Skip Navigation

Ibis Mummy

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

The CT scan shown here reveals that the wrappings of this mummy directly reflect the position of the ibis’s bones and its beak, curving over its breast. The length of the beak indicates a male.

Carbon 14 dating of a sample taken from the linen places this mummy in a period earlier than suggested by the wrapping style. Future testing will include in addition a sample from the animal itself, to determine whether old, recycled linen was used in preparing the mummy.
MEDIUM Animal remains, linen
  • Place Excavated: Abydos, Egypt
  • DATES 410-200 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY Dynasty 28, or later
    PERIOD Late Period to Ptolemaic Period
    DIMENSIONS 5 11/16 × 5 7/8 × 16 9/16 in. (14.5 × 15 × 42 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 14.651
    CREDIT LINE Gift of the Egypt Exploration Fund
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Ibis Mummy, 410-200 B.C.E. Animal remains, linen, 5 11/16 × 5 7/8 × 16 9/16 in. (14.5 × 15 × 42 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Egypt Exploration Fund, 14.651. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.14.651_negA_bw.jpg)
    IMAGE side, CUR.14.651_negA_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.