One of the most mystical gifts of art from the ancient world is the funerary masks of the pharaohs. The masks’ main purpose of being placed over the head of mummies was to emphasize the ancient Egyptian belief in the fragile process of transition that the dead would have to endure successfully to relish in the gifts that awaited them in eternity. Hence, the mask itself is a physical symbol of transformation from a human state into a divine one. However, it is to be noted and discussed that these masks served more than one purpose. It also served as protection of the face in death; that is, serving as a permanent substitute for what the deceased looked like in life, in case of physical damage to his face upon his arrival to the otherworld in death. Though such masks were only made for the Egyptian royalty, people who had the financial means often employed skilled craftsmen to create masks for their loved ones as well. (Like funerals today, death masks were a big business.)
The dimensions of this burial mask are impressive. First it is made entirely out of solid gold! It is 21 inches tall and about 15 and a half inches wide and weighs about 24 pounds! The gold is inlaid with precious stones such as lapis, quartz, obsidian, carnelian, turquoise, amazonite, and faience. The eyes are composed of obsidian and quartz, and there is also an abundance of colored glass paste for definition and theatrics. Gold was not chosen just because of a sign of wealth, but primarily because of its association with the gods; gold was considered the ‘flesh of the gods.’ Gold does not tarnish or deteriorate; it was believed to be eternal like the sun.
Perhaps, the most striking feature of the mask is the names. This is a part of the fashion that a pharaoh would have worn on his head. It possessed lappets that fell on each shoulder (just like you see on the mask). The top displays the uraeus and the vulture on the brow. The uraeus was a symbol of the ‘eye’ of the sun thus spitting fire in the eyes of pharaoh’s enemies. This fashion piece was also a powerful symbol of royalty and blessings from the gods. The cobra and vulture respectively were symbols of the deities Wadjet and Nekhbet, who were goddess of Upper and Lower Egypt, which, consequently, were protectors of the kings and queens of Ancient Egypt. The mask is also equipped with a beard which, to the gods was a status symbol as the king was a living god himself.
Mysteriously, there is an inscription on the back of the facemask. It is written in ancient hieroglyphics. It is a protective spell from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Chapter 151. It reads as follows:
“Your right eye is the night bark [of the sun-god], your left eye is the day bark, your eyebrows are [those of] the Ennead of the Gods, your forehead is [that of] Anubis, the nape of your neck is [that of] Horus, your locks of hair are [those of] Ptah-Soker. [You are] in front of the Osiris [Tutankhamun], he sees thanks to you, you guide him to the goodly ways, you smite for him the confederates of Seth so that he may overthrow your enemies before the Ennead of the Gods in the great Castle of the Prince, which is in Heliopolis…the Osiris, the king of Upper Egypt Nebkheperura, deceased, given life like Ra.”
Osiris was the god of the afterlife.
© 2025, Mark Grago. All rights reserved.
