The funerary masks

Main Ideas

1- Belief in The Afterlife

2- The history of the funerary mask

3- Manufacture Technique

4- Examples.

Belief in The Afterlife

The Egyptians throughout ages gave a great concern to death and eternal life.

so the most significant artifacts that were made by them in the different ages were related to death and the way by which they can reach immortality and eternal life

The protection of the head was of special concern

The equipment of the deceased with a face-covering fabricated of strong material not only provided a permanent substitute for the head in case of damage but also preserved the body in an ideal form which presented the deceased in the likeness of an immortal being.

So the deceased would arrive safely in the afterlife and gain acceptance among the other divine immortals in the council of the great god of the dead.

The history of the funerary mask

As early as the 4th dynasty, attempts were made to mold the outer layer of linen bandages that covered the faces of mummies and sometimes extended to cover the chest with elaborate floral-motif necklaces or broad collars.

During the Middle Kingdom, the hollow or solid masks appeared, created by pouring clay or plaster into a mold.

In the New Kingdom, the golden and silver masks appeared, covered with paint or gilt, in addition to inlaid eyes or eyebrows,

In the Ptolemaic period, the cartonnage and plaster masks were popular, with the difference of that the cartonnage masks became only one element of a complete suite of separate cartonnage pieces that covered the wrapped body.

A set that included a separate cartonnage breastplate and another separate cartonnage foot care.

In the Roman period, the plaster masks exhibit the Graeco-Roman features in their coiffures, jewelry, and clothes.

They were made of clay or plaster, the eyes ( inlaid in glass or stone) and ears were being added separately, and the facial features were worked in plaster using spatula or knife, then painted or gilded.

The painted plaster masks date from the earliest years of the Roman period and still in use until the 3rd century A.D.

From the 2nd century A.D., the heads were modeled in the round, raised high above the coffin lid, and the inlaid eyes were covered by a transparent layer of glass.

Masks were usually made of a variety of materials depending on their availability in different regions, such as gypsum, cloth or wood. The Alexandria collection is all made of gypsum plaster.

Manufacture Technique

Masks were poured into molds and were then pressed with fingers from the inside.

Details were hand-made and added, such as the ears and the eyes. There were several ways of making the eyes. They were either painted or inlaid.

Painting the eyes dates back to the first century and continued until the third century A.D.

The mask was then covered with gypsum and hair was added to it and the mask was finally glued to the plaster head. Hairstyles changed in accordance to the fashion of the time.

Little is known about the provenances of the masks, but they generally were popular in Middle Egypt and upper Egypt.

Painted plaster masks of the young man.

National Museum Alexandria

About 140-160, provenance: Faiyum.

This mask is broken all around, the hair is curly, the mustache and the beard are drawn in black color

The large eyes are thickly outlined in black.

Painted plaster mask, dates back to the Roman period.

Representing a young man with curly hair arranged in two parts split in the middle, the eyes are inlaid.

Painted broken plaster mask, made of limestone, Ptolemaic period, representing a woman, traces of necklace still visible, the eyes were originally inlaid.

Probably with glass, the whole face is painted in yellow color imitating gold.