The mummy of an adult female, aged around 20. Wrapped in linen and fitted with a linen-and-plaster mummy mask. The front of the mask is gilded and shows the deceased woman with a Roman hairstyle, which dates the mask to the mid-1st century AD. She wears a veil covering the back of her head, and a contemporary-style dress with two black stripes (clavi) down the front. Her elaborate jewellery includes disc-shaped earrings; a necklace and armlets inlaid with green glass or stones; and snake bracelets on both wrists. The back of the mask is painted with a protective winged vulture. On either side of the vulture’s head are two columns of hieroglyphs, reading ‘the mother of eternity (?)’ and ‘life established for eternity’.
Linen-and-plaster footcase stored separately (1766.b). Originally, the lower body would have been wrapped in a painted linen shroud, which was lost at some point before the mummy arrived in the Museum.
The mummy was CT-scanned at Manchester Children’s Hospital on 21/2/13.
Two identical columns of hieroglyphs on back of mask, reading ‘the mother of eternity (mwt djet ?)’ and ‘life established for eternity (ankh djed djet)’.
Roman period | Hawara | Manchester Museum | 166 cm
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