Ibis Mummy
Place found:Egypt
Culture: Egyptian
Period: Late Period-Roman Period
Date: ca. 712 B.C.-A.D. 395
Medium: Ibis remains and linen
Dimensions:
4 1/2 × 15 1/2 in. (11.4 × 39.4 cm)
Credit Line: Bequest of Gilbert M. Denman, Jr.
Object number: 2005.1.36
Provenance: excavated in the ibis cemetery at Abydos, 1914; sold by Egyptian Exploration Fund to Toledo Museum of Art, 1915 [former accession no. 15.52]; deaccessioned by Toledo Museum of Art, 1991; sold, Sotheby's, New York, June 12, 1993, lot 307, to Gilbert M. Denman, Jr. (1921-2004), San Antonio; Gilbert M. Denman, Jr., by bequest to San Antonio Museum of Art, 2005
Label Text
(Group label with 2005.1.37)
These ibis mummies were discovered in 1913 at the ibis cemetery at the site of Abydos in Upper Egypt. Ibis mummies were dedicated to the god Thoth, the god of scribes and a lunar deity. The shape of the ibis’s beak resembles a scribe’s pen as well as the crescent moon.
These birds demonstrate the two positions in which ibises were arranged when wrapped. The first position shows the head and neck placed down completely along the abdomen between the wings. The second arrangement raised the head with the neck in an S-shaped curve and tucked the beak against the breastbone.
For both body placements, the feet were bent underneath the wings. The intricate wrappings consist of dyed and undyed strips of linen. They were applied while the linen was still damp with dots of resin to hold the pieces together.
(Sarah Schellinger, 2018)
These ibis mummies were discovered in 1913 at the ibis cemetery at the site of Abydos in Upper Egypt. Ibis mummies were dedicated to the god Thoth, the god of scribes and a lunar deity. The shape of the ibis’s beak resembles a scribe’s pen as well as the crescent moon.
These birds demonstrate the two positions in which ibises were arranged when wrapped. The first position shows the head and neck placed down completely along the abdomen between the wings. The second arrangement raised the head with the neck in an S-shaped curve and tucked the beak against the breastbone.
For both body placements, the feet were bent underneath the wings. The intricate wrappings consist of dyed and undyed strips of linen. They were applied while the linen was still damp with dots of resin to hold the pieces together.
(Sarah Schellinger, 2018)
Not on view
In Collection(s)
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
