When the Romans arrived in Egypt in 30 B.C. they adopted the Egyptian funerary custom of mummification. The Romans wrapped mummies just as the Egyptians had done. They also continued the Egyptian practice of placing funeral masks on the mummy to assist the soul in achieving immortality.
One difference between the Egyptians and the Romans is that Roman mummies were buried in open ground, not in tombs. The funerary masks are sometimes called ' Faiyum portraits', because many of them have been found in a region in northwest Egypt named Faiyum. Unlike the more idealized faces on the Egyptian mummy masks, Roman funerary masks attempted to convey a more individual likeness of the deceased. Careful attention was paid to such details of the face as the eyelashes as you can see in this mask.
- from Ancient Art of the Mediterranean, an MIA-produced Interactive Multimedia Program for the Ancient Art Gallery
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<P>When the Romans arrived in Egypt in 30 B.C. they adopted the Egyptian funerary custom of mummification. The Romans wrapped mummies just as the Egyptians had done. They also continued the Egyptian practice of placing funeral masks on the mummy to assist the soul in achieving immortality.</P><P>One difference between the Egyptians and the Romans is that Roman mummies were buried in open ground, not in tombs. The funerary masks are sometimes called ' Faiyum portraits', because many of them have been found in a region in northwest Egypt named Faiyum. Unlike the more idealized faces on the Egyptian mummy masks, Roman funerary masks attempted to convey a more individual likeness of the deceased. Careful attention was paid to such details of the face as the eyelashes as you can see in this mask. </P><P>- from <i>Ancient Art of the Mediterranean,</i> an MIA-produced Interactive Multimedia Program for the Ancient Art Gallery</P>
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