Mummy portraits on show at the University of Manchester
Date Posted: 20/07/12
Art fanatics booking short breaks to Manchester this summer should stop by the University of Manchester's John Rylands Library to view a new ground-breaking exhibition of mummy portraits.
The images were painted on to panels that covered the faces of mummified corpses, providing a fascinating insight in to the appearance of ancient Egyptians.
Rarely shown in public, they were left to Manchester Museum by the cotton tycoon Jesse Haworth in 1921.
Egyptology curator Campbell Price noted for how "strikingly modern" they make these 2,000 year old individuals look, appearing more Greek or Roman than traditionally Egyptian.
Known as the Fayum portraits, they were discovered in archaeological digs in 1888 and 1911 by William Flinders Petrie close to Cairo, dating back to circa AD 150 when Roman Empire ruled over Egypt.
The exhibit, entitled Faces and Voices: Identity, Culture and Artefacts from Roman to Contemporary Egypt, is to run until Sunday, November 25th.
Posted by Danielle Masterson
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