Greco-Roman

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...

Statue of Harpocrates. Graeco-Roman, Roman Period, 2nd century AD. From Sidi Bishr, Alexandria. Bibliotheca Alexandrina Antiquities Museum, Alexandria.

Statue of Harpocrates

Marble statue of Harpocrates, who was adapted by the Greeks from the Egyptian child god Horus, represented the newborn sun, rising each day at dawn. Harpocrates meaning “Horus the Child”, was the god of silence, secrets and confidentiality in the Hellenistic religion developed in Ptolemaic Alexandria. In Egyptian mythology, Horus was the child of Isis...

Funeral shroud depicts Anubis and Osiris with the deceased. Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow.

Funeral Shroud of Anubis and Osiris

This exquisite funerary shroud, woven and painted in 2nd century A.D. Roman Egypt, presents a compelling fusion of cultures: where Pharaonic faith endures beneath the veneer of imperial Rome. Now housed in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, the textile is a testament to how Egypt’s ancient religious identity was never entirely eclipsed...