Golden Mummies : Mummified body of a man

Golden Mummies

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Mummified body of a man named Artemidorus, wrapped in a linen shroud covered with plaster and coated with red paint. The red pigment covering similar Roman Period mummified individuals has been shown to derive from the Rio Tinto in Spain, showing imperial trade networks that developed in Roman times. </p><p style='text-align: justify;'>The face of the deceased is covered with a thin wooden panel painted in encaustic (pigment and hot wax). Although the panel is damaged, the man depicted can be seen to have dark curly hair and a beard. He wears a white tunic and has a wreath around his head, applied to the panel in gold leaf. The appearance and hairstyle of the panel painting suggest a date c. 110 to 160 CE.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>The red shroud is also decorated with gilding. From top to bottom, it depicts: two two star-burst symbols on the shoulders, associated by some scholars with the cult of the hybrid Greek-Egyptian god Serapis; two falcons face earch other, wearing the traditional double crown of a united Egypt. Between them is what appears to be a composite sistrum/djed-pillar/papyrus umbel motif. These birds of prey were symbols of royalty and shown often perching atop a symbol for gold, a stylised beaded collar, here perhaps indicated in elongated form and inscribed in Greek with the words 'Aretemidorus, Farewell'. This may have been a deliberate choice to associate the deceased through his name with the regenerative qualities of gold. Below, the distinctive linen-bound and patterned form of Osiris appears, wearing his traditional tall 'Atef' crown. He is flanked by two more sistrum-djed-papyrus emblems. Beneath this, a goddess (most likely to be identified as Nut) with outspread wings and clutching feathers, symbols of justification; she is flanked by two rearing cobras, each topped by a solar disk. On the lowest register is a seated animal with a human head, perahps an approximation of a jackal to represent Anubis, finally unshod feet are represented, with toenails outlined, to indicate unrestricted mobility in the afterlife.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>The body of Artemidorus was last CT-scanned at Manchester Children's Hospital on 26/9/13.</p>