Hawk Mummy
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
The hawk mummy, with an elaborate pattern of dyed and undyed linen, comes from the Egypt Exploration Fund excavations in Abydos in 1913. The brown dye was made from iron-bearing clay. This pattern and dying technique help identify other animal mummies as being from this site.
The falcon mummy, with undyed linen wrapped in concentric circles around it, has no known burial site. Scholars hope eventually to be able to identify the site or sites where this second wrapping technique was used, revealing more about this mummy than is currently known.
MEDIUM
Animal remains (Common Kestrel, genus Falco), linen, wood
DATES
664–30 B.C.E.
DYNASTY
Dynasty 26, or later
PERIOD
Late Period to Ptolemaic Period
DIMENSIONS
4 1/4 x 3 x 16 3/4 in. (10.8 x 7.6 x 42.5 cm)
(show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER
37.2042.3E
CREDIT LINE
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Small hawk mummy wrapped in a coarse weave linen. The linen bundle is then wound with threading; the body is wound in a systematic pattern across the body, while at the lower end, the thread is laced up and down the length of the body in a zigzag pattern. A thread is also wound around the base of the head repeatedly.
Condition: The threading across the widest part of the body is missing, its indentations are still visible. There are a few holes at the widest part of the body. A portion of an old sticker still remains.
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Hawk Mummy, 664–30 B.C.E. Animal remains (Common Kestrel, genus Falco), linen, wood, 4 1/4 x 3 x 16 3/4 in. (10.8 x 7.6 x 42.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.2042.3E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (Gavin Ashworth,er), 37.2042.3E_Gavin_Ashworth_photograph.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 37.2042.3E_Gavin_Ashworth_photograph.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph (Gavin Ashworth, photographer), 2012
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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