Priest supporting the mummy of the deceased

Information sur l’artiste
Thèbes

Provenance pour les antiquités
Thèbes
Date de l’œuvre libre
Thebes, circa 1190-1070 B.C.
Égypte, Deir el Bahari (?), Prêtre soutenant la momie du défunt, vers 1190-1070 avant J.-C.
Égypte,
Prêtre soutenant la momie du défunt, Nouvel Empire.
Image © Lyon MBA - Photo Alain Basset
Contenu

This fragment from the wall of a tomb portrays one of the most important moments in Egyptian funeral rites: the symbolic restoration of the senses before the mummy is placed inside the grave.


A priest, wearing a wavy wig and a pleated sleeved mantle, knotted at the waist, is supporting a mummy whose head is covered by a wig and a funerary mask with a false beard. The cones symbolise the anointing of their heads with a perfumed balm. This scene portrays the 'opening of the mouth', a ceremony intended to give the deceased their main senses back, which would be essential to their life in the aferlife: the priest would lightly touch the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears of the mummy, which was held upright before the entrance to the funerary chapel, all the while reciting ritual texts. 


The figures' facial features and the way the priest's robe and wig are depicted are typical of the style adopted at the end of the Ramesside period. The sculpture has retained its beautiful polychromy, most notably the red ochre of the skin tones and textiles, and the blue used for the wigs.
 

Artwork label
Description de l’œuvre

Thebes
New Kingdom, 20th Dynasty, circa 1190-1070 B.C.
Painted limestone
H. 0.31; W. 0.24; D. 3.6 cm
Acquired in 1969
Inv. 1969-141