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Wooden mummy label

56.20.486a.jpg

During the Graeco-Roman Period bodies were regularly transported from the home to the cemetery, and, if the person died away from home, back to their village, and they were usually identified with mummy labels such as this one. The labels were made from wood or stone and often inscribed with a short text in Greek or demotic giving details such as name, age and home-town, for the poor it seems the labels replaced traditional stelae. This label has an ink drawing of the god Anubis, seated on a pedestal with a key around his neck and a burning torch before him.

Present location

LIVERPOOL MUSEUM [03/061] LIVERPOOL

Inventory number

56.20.486a

Dating

GRAECO-ROMAN PERIOD

Archaeological Site

UNKNOWN

Category

MUMMY LABEL

Material

WOOD

Technique

INCISED; PAINTED

Height

15.5 cm

Bibliography