Gilded cartonnage of a Romano-Egyptian woman and man, possibly from Hawara, Egypt, 1st century CE on display at the Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn, New York

Gilded cartonnage of a Romano-Egyptian woman and man, possibly from Hawara, Egypt, 1st century CE on display at the Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn, New York.

This gilded mummy mask of a woman, thought to be from Hawara, Egypt, and a man were created in the 1st century CE during Egypt's Roman period. It is created of linen, gilded gesso, glass, and faience. Hawara is an archaeological south of the site of Crocodilopolis, its Greek name, or Arsinoe, its Ptolemaic Period name, at the entrance to the depression of the Fayum oasis. The first excavations at the site were made by Karl Lepsius, in 1843. William Flinders Petrie excavated at Hawara, beginning in 1888, finding papyri of the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, and, north of the pyramid, a vast necropolis where, in 1911, he found 146 portraits on coffins dating to the Roman period now known as Fayum portraits.

Some of the mummies discovered in Hawara, though, were covered with a cartonnage mask rather than a painted portrait. Cartonnage was first used during the Middle Kingdom from 2025 to 1700 BCE and its use continued into the Roman period. The burial habits of Ptolemaic Egyptians mostly followed ancient traditions and the Egyptians only slowly developed an interest in the Greek-Hellenic culture that dominated the East Mediterranean after the conquests of Alexander. This situation changed substantially with the arrival of the Romans. Within a few generations, almost all Egyptian elements disappeared from everyday life. Only in the sphere of religion is there evidence for a continuation of Egyptian traditions, consistent with Rome's tolerant approach to local religions. Egyptian temples were erected as late as the 2nd century. In terms of burial habits, Egyptian and Hellenistic elements now mixed. Coffins became increasingly unpopular and went entirely out of use by the 2nd century. In contrast, mummification continued to be practiced by large parts of the population. The mummy mask, originally an Egyptian concept, grew more and more Graeco-Roman in style. Some authors suggest that the idea of such portraits may be related to the custom among the Roman nobility of displaying imagines, images of their ancestors, in the atrium of their house. In funeral processions, these wax masks were worn by professional mourners to emphasize the continuity of an illustrious family line. Roman festivals such as the Parentalia as well as everyday domestic rituals cultivated ancestral spirits in this way.

Images: Gilded cartonnage of a Romano-Egyptian woman and man, possibly from Hawara, Egypt, 1st century CE photographed at the Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn, New York. The protective winged scarab tops the man's traditional headdress adorned with lappets containing images of the deceased's mummy before Osiris, god of the dead. The face is unlined and ageless, also a traditional element.