Mummification Bandage of Userwer

Linen bandages were used during the mummification process from the Late through the Ptolemaic period, ca. 6th-2nd centuries BCE. They were usually decorated with spells and sometimes vignettes from the "Book of the Dead" in order to deliver the desired magical protection for the deceased. The practice of placing inscribed bandages directly on the body of the dead person was essential to securing a good life for the deceased in the Netherworld.

This small strip of fabric is woven of high-quality linen and belongs to the well-known object group of inscribed mummification bandages. The originally light beige linen is now discolored to a darker brown. Both side ends of the bandage are lost and irregularly torn off. The original length is unknown, but might have extended to ¾ of an Egyptian cubit (= 39.15 cm = 15 3/8 in.). The inscription is composed in hieratic script and rendered in black ink (made of soot mixed with gelatin, gum, and bee wax); the color has slightly faded. The text consists of three lines; the beginnings and ends of the sentences are missing; but the losses seem to be minor judging by content and grammar.

Inscription

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

[Found in the cemetery of Giza by an expedition of Egyptian archaeologists in the 1950s]; Professor Dr. Abd el Monem Abubakr, Cairo, Giza University, 1950s, by discovery; Professor Dr. Hans Goedicke, Baltimore, 1957, by official gift [for his assistance in the deciphering of some texts from the excavation at Giza]; Walters Art Museum, 2009, by gift.