Head of a Dog Mummy

Culture: Egyptian

Period: Ptolemaic period, 332-30 B.C.

Material: Animal mummy, linen

Dimensions: 15.2 cm long

Price: 6 000 Euro

Ref: 1563

Provenance: French private collection Paul Bressand (1989-1995), acquired between the 1930s and 1960s.

Condition: Unrestored.

Description: Wonderfully preserved, expressive head of a mummified dog. Following its natural form the head is finely wrapped with light brown linen, which is blackened with bitumen. The linen binding is bound at the back of the head and sewn up. Mouth, nostrils, eye sockets and ears are modelled and were not coloured in black but remained in the colour of the textile. Only the round pupils are applied in black. Dog mummies are in comparison to cat mummies rather rare in private collections. But they were placed in honour of Anubis in the necropolis of Saqqara. Only in 2015 an estimated eight million dog mummies were found there. Also in the Roman cemetery in the Kharga oasis in the western desert dog mummies were found. One thereof is today in the Metropolitan Museum in New York with the object number 13.182.49. Mounted.