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‘Though I came for the pyramid, I soon found a mine of interest in the portraits on the mummies.’ Flinders Petrie 1931 , 83 The site of Hawara is located on the southern edge of the Faiyum region, a fertile depression about 80km south of modern-day Cairo. Dominated by the pyramid built by the Twelfth Dynasty King Amenemhat III (c. 1831–1786 BCE), the site’s importance was instigated by this ruler. 1 Only the mudbrick core of Amenemhat’s pyramid now survives ( Fig
’ civilizations unearthed by noble archaeologists, nor simply a descriptive account of their fragmentary material remains in a jigsaw-like attempt to say what the ancients ‘believed’. Instead, it aims at a critical reassessment of material from a particular archaeological setting: Flinders Petrie’s 1888–90 and 1911 excavations at Hawara in Egypt. An attempt is made to give an account of the archaeological material under discussion on its own terms, and to assess its significance and possible meaning(s) to ancient producers and users as
Golden Mummies of Egypt presents new insights and a rich perspective on beliefs about the afterlife during an era when Egypt was part of the Greek and Roman worlds (c. 300 BCE–200 CE). This beautifully illustrated book, featuring photography by Julia Thorne, accompanies Manchester Museum’s first-ever international touring exhibition. Golden Mummies of Egypt is a visually spectacular exhibition that offers visitors unparalleled access to the museum’s outstanding collection of Egyptian and Sudanese objects – one of the largest in the UK.
mummy from the Faiyum and the youngest child mummy from Hawara. In adults this was always via the ethmoidal, trans-nasal route, but in the children a variety of routes were employed including the ethmoid, sphenoid, trans-nasal/trans-orbital and trans-foraminal routes. The eyes were always left in situ. In two of the three cases from Thebes the globes were opened and for re-examination today. However, Filer’s description is useful in revealing certain aspects that will be considered in this chapter. 2 Dicom is a standard for handling, storing, printing and
still attached to mummies. 7 Although initially they were apparently a surprise discovery to Petrie at Hawara in 1888, by 1900 portraits and papyri were the main aim of archaeologists digging in the Faiyum area. 8 Although examples are attested from all over Egypt, what became known as the ‘Faiyum Portraits’ became synonymous with that region. Perhaps the first identifiable example of a mummy portrait brought to the West was described by Italian polymath Pietro della Valle (1586–1652), who travelled near Cairo and
‘He (the sun god) will gild your body for you, a beautiful colour even to the extremities of your limbs. He will make your skin flourish with gold’ The Embalming Ritual, 1st Century CE (Smith 2009 , 240) The American tycoon and collector John Paul Getty did not, apparently, care for Egyptian antiquities because he found them morbid reminders of death. 1 At Hawara and elsewhere in Graeco-Roman times this impression is reinforced not only by the vast quantity
has had the circular effect of prompting a greater focus on mummies in museums. A vast literature has built up exploring this seemingly self-sustaining obsession, frequently concluding in the tautology that Egyptian mummies fascinate us because they are so intrinsically fascinating. 1 Basic polarities in attitudes to mummies – rapture versus revulsion – remain the same today as when Petrie excavated at Hawara in the 1880s, when Pietro della Valle visited Saqqara in the early 1600s, and even when the Greeks and Romans
Museum’s Egyptology collection – particularly its especially rich Graeco-Roman funerary material from Hawara – it is desirable to begin by sketching out the broader context of acquisition of Egyptian material in Manchester, one which is all too often overlooked or given only token acknowledgement. The Museum is part of Manchester’s largest and oldest University ( Fig 10 ), but functions in the same way as a major civic museum typical of many other cities in the UK and elsewhere, combining both natural history and human
Hawara. D: 5.3cm. Acc. no. 2090. But perhaps more importantly, papyri give us access to everyday writings left behind by real, normal people who lived in Egypt under the Roman Empire. Among the merits of the EEF/EES there has been certainly that of having fostered a type of archaeology, inspired especially by Flinders Petrie, which was interested in humble objects, such as pottery, utensils, bricks and other small finds ( Fig 92 & 93 ). These kinds of material, previously neglected
of Hor. From Tell El-Yahudiya. H: 88cm. Acc. no. 3570. c. 595–589 BCE. Fig 86 Terracotta figurine of two men carrying the image of a female deity(?) in procession. From Hawara. H: 23.5cm. Acc. no. 3052. Roman Period household altars have been identified at the town of Karanis in the Faiyum region and deities were also brought into the home in the form of wall representations. 57 Although earlier in