Painted Cartonnage 𝘔𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘺 Mask
This funerary mask belonged to an unidentified individual.
Egypt, Ptolemaic Period (304–30 B.C.).
Cartonnage, painted.

The decoration focuses on a mummification scene in which the deceased lies upon an embalming table shaped like a standing lion, a symbol of protection and defense. Anubis, the jackal-headed god of embalming and mummification, attends to the body, while the goddesses Isis and Nephthys stand nearby as guardians.

Beneath this scene appears the deceased’s ba—a human-headed bird—its arms raised in reverence toward the Four Sons of Horus. These deities embody the four canopic jars used to safeguard the embalmed internal organs.

Above the central scene, a large winged scarab beetle takes prominence. The scarab, associated with Khepri, the god of creation, rebirth, and the rising sun, symbolizes the resurrection of the deceased.