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Dog Mummy

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Scholars associate the coffered, box-like pattern of linen wrapping on this dog mummy with the Roman Period in Egypt (30 B.C.E.–395 C.E.). Yet carbon 14 dating of a linen sample from this mummy suggests the linen is at least two hundred years older than that period. Either very old linen was recycled in the process of mummy making or this distinctive pattern of wrapping existed earlier than scholars had suspected. Future tests might resolve this question by sampling and testing the animal itself.
MEDIUM Animal remains, linen
  • Place Made: Egypt
  • DATES 510-230 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY Dynasty 27, or later
    PERIOD Late Period to Ptolemaic Period
    DIMENSIONS 17 × 5 7/8 × 3 1/4 in. (43.2 × 14.9 × 8.3 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 37.1984E
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Mummified dog, with decorative patterns made up of interlaced bands of cloth. The head modeled in coated linen, painted.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Dog Mummy, 510-230 B.C.E. Animal remains, linen, 17 × 5 7/8 × 3 1/4 in. (43.2 × 14.9 × 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1984E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1984E_left_PS1.jpg)
    IMAGE left, 37.1984E_left_PS1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2007
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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