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Inner Cartonnage of Gautseshenu

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Funerary Gallery 2, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
This cartonnage provides a Who’s Who of Egyptian gods, both funerary and non-funerary. They include Osiris, lord of the afterlife; Anubis, the jackal-headed god, conducting the dead to the next world; and the Four Sons of Horus, who protected specific mummified organs of the body. Among the sky gods are Khepri, the winged beetle; Sokar, in his boat; and the hawk-headed form of Horus with outstretched wings. Thoth, the god of intellectual activity, takes the form of an ibis bird.

This mummy’s name, Gautseshenu, means “bouquet of lotuses.” The Egyptian word seshen (“lotus”) is the origin of the name Susan.
CULTURE Egyptian
MEDIUM Linen, plaster, pigment, human remains
  • Place Made: Thebes, Egypt
  • DATES ca. 700–650 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY Dynasty 25 to Dynasty 26
    PERIOD Third Intermediate Period to Late Period
    DIMENSIONS 65 1/4 x 16 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. (165.7 x 41.9 x 29.2 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 34.1223
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    PROVENANCE Archaeological provenance not yet documented, reportedly from Thebes, Egypt; by 1934, acquired by Mahmoud Mohassib Bey of Luxor, Egypt; 1934, purchased in Luxor from Mahmoud Mohassib Bey by Jean Capart for the Brooklyn Museum.
    Provenance FAQ
    CAPTION Egyptian. Inner Cartonnage of Gautseshenu, ca. 700–650 B.C.E. Linen, plaster, pigment, human remains, 65 1/4 x 16 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. (165.7 x 41.9 x 29.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 34.1223. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 34.1223_front_PS4.jpg)
    IMAGE front, 34.1223_front_PS4.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2011
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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