22/08/2020
Anubis and Osiris with the Deceased
Greco-Roman mummy cases and shrouds were often painted with images reflecting pharaonic religious beliefs about the hereafter but adapted to suit the prevailing Greco-Roman style.
Egyptian divinities of the afterlife feature prominently, and include some or all of the following: Osiris, god of the afterlife and the underworld; his sisters Isis (also his wife) and Nephthys, also considered a protector of the dead. Anubis, the jackal- or jackal-headed god is also often shown as patron of the mummification process and responsible for delivering the soul of the deceased into the kingdom of Osiris. The falcon god Horus often makes an appearance too. The Greco-Roman tradition had no problem about mixing in classical motifs.
So in addition to representations of the Egyptian funerary gods, shrouds and mummy cases might depict figures in Roman dress. Greek elements might be included too: pomegranates, boughs of myrtle and rose, and kraters or goblets of wine, all alluding to eternal life in Greek iconography. On this Roman-era Egyptian shroud, the deceased in the center is dressed in Roman style, flanked to the right by the Egyptian deity Anubis.
Funeral shroud from 2nd Century CE Roman Egypt. Now in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow.
https://bit.ly/3Qnd53X
