The ancient Egyptians put in things that help the soul to know the body of its owner in the other world, including the tomb statue, the alternate head, scenes and inscriptions bearing the name of the deceased in addition to funeral masks.

The masks were used to cover the face of the deceased’s mummy wrapped in linen, and the material for making the mask was indicative of the state of the wearer in this world, and the masks of the wealthy and the upper class, on which the people were made, were made of gold.

The funeral mask appeared since the beginning of the dynastic era, or perhaps before that. The oldest scene representing the masks is a view on the red pile prayer hall representing a human being wearing a mask in the form of a jackal animal and playing the flute. Of course, it does not represent a complex being like the nature of Egyptian gods, but rather a priest wearing a mask of masks that Priests used to wear on religious occasions and may perform a ritual associated with hunting here.

Part of Chapter 151 of the Book of the Dead, which describes the funeral mask as protecting the head of the deceased, and the function of the mask is mainly related to the idea of ​​the ka (the companion) and the ba (the soul). In other words, the mask is associated with resurrection and immortality, where the soul identifies the body of its owner by investigating its unique features.

And the priests wore some masks during the mummification process

Like the mask of Anubis, masks were also used during celebrations and sacred rituals. The closest word to the word mask is “free” in the ancient Egyptian language, and men’s masks were supplied with beards, while women’s masks were supplied with some adornment.

The mask functions were multiple, for example, placing an identical and clear copy of the face of the deceased almost bearing his features that help the soul identify the owner of the body wrapped in linen and the expulsion of evil spirits.

The masks were made by pouring plaster into moulds. After the plaster dries, it was coloured in different colours, so charcoal was used to colour the hair black, and gold was used for jewellery such as earrings, necklaces and headbands, as there are many examples in which the mask is completely gilded and usually imitated in those masks by methods Hairstyling for royal tiles.

Types of masks

Plaster masks

Its manufacture began with the idea of ​​an alternative head that matches the features of its owner, a type that first appeared in the era of King Khufu in the Old Kingdom of the Fourth Dynasty and was placed in the burial chamber, and after it was formed from limestone, it was left without paint after adding some accessories such as the ears

cartoon masks

It appeared for the first time in the era of the first transition and was relatively small in size; and was made of reinforced material consisting of layers of linen reinforced with liquid gypsum.

An example of these masks is

“A cartoon mask for Yuya, father of Queen Tiye, wife of King Amenhotep the Third and mother of King Akhenaten from the era of the Eighteenth Dynasty. The eyes of the mask are inlaid with white marble. The necklace is engraved with plaster sculpture. The width of the mask is 41 cm, and its length is 33 cm. The mask is found in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

“The mask of Queen T Tuya, the mother of Queen T, which is made of coloured and inlaid cartoons. An attractive smile of Mrs Toya distinguished the mask,

Eyes, eyelids, eyebrows, and a wide chest were also grafted

With stones and coloured glass, the mask’s dimensions are 28 and 40 cm, and the mask is found in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Wooden Masks

Examples of them were fou in the Middle Kingdom, and the mask of King Hor in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo comes on top of this type of mask and dates back to the era of the Thirteenth Dynasty. Metal masks

represent the manufacture of metal masks in the era of the modern state.

A more developed stage than the previous stages and its most important models

Tutankhamun mask

Tutankhamun’s mask is made of hammered gold. The hood is decorated on the back with blue ribbons of lapis lazuli. The weight of the mask is about 12 kg. It is made of pure gold and is represented on the back of the mask, chapter 151 of the Book of the Dead. The mask is found in the Great Museum.

Mask of King Psusnes the First

King Susunis the First appears on the golden mask, wearing the royal headdress topped with a uraeus, and he wears a braided false beard. The mask consists of two pieces of beaten gold. They were strengthened and joined together by five visible nails from the back.

The king wears the royal headdress known as the Nemes, Which was usually of linen; it was surmounted by the sacred urge to protect the king from his opponents and enemies in his life and after his death. The king wears a braided false beard as a symbol of his nobility. He also wears a large necklace called a dirtier engraved with floral motifs. Glass pastes have grafted the eyelids and eyebrows.

And the strap that fixes the beard. As for the eyes, they are of black and white stone.

The mask is found in the Great Museum.

King’s mask Amen-Um-Abit

This mask was part of the sarcophagus made of gilded wood for the king. The mask consists of sheets of gold formed according to the features of the king. The king’s round face is surmounted by the sacred cobra installed on the forehead. The long, twisted body of a cobra descends from the headdress, and the mask is made of gold and inlaid with red and turquoise blue stones, and the height of the mask is 56 Cm.