Greco-Roman

Isis and Serapis

These exquisite panels, once the doors of a small wooden shrine, were crafted from Egyptian fig wood and reinforced with two Lebanese cedar dowels embedded in each. Discovered in Egypt, they offer a fascinating glimpse into the everyday devotion of the Greco-Egyptian society, reflecting the worship of two deities that bridged two cultures. Isis, a...

The Mummy with the Golden Tongue

The Mummy with the Golden Tongue

In 2021, archaeologists in Egypt made a fascinating discovery—a 2,500-year-old mummy with a golden tongue. Found at the Taposiris Magna temple near Alexandria, this remarkable find is believed to be linked to ancient burial rituals aimed at ensuring the deceased could speak in the afterlife. The Mummy with the Golden Tongue was discovered in early...

Faiyum Portrait Mummy of a Young Child

This mummy from Hawara, dates from the 1st-2nd Century A.D., and is of a young child aged 2-3 years of age. Barbara Borg FSA (Professor of Classical Archaeology at the Scuola Normale Superiore) and German Egyptologist and Curator Dr. Cäcilia Fluck proposed that the idea of the mummy being a male was incorrect, based upon...

Green Gaius Julius Caesar

The Berlin Green Caesar Many archaeologists place this green schist bust of Gaius Julius Caesar from the first century BC, but the majority prefer the first century AD, in the early Imperial period. It is 41cm highs and posthumous portrait, the only known portraits made of Caesar from his lifetime are on coins. It was...

Priests of Isis perform a water ritual

White-robed priests of Isis perform a water ritual as chanting devotees line the steps of the goddess’s temple in this wall painting from Herculaneum. Herculaneum was an ancient Roman town, located in the modern-day commune of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under volcanic ash and pumice in the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79...

Roman funeral shroud of a woman

Roman funeral shroud of a woman

In this beautiful Roman funeral shroud, the woman’s rosy face and large eyes are striking. A long bone or ivory pin holds coils of her hair in place on top of her head, and she holds a small wreath in one hand. Over her abdomen Isis and Nephthys mourn, and over her lower body are...

Coffin for young girl from Akhmim. British Museum. EA29587

Coffin for young girl from Akhmim

Wooden lid and base of a coffin for a young girl from Akhmim, Sohag, Egypt, c. 50 B.C.- 50 A.D. This coffin dates from the period of Greco-Roman rule and can be seen by the garment the young girl is seen depicted wearing. However, despite this she maintains her Egyptian religious belief, by being mummified...

Bronze statuette of Harpocrates

Silver Statuette of Harpocrates

Silver statuette of Harpocrates, with gold chain and ring. The god is shown as a chubby Graeco-Roman Cupid with wings and a heavy garland of fruit and leaves crowning his curly head. The left hand is empty, but the right is raised to the chin. A gold chain with a god ring attached to it...

Mummy of Cleopatra. British Museum. EA6707

Mummy of Cleopatra

This is the mummy of a 17-year-old young woman called Cleopatra, who lived during the Roman Period of Ancient Egypt, c. 100-120. She is cited as the daughter of Candace, a member of the Cornelius Pollius family, the Archon of Thebes, under the rule of Emperor Trajan. The inscriptions state that Cleopatra died at age...

Petamun and Penhorpabik, coffin and coffin lid for the two brothers

Petamun and Penhorpabik, coffin lid for the two brothers

Petamun and Penhorpabik, who lived and died around, c. 175-200 A.D., were young boys who shared the same father, a man named Amenope, but different mothers who are currently unknown. We know they were half brothers’ due to a papyrus scroll accompanying the pair at their burial, which may have been dedicated to the boys...