Showcase ZERO. Egyptian Mummy Cartonnages and Masks and Their Restoration

The ancient Egyptians’ belief in the afterlife led them to mummify their dead, a long, complicated and costly process. After mummification was complete, the bodies and faces were covered with colourful cartonnages depicting scenes and hieroglyphic texts related to the funerary world, as well as sandals and usekh collars, always in keeping with the fashions at the time.

The funerary masks shown here are new acquisitions that replicate the features of the deceased individual in an idealised way, using gold leaf or heightening the colour of the skin. The rest of the cartonnages are from old collections.

Egyptian and Near Eastern Antiquities Department