Priestly attire from Roman Period Egypt 1st century CE
Consisting of a wig with short, tight curls and a distinctive gilded sidelock, this priestly headdress made of cartonnage, said to have been purchased by Howard Carter and thought to have originated from Qau el-Kebir, may have been found (and once worn) with a faux leopard-skin robe like the accompanying example. In all likelihood, a man serving as a sem-priest or Iunmutef-priest donned the headdress and cloak before carrying out a ritual that revivified a mummified body so that the deceased could live eternally. Priests of Iunmutef were documented from the 5th dynasty (around 2350 BCE) clear up to the Greco-Roman period. Iunmutef is a manifestation of Horus in his capacity as the “loving son” of Osiris. In this quality he appears in numerous temple scenes and in the royal tombs as a ritual provider of the ruler, whom he enlivens, deifies and renews through the opening of the mouth ritual and as a representative of a rightful ruler in various regeneration and transformation ...