Funeral masks

The Egyptians had yet another way to make sure the various forms of the spirit could recognize their own body. After the mummy was wrapped, a mask was fitted over the head and shoulders. The faces on these funeral masks resembled those of the dead, so the ba and ka could identify the mummy as their own. Funeral masks were made out of solid gold (like King Tut's), wood, or cartonnage (a material similar to paper-mâché). Wooden and cartonnage masks could be painted or gilded with gold- the look of solid gold at a fraction of the price!

cartonnage mask

gold mask

To ensure a mummy's safety, an Egyptian embalmer placed it in one or more coffins. Like many other Egyptian burial customs, the styles of the coffins changed subtly over the thousands of years that mummification was practiced.

The earliest coffins were boxy and made of wood. Their decoration was usually very plain, with just some hieroglyphs and a pair of wedjat eyes painted at the head end. The wedjat eyes allowed the mummy to "see" into the world of the living. As time passed, the decoration became more elaborate. Images of gods, hieroglyphs that spelled out protective prayers, and pictures of amulets covered almost every square inch of these coffins. In later times, Egyptians began to make anthropoid (or mummiform) coffins. Whether you call them anthropoid or mummiform, both words mean "human shaped." Like the funeral masks, these coffins had faces that resembled the person inside for easy recognition. Many of these were made of cartonnage because it was cheap, light, and easy to work with. Some of these were gilded with gold as well. These coffins were heavily decorated with hieroglyphs and pictures of gods and magic symbols to protect the mummy on its way to the afterlife. Some of the typical images to appear on coffins are pictured below.

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