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Course: Ancient Mediterranean + Europe > Unit 4
Lesson 5: Late, Ptolemaic, and Roman Periods- Late Period and the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods, an introduction
- Meet an Ushabti, an Ancient Egyptian Statuette Made for the Afterlife
- Egyptian mummy portraits
- The Rosetta Stone
- History uncovered in conserving the Rosetta Stone
- Decoding the Rosetta Stone
- Multilingualism along the Nile
- The Temple of Dendur
- Mummy of Herakleides, Getty conversations
- Ancient Egyptian coffin prepared for the Book of the Dead exhibition at the British Museum
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Mummy of Herakleides, Getty conversations
During ancient Egypt’s last dynasty, a massive cultural exchange occurred between Greeks and Egyptians, then reflected in art and cultural practices. Learn how this Greco-Egyptian legacy influenced portrayals of the dead, such as for Herakleides.
Getty has joined forces with Smarthistory to bring you an in-depth look at select works within our collection, whether you’re looking to learn more at home or want to make art more accessible in your classroom. This six-part video series illuminates art history concepts through fun, unscripted conversations between art historians, curators, archaeologists, and artists, committed to a fresh take on the history of visual arts.
A conversation with Dr. Sara E. Cole, Antiquities Department, Getty Museum and Dr. Steven Zucker, Executive Director, Smarthistory, in front of Mummy of Herakleides, 120–140 C.E., Romano-Egyptian. Human and bird remains; linen, pigment, beeswax, gold, and wood, 175.3 x 44 x 33 cm. Getty Villa, Los Angeles. Created by Smarthistory.
Getty has joined forces with Smarthistory to bring you an in-depth look at select works within our collection, whether you’re looking to learn more at home or want to make art more accessible in your classroom. This six-part video series illuminates art history concepts through fun, unscripted conversations between art historians, curators, archaeologists, and artists, committed to a fresh take on the history of visual arts.
A conversation with Dr. Sara E. Cole, Antiquities Department, Getty Museum and Dr. Steven Zucker, Executive Director, Smarthistory, in front of Mummy of Herakleides, 120–140 C.E., Romano-Egyptian. Human and bird remains; linen, pigment, beeswax, gold, and wood, 175.3 x 44 x 33 cm. Getty Villa, Los Angeles. Created by Smarthistory.
Want to join the conversation?
- Is it possible that the name is the person who made the shroud, and not the name of the one wearing it?(2 votes)
- No. There is an inscription on the feet that says the deceased man's name in Greek.(0 votes)
Video transcript
(gentle piano music) - [Narrator] We're in the Getty Villa in a room dedicated to Roman Egypt, and in the middle is this
magnificent, intact mummy. - [Narrator] His name is Herakleides, and he lived in Egypt during the time when Egypt was a province
of the Roman Empire. - [Narrator 1] When
people think about Egypt in the ancient world, they often think about
the several thousand-year Pharaonic period when Egypt
was ruled by Egyptian kings. that was followed by a
300-year period when Egypt was ruled by Macedonian Greeks. And this we call the Ptolemaic period. But this mummy dates from the
time immediately after that, when Rome had taken Egypt as a province. - [Narrator] During the Ptolemaic period there was an influx of Greeks into Egypt. There were Greek men who were members of the Ptolemaic court and administration, but also a number of Greek men who served as mercenaries
in the Ptolemaic army. And the Ptolemies rewarded these men by giving them land grants. And these men settled in Egypt, many of them inter-married with the local Egyptian population. And what happened over
that 300-year period was that many blended
Greco-Egyptian communities developed and Herakleides probably
was a high ranking member of one of these
Greco-Egyptian communities. The practice of mummification,
which had been engaged in, in Egypt for a millennia
carried into the Ptolemaic and the Roman periods. The concept of mummifying the individual, and then creating a likeness of them to accompany them into
the tomb is integral to Egyptian ideas about the afterlife and the significance
of preserving the body and preserving a likeness to carry them over into the next life. - [Narrator] And for me,
while we stand in this gallery it's impossible not to see that
face as the face of the man immediately below that thin piece of wood. - We get such an immediate
sense of connection looking into his face. In the earlier periods, the Egyptian types of
portraiture were very idealized. They weren't meant to be portraits in our modern sense of the term. But what we see in this
period is individuals choosing to engage in
this Greco-Roman tradition of realistic, naturalistic, likenesses. There probably is still
an element of idealization but we really do get the sense that they are meant to
represent the individual. - [Narrator] And from
analysis that has been done, we know that the age of the
man represented in paint is approximately the
age of the man within. - [Narrator] He was approximately
20 years old when he died. - [Narrator] I was looking
carefully at the surface and the hatching and the crosshatching of the tempera paint is so fine and gives a wonderful
sense of dimensionality. A sense that we are looking
into a face that is present. - [Narrator] The artist has
achieved a wonderful sense of a lifelike quality in
a three dimensionality. - [Narrator] The painting is done on a thin wooden panel made out of linden, which was grown in Europe. So this is imported wood and that importation is
evident also in the red that we see in the shroud
that surrounds the face. - [Narrator] The red pigment is actually a red lead that came from
