Cartonnage of Ankh-tesh

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Cartonnage of Ankh-tesh

Artist Unidentified

Period Third Intermediate Period Ancient Egyptian, 1070–664 BCE

Dynasty Dynasty 22 (Libyan) Ancient Egyptian, 945–712 BCE

Place of OriginAkhmim, Egypt

Date22nd Dynasty (945-716 BCE)

Dimensions70 × 15 1/4 × 12 3/8 in. (177.8 × 38.7 × 31.4 cm)

Mediumlinen, glue, thin plaster, and paint

ClassificationMummies and Mummy Cases

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1906.4

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic

Published ReferencesCatalog of a Collection of Egyptian Antiquities brought together and presented to The Toledo Museum of Art by Mr. Edward Drummond Libbey, 1906, p. 13, no. 4.

Davies, W.V. ed., Colour and painting in ancient Egypt, London, British Museum Press, 2001, p. 173.

Peck, William H., Sandra E. Knudsen and Paula Reich, Egypt in Toledo: The Ancient Egyptian Collection at the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Toledo Museum of Art, 2011, p. 72-73, repr. (col.) p. 72, (det.) p. 69, 73, 105.

Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, The Egypt Experience: Secrets of the Tomb, October 29, 2010- January 8, 2012.

Toledo Museum of Art, The Mummies: From Egypt to Toledo, February 3- May 6, 2018.

Label TextThe cartonnage of Ankh-tesh shows how a mummy could be enclosed in a “wrapper” made of linen, which was strengthened with plaster or glue and molded to fit the body. The gap at the back was laced up, and a foot board attached. The surface was coated with a layer of white plaster and painted all over with protective images and formulaic prayers addressed to Anubis, god of embalming and cemeteries, and to other gods in order to secure their help in reaching the next world. This cartonnage also includes a molded portrait of Ankh-tesh, with her face painted yellow-gold to show that she is one of the deified dead. The mummy would then be further protected by placing the cartonnage inside one or more coffins.