3-035-824 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Mummy of Herakleides, A.D. 120-140. Additional Info: This Romano-Egyptian mummy combines the millennia-old Egyptian tradition of mummification of the dead with a strong Greek heritage handed down through the Ptolemaic dynasty and the Roman tradition of individualized portraiture. The blending of these three socio-cultural traditions was characteristic of the ethnic and religious diversity of the population of provincial Roman Egypt during this period. The painted mummy portrait depicts a young man with a light mustache and loose, curly hair. His name, Herakleides, has been written above his toes facing up towards his face. Decorated along the length of the body with religious figures connected with Egyptian funerary rites. They include Osiris, Horus, and a winged goddess combining the identities of Nut, Nephthys, and Isis.