Cartonnage containing the Mummified Remains of a Man
Description
Object Label: The ancient Egyptians believed that preserving a human body through mummification allowed the person’s spirit to enter the afterlife. Various gods represented on a mummy case (or cartonnage) assisted in the transition to the afterlife. The role of each god in protecting the mummified individual and facilitating rebirth is exemplified by the animal head used to illustrate them. For instance, among the animal-headed deities depicted in a vertical line on either side of this mummy case, the falcon head symbolizes swiftness and keen eyesight, while the cow-headed deity is nurturing and protective. Provenance: Culture Egyptian Caption: Egyptian. Cartonnage containing the Mummified Remains of a Man, ca. 760–558 B.C.E.. Linen, pigment, gesso, human remains, 69 1/2 x 18 x 13 in. (176.5 x 45.7 x 33 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.50E. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano
Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
A tall, painted funerary cartonnage figure of a mummified man with a human face and long wig, covered with dense bands of colored iconography and hieroglyphs.
The object is a vertically oriented, mummy-shaped cartonnage/wooden or gesso-covered shell painted in multiple colors (gold/yellow, red, blue, and black). At the top is a stylized human face with kohl-lined eyes and a straight nose and mouth. The head is covered by a long, striped wig (horizontal lines and block-like color segments). Beneath the face, the chest and body are similarly painted with vertical and horizontal registers. The surface shows repeated block scenes and bands suggestive of funerary texts and iconography (e.g., offerings/figures and layout typical of mortuary cartonnage), though individual signs are not clear enough to confidently enumerate. The lower part flares slightly, consistent with a cartonnage coffin/shroud covering. No Greek, Coptic, or Arabic text is visible. No clearly readable royal cartouche is identifiable from the provided image resolution.
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 37.50E tier-2
- BKM-Object 116787 tier-2
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.