Mummy Mask from Balansurah

Dating from the first quarter of the 2nd century A.D., this piece depicting a woman’s head and chest section, is what remains of a cartonnage coffin, which would have been fitted over her mummy prior to burial.

The woman has black curled or tousled hair with a flower crown garland adorning her head. She is wearing a red tunic, with black lining, a fashion staple of her time. Her wrists and hands are adorned with coiled snake jewellery, something that became rather popular in Egypt during the Greco-Roman age.

Horus in Roman Military Attire

The quality of her mummy mask, along with her attire and adornments, suggests she belonged to the wealthy, Romanised elite of provincial Egypt. By the early 2nd century A.D., the funerary tradition of mummification had become a blend of Egyptian religious practices and Greco-Roman portrait styles. Commissioning a cartonnage coffin painted in vivid colours, together with jewellery and finely depicted textiles, was costly. This indicates that she was not a commoner, but rather from a family of some means; possibly members of the local landowning class, administrators, or well-to-do urban households who were able to combine Egyptian burial customs with Roman fashion.

In Roman Egypt, garlands of flowers were associated with youth, vitality, and eternal life. Garlands often appear in funerary portraits from the Fayum and elsewhere, echoing both Egyptian symbolism of rebirth and Greco-Roman notions of festive immortality. A floral wreath also hints at refinement, cultivated taste, and possibly participation in elite banquets or cultic festivals.

Snake jewellery was fashionable across the Roman world, but in Egypt it carried a dual symbolism. The serpent evoked eternal protection and regeneration, connected with both the uraeus (sacred cobra of the pharaohs) and Greco-Roman deities such as Isis and Dionysus. Worn in gold, it would have proclaimed wealth and social standing, while also serving as a protective charm for the deceased.

Funeral Shroud of Anubis and Osiris

Together, the garland and serpent jewellery proclaim her as a woman of status, taste, and cultural blending, Egyptian by tradition, but Roman in fashion.

Almost certainly, this woman would have been of Egyptian origins. While she lived during the Roman Imperial period, the vast majority of people buried in mummified form were Egyptians by heritage, though often heavily Romanised in culture. Her red tunic, corkscrew curls, and floral wreath echo Roman fashion of the early 2nd century A.D., but the practice of mummification itself, as well as the use of cartonnage coffins, is deeply rooted in Egyptian tradition.

The Last Dynasty: Ancient Egypt from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra

What we see is a woman, likely from a local Egyptian elite family, who had adopted Roman styles of self-presentation while continuing traditional Egyptian funerary rites. This hybrid identity was extremely common in provincial towns such as Balansura, Oxyrhynchus, and the Faiyum region.

In general, Romans did not mummify their dead. The typical Roman customs were cremation (earlier) and inhumation (later). They did, however, respect and sometimes participate in local traditions when abroad, especially in Egypt. By the time of the early 2nd century A.D. (the reign of emperors like Trajan and Hadrian), Egypt had been under Roman control for over a century. Roman authorities didn’t impose Roman funerary customs; instead, they allowed Egyptians to continue their own religious practices. The result was a fusion with Egyptian elements such as mummification, protective symbols, divine associations, merged with Roman elements which included naturalistic portraiture, hairstyles, clothing, jewellery fashions.

Roman funeral shroud of a woman

Some individuals of Greek or Roman descent living in Egypt may have adopted mummification to show integration with Egyptian society, but most people buried in this way were Egyptians, expressing both sides of their cultural world. It’s important to remember that mummification wasn’t just a tradition, it was religious insurance for the afterlife. For Egyptians, the preserved body was essential for the soul (ka and ba) to live eternally. Romans did not share this belief.

So if a woman like this is mummified, it’s a clear sign she (and her family) identified strongly with Egyptian religious worldviews. The Roman hairstyle and jewellery show fashion and status, but the burial rite shows belief.

Gold Snake Armlet

Balansurah (Upper Egypt)

Balansurah (sometimes written Balansura) is a lesser-known site in Upper Egypt, on the west bank of the Nile, not far from the region of Asyut. Archaeological finds from there often date to the Greco-Roman period, with burials showing strong evidence of hybrid practices: Egyptian mummification combined with Roman artistic styles such as painted portraits and stuccoed cartonnage.

This reflects how provincial towns of Roman Egypt functioned as cultural crossroads. Local elites wanted to show their loyalty both to traditional Egyptian religion (through mummification, protective jewellery, and funerary rites) and to the Roman imperial identity (through fashionable dress, garlands, and classical portrait features).