Roman Period mummy-mask
- Gallery: Room 62
- Culture: Roman Period
- Date: 100-120 (circa)
- Object type: mummy-mask, cartonnage
- Materials: plaster; linen
- Museum number: EA29476
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
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About this object
This painted mummy-mask dates to the Roman Period in Egypt and offers a glimpse into funerary traditions. The plaster and linen mask features the exposed breasts of an anonymous woman, with a yellow tunic and a rosebud garland in her hair. Around her neck appears a bold band of cloth leading to a colorful collar decorated with a winged scarab, a symbol of renewal.
Protective imagery is present: the sleeves show the wings of the goddesses Isis and Nephthys, and deities like Anubis and Re-Horakhty appear behind her hair. She wears earrings, gold bracelets, and rings, and holds a sprig of leaves—perhaps myrtle.
This mask was crafted by pressing plaster onto a mold, then joined to the headdress and torso. Made around 100–120 AD, it reflects a blend of classical artistic style and traditional Egyptian religious beliefs.
See it in person
Roman Period mummy-mask is on display in Room 62 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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