Farewelling the dead in Roman Egypt
an analysis of funeral portraits (1st Century)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29327/rom.v27i.49940Keywords:
Roman Egypt, Death, Identity, Funeral portraitsAbstract
The objective of this article is to present how Egyptians understood death and represented their identities in the first century. In this sense, we seek to reflect on the conception of dying in Roman Egypt through the myths and mortuary practices preserved for millennia and adapted to make sense of the historical and social context. Furthermore, we seek to understand the negotiations carried out by members of the chora elite, who represented themselves with symbols of Pharaonic Egyptian belief combined with Greco-Roman elements in funerary portraits.
Downloads
References
Documentação textual
DIODORUS SICULUS. Historical Library. In: DELPHI, C. (ed.). The Complete Works of Diodorus Siculus. Hastings: Delphi, 2014, p. 1189-1305.
HERÓDOTO. Historia: Libro II Euterpe. Introducción de Francisco R. Abrados, traducción y notas de Carlos Schrader. Madrid: Gredos, 1992.
Documentação iconográfica
WALKER, S. Mummy portraits and Roman portraiture. In: WALKER, S.; BIERBRIER, M. (ed.). Ancient Faces: Mummy Portraits from Roman Egypt. London: British Museum, 1997, p. 14-16.
DOXIADIS, E. The Mysterious Fayum Portraits: Faces from Ancient Egypt. London: Thames & Hudson, 2000.
PARLASCA, K. Repertorio d’arte dell’Egitto greco-romano: ritratti di mummie, serie B, volume II. Roma: L’Erma di Bretschneider, 1977.
PARLASCA, K. Repertorio d’arte dell’Egitto greco-romano: ritratti di mummie, serie B, volume III. Roma: L’Erma