British Museum II - Mummies!

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Jay and I had visited the British Museum this past Sunday on a very important mission- to take photos of the mummies for my nephew, Azriel, who is seven years old and fascinated with all things Egyptian. Remember that point in your childhood when you thought mummies were cool, fascinating, and scary?

There are more mummies at the British Museum than I have ever seen in any collection. The colors on the wooden coffins are still bright. There are two or three inner coffins that are actually made of gold. What is even more interesting is there are three or four linen wrapped bodies that are not blackened or deteriorated with age and exposure. Most are from Old and Middle Kingdom Egypt. Several are from the period of Roman domination (beginning with the defeat of Antony at Actium in 31 B.C. (and Cleopatra VII's subsequent suicide by asp) to the 4th century A.D.)

The encaustic (pigment mixed with wax) portraits on wooden coffin panels and the plaster masks from the Roman period are fascinating to me because the faces look like modern-day Italians - and beautiful Italians. It's hard to imagine a mummy as ever having been a living person, even when you see the x-rays that show skeletons under the bandages. But the painted portraits are so evocative of real people.

It was interesting to see the coffins of lesser nobles such as princesses, and wealthy non-nobles. Even though a British explorer, Howard Carter, discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamen in 1922, there are no objects from his tomb here. Most King Tut objects are in the Cairo Museum or touring the world.

You'll see some reflections off glass and hot spots in the photos because all the mummies are in glass cases. Despite that, I think you can see them very well. Enjoy!

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Photos

Two Mummy cases
a man and a woman. Notice how Greek her clothing looks

Mummy in Coffin
note the black and white striped headress and five colors used to paint the rest of the coffin lid

Osiris figure
Painted wood, about 20\" high

Child Mummy
Notice his clothing is Roman fashion

Two Princesses
I was intrigued by the delicate looking crossed hands on the gold inner coffin.

Plaster head and skull
The plaster head looks a lot like George W.

Artemidorous coffin
I've talked about this encaustic portrait for years in art appreciation and history classes. I finally get to see the coffin on which it is painted -beautiful young man. Xrays of his body show his face was bashed in when he was killed

Encaustic portrait
"a hunk, a hunk, of burning love"

Skeleton
This may be a pre-Dynastic burial.

Wooden figures
I liked this arrangement of the figures in the case and the texture on the wood

Comments

[Tracey]

Hi!
Interesting... looking at these pictures takes my mind on a journey to wonder what their lives were and what happened to them. Brain Time Warp. I'm glad your back. I've been missing your blogs. First thing I did this morning was to see if you had posted. Call me a junkie. :)

[Christine Palmer]

I STILL think mummies are cool and fascinating!

[anonymous]

Dear Leisa, Once again another pinnacle of participation! You will return to the States as GB-experts. Reminds me of my visit in the mortuary at 12 for my report on the circulatory system. Thank you and Kindest, Carl

[Deb B]

Two Mummy Cases
These shots were all fascinating but my favorite was the woman mummy case...I love how the detail they captured where you see her little bit of a tummy and the wrinkles in the fabric. Oh no, I must be punch drunk...mummy tummy. Sorry.

[Jamie]

thanks for the museum tour
Leisa These pictures are fabulous! It is amazing how much time and energy they put into the coffins. The detail work is wonderful. I think it would be very cool for us to do this in this day and age. Thank you for sharing your visit with the rest of us. Love Jaime

[Azriel]

thank you
Aunt Leisa Thank you for talking pictures of the mummies for me. I really like them allot. They were the best. I like the one of Artemidorous the most because of your funny comment about him. Love Azriel

[anonymous]

Its not really that unusual to find an Egyptian mummy portrait that looks like Elvis... he is the god of Memphis...

[Leisette]

Boy King of Memphis
Dear Anonymous, Very good. I remember showing Elvis in a King Tut outfit in Art Appreciation class. Were you, by chance, a student in my art appreciation class?