family provided him with a slightly cheaper version of mummification.
fatima akrituthe:
May 12th, 2013 at 11:52 am
i came to the museum and i saw the mummy! i was surpsried! ill try another visit but i also have a question!! my question is:
~Is this mummy mummified?
~what is the process of ?
~the meaning of THOTHRIDES??
thanks for ansering!!
Lisa Bruno:
May 13th, 2013 at 10:26 am
Fatima – Thothrides does appear to be mumified. CT scans indicate a fairly well preserved human. Internal organs remain in place. The standard mummification process involves drying out the body first, followed by addition of waxes and resins to help preserve the body from deterioration. As Thothrides remains completely wrapped, we could not access any of the resins to be able to analyse these components.
Ed Bleiberg:
May 13th, 2013 at 10:55 am
The meaning of Thothirdes is “[The god] Thoth is the one who made him.” A name like this shows a special relationship between this man and the god Thoth.