Mummification InstrumentLate Period - Ptolemaic Period (664-30 BCE)

On view:

Geffen Galleries

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Title: Mummification Instrument
Place Made: Egypt
Date Made: Late Period - Ptolemaic Period (664-30 BCE)
Medium: Bronze
Dimensions: Length: 7 11/16 in. (19.5 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Carl W. Thomas
Accession Number: M.80.203.62
Classification: Tools and Equipment
Collecting Area: Egyptian Art
Curatorial Notes: The process of mummification began in Predynastic times with the observation that human bodies wrapped in mats and buried within the desiccating sand of Egypt could be fairly well preserved. Ancient Egyptians believed that the deceased body’s preservation was essential to providing a resting place for the soul and eternal life. As burial traditions became more complex, procedures were developed to more fully preserve bodies, and techniques that emerged in the 4th Dynasty (c. 25432436 BCE) were continued with some variation over the next 2,000 years. The organs most likely to degrade—lungs, liver, stomach, intestines—were removed through an incision in the lower left abdomen. Beginning in the Middle Kingdom (c. 19801760 BCE), the brain, which had no special significance for the Egyptians, was removed and discarded. The heart was left carefully intact as it was perceived as the seat of intelligence. Tools such as this bronze hook, topped with the canine head of the funerary guardian Anubis, were used to remove brain tissue via the nasal passages in order to preserve the skull.

On view:

Geffen Galleries

No image

Title: Mummification Instrument
Place Made: Egypt
Date Made: Late Period - Ptolemaic Period (664-30 BCE)
Medium: Bronze
Dimensions: Length: 7 11/16 in. (19.5 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Carl W. Thomas
Accession Number: M.80.203.62
Classification: Tools and Equipment
Collecting Area: Egyptian Art
Curatorial Notes: The process of mummification began in Predynastic times with the observation that human bodies wrapped in mats and buried within the desiccating sand of Egypt could be fairly well preserved. Ancient Egyptians believed that the deceased body’s preservation was essential to providing a resting place for the soul and eternal life. As burial traditions became more complex, procedures were developed to more fully preserve bodies, and techniques that emerged in the 4th Dynasty (c. 25432436 BCE) were continued with some variation over the next 2,000 years. The organs most likely to degrade—lungs, liver, stomach, intestines—were removed through an incision in the lower left abdomen. Beginning in the Middle Kingdom (c. 19801760 BCE), the brain, which had no special significance for the Egyptians, was removed and discarded. The heart was left carefully intact as it was perceived as the seat of intelligence. Tools such as this bronze hook, topped with the canine head of the funerary guardian Anubis, were used to remove brain tissue via the nasal passages in order to preserve the skull.