Cartonnage Funerary Assemblage Ptolemaic PeriodEgypt

Description

Object Label: In the Ptolemaic Period, separate cartonnage pieces replaced the full-body cartonnage covering such as the one used with the Mummy of the Priest, Hor nearby. Yet the same series of symbols were used, such as the scarab beetle (a symbol of rebirth), the Four Sons of Horus, Anubis, sun disks, and gold leaf (a reference to the gods, who were believed to have gold skin). The lower part of the inscription shows a number of dots marking the place where the owner’s name would be filled in, indicating that such objects were mass-produced for the market. The use of gold in prefabricated funeral equipment suggests a large, wealthy population in Ptolemaic Egypt eager for such products. Caption: Cartonnage Funerary Assemblage, 305–30 B.C.E.. Cartonnage, pigment, gold leaf, Fragment a: 13 9/16 x 10 1/4 in. (34.5 x 26 cm) Fragment b: 9 1/16 x 14 3/4 in. (23 x 37.5 cm) Fragment c: 5 1/2 x 12 3/16 in. (14 x 31 cm) Fragment d: 5 5/8 x 13 3/4 in. (14.3 x 35 cm) Fragment e: 6 3/8 x 18 7/8 in. (16.2 x 48 cm) Fragment f: 6 15/16 x 9 1/16 in. (17.7 x 23 cm) 7 x 7 x 9 in. (17.8 x 17.8 x 22.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Egypt Exploration Society, 12.911.2a-f. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)