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Mummy of an ibis

An ibis mummy wrapped to show the animal lying on its back with the beak resting on its ventral side and the legs drawn up to the body as if it were seated. It is very elaborately wrapped, with the head being covered with a piece of linen that is blackened by embalming agents, and then covered with strings. Probably it was once covered by a more elegant dark brown bandage, evoking the natural colour of the ibis’ head. The body is covered by an elongated D-shaped bi-/polychrome motif, forming a large coffer with the head and beak as the central foci. The tail end is covered with a plain piece of fabric, which is adorned by a roundel of two concentric circles. The base of the mummy is less refined, with the edge bandages from the front overlapping slightly in the back, but not obscuring the spiral wrapping, held in place with threads. Possibly this was once covered by another cloth, giving a tidy finish to the piece. CT scans show a complete skeleton of an ibis positioned on its back, with the head folded over the sternum, wings folded against the sides of the body, neck curved in a S, and the legs flexed and pushed toward the body.

Suppl. 11029
Organic animal+plant fiber / Linen
12.2 cm x 14.5 cm x 37.6 cm
400 BCE – 0
Late Period – Ptolemaic Period
Asyut
Excavation Ernesto Schiaparelli, 1910
Museum / Floor 1 / Room 11 / Vetrina 06
  • Borla, Matilde, “Mummie e animali del Museo Egizio di Torino: problemi di conservazione di manufatti polimaterici”, in XIII Congresso Nazionale IGIIC: Lo Stato dell'Arte 13 [...] Centro Conservazione e Restauro della Venaria Reale - Torino 22/24 ottobre 2015, 2015, pp. 153 – 160, pp. 154, 155.
    Tipo=Atti di congressi SottoTipo= Autore=Borla, Matilde Titolo=Mummie e animali del Museo Egizio di Torino: problemi di conservazione di manufatti polimaterici Sottotiolo= In=XIII Congresso Nazionale IGIIC: Lo Stato dell'Arte 13 [...] Centro Conservazione e Restauro della Venaria Reale - Torino 22/24 ottobre 2015 Collana= Opera= Luogo= Anno=2015 Menzionato=pp. 153 - 160 Illustrazione=pp. 154, 155
Museo Egizio