A Gilded mummy mask from "Golden Mummies of Egypt", the first-ever Manchester Museum international touring exhibition curated by our Curator of Egypt and Sudan Dr. Campbell Price, that opened in February 2020 at Buffalo Museum of Science in New York.
The exhibition examines hopes and fears about the afterlife when Egypt was part of the Greek and Roman worlds (c.300 BC-200 AD). Wealthy members of this multicultural society had their mummified bodies encased in gold in hopes of joining the gods after death.
This mask has a gilded face and a tripartite head-dress or wig, painted to represent curls and plaits, with a fringe over the forehead. This suggests that the mask was made for a woman. It shows her in the, almost divine form that the dead hoped to have in the afterlife.
"Golden Mummies of Egypt" exhibition includes over 100 highlights from Manchester Museum Egyptology collection including eight mummies, as well as masks, coffins, jewelry & sculpture.