the Rio Tinto region of Spain where the Romans mined silver. So like the wooden board that was used to create his portrait. This reflects that Herakleides had access to these wide ranging trade networks that connected the entire Mediterranean and near east in the
Roman Imperial period. - [Narrator] And that red
is a beautiful rich ground for very elaborate iconography
on the body's surface - [Narrator] While his portrait
is an a Greco-Roman style all of the painting on the shroud itself depicts Egyptian deities and Egyptian amuletic icons
meant to protect Herakleides as he makes his transition
into the next world. - [Narrator] At the top, we see two falcons facing each other. - [Narrator] We see two
falcons wearing the white crown of upper Egypt. And those might represent the god Horus, who was the son of the
god of the dead Osiris. At either shoulder, we also see icons known
as the eye of Horus. An icon that symbolized
wellbeing and protection. Between the two falcons, we see this elaborate crown, which consists of a pair of cow's horns surrounding a sun disc, a top which are two plumes. And this was a type of crown that was worn by several different goddesses. It could be referencing the goddess Isis or perhaps the goddess Hathor. - [Narrator] And below
we see another figure also wearing an elaborate crown. - [Narrator] This is a
somewhat enigmatic figure because she could represent
several different goddesses. The goddess is standing
with her wings outstretched, and in each hand she holds a feather representing Ma'at or balance or justice. And on top up of her head,
she's wearing this crown with cow horns surrounding a solar disc, surmounted by two feathers. She could represent the goddess Nut, who was the sky goddess, often
depicted in Egyptian burials. But she could also be the goddess Isis who similarly served
a protective function. Both of these goddesses are depicted in Egyptian funerary iconography, protecting the deceased as they
journey into the next life. And then on either side of her, we see these two stands or plinths. On top of which is a modius, a type of grain measure
that was incorporated into crowns worn by the goddess
Isis during this period. - [Narrator] I'm struck by
the gilding of her outfit. - [Narrator] We see ample use of gilding in the burial of Herakleides. Not only on his portrait itself, but then also on the painted
decoration on his shroud. Which signals his wealth, but also references the fact that the gods were believed to have skin of gold. - [Narrator] And below that goddess, we see a waterbird, an Ibis. What's so striking to me is that just as the painted face is set
above the face of the man within his shroud, the representation of the Ibis
is also above an actual bird. - [Narrator] Herakleides is
not the only mummy included in this burial. There is a mummified Ibis bird placed over Herakleides' abdomen and incorporated into his mummy wrappings. And it's located
approximately in the same spot as the painted image of the
Ibis on the mummy's shroud. And the Ibis was an animal
associated with the god Thoth. The God of wisdom and
learning and scribes. So the placement of an
actual mummified animal within the mummy wrappings of
a person is extremely unusual. And it's difficult to understand
what it might signify. It might be that Herakleides
was a priest of Thoth or perhaps he was a scribe. And so he's signaling his profession. It could simply be that
Herakleides was a personal devotee of Thoth and wanted to
be buried with an Ibis for this reason. It could also have funerary connotations because Thoth played a
role in specific steps in the process of being
admitted into the afterlife. And it's also possible that it references all
of these simultaneously - [Narrator] As we move down the legs, there's another god who's
represented this time flanked by two cobras. - [Narrator] This is the
god of the dead Osiris shown as a mummified figure. In Egyptian mythology Osiris
was the first to be mummified. And so he's standing flanked by two cobras wearing
sun discs on their head. And Osiris wears this distinctive type of crown called the Atef crown and his skin is gilded as well. - [Narrator] Finally,
as we reach the ankles, we see yet another falcon this time holding the feathers of Ma'at. - [Narrator] We see here, this falcon with outstretched wings and above each of his wings, he holds a feather of
Ma'at representing truth, balance or justice. And he wears a solar
disc on top of his head. So this is probably the
solar deity Ra-Horakhty. - [Narrator] And all of these figures would've been understood to have played a role in
the journey of this man from the world of the living,
to the world of the dead. - [Narrator] They're all associated with creating a safe
passage into the next life - [Narrator] And looking closely. I see golden toe caps that
are represented in paint - [Narrator] In Egyptian mummification, there was a tradition of creating caps or sheaths of gold that would be placed over individual toes. The most famous example, it
comes from the new kingdom from the burial of King Tutankhamun. So this painted image is a
reference to that practice. - [Narrator] And then finally
there is an inscription - [Narrator] And this inscription is how we know Herakleides' name, which we're extremely fortunate to know, because in most instances, portrait mummies don't have
names associated with them. But above his feet in Greek letters, we see the name Herakleides. - [Narrator] And that's a Greek name and a reminder that although
we've now described all of these ancient Egyptian deities this is a multicultural moment in Egypt. - [Narrator] And it's also a signal that Herakleides might have
had a multicultural sense of his own identity. He very possibly could have
identified simultaneously as being both Greek and Egyptian and also probably identified as an inhabitant of the Roman empire. So in some sense he was simultaneously all
three of these things. (gentle piano music)