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Cartonnage Funerary Assembly

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Funerary Gallery 2, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
In the Ptolemaic Period, separate cartonnage pieces replaced the full-body cartonnage covering such as the one used with the Mummy of the Priest, Hor nearby. Yet the same series of symbols were used, such as the scarab beetle (a symbol of rebirth), the Four Sons of Horus, Anubis, sun disks, and gold leaf (a reference to the gods, who were believed to have gold skin).

The lower part of the inscription shows a number of dots marking the place where the owner’s name would be filled in, indicating that such objects were mass-produced for the market. The use of gold in prefabricated funeral equipment suggests a large, wealthy population in Ptolemaic Egypt eager for such products.
MEDIUM Cartonnage, pigment, gold leaf
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATIONS
DATES 305–30 B.C.E.
PERIOD Ptolemaic Period
DIMENSIONS Fragment a: 13 9/16 x 10 1/4 in. (34.5 x 26 cm) Fragment b: 9 1/16 x 14 3/4 in. (23 x 37.5 cm) Fragment c: 5 1/2 x 12 3/16 in. (14 x 31 cm) Fragment d: 5 5/8 x 13 3/4 in. (14.3 x 35 cm) Fragment e: 6 3/8 x 18 7/8 in. (16.2 x 48 cm) Fragment f: 6 15/16 x 9 1/16 in. (17.7 x 23 cm) 7 x 7 x 9 in. (17.8 x 17.8 x 22.9 cm)  (show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER 12.911.2a-f
CREDIT LINE Gift of the Egypt Exploration Society
PROVENANCE Tomb E422, Cemetery E, Abydos, Egypt; December 14, 1911, excavated by Henry Reginald Holland Hall, Thomas Eric Peet, and Édouard Naville for the Egypt Exploration Society; 1912, gift of the Egypt Exploration Society to the Brooklyn Museum.
Provenance FAQ
CAPTION Cartonnage Funerary Assembly, 305–30 B.C.E. Cartonnage, pigment, gold leaf, Fragment a: 13 9/16 x 10 1/4 in. (34.5 x 26 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Egypt Exploration Society, 12.911.2a-f. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.12.911.2a-f_mummychamber.jpg)
IMAGE installation, Egypt Reborn: Mummy Chamber Installation (2011), CUR.12.911.2a-f_mummychamber.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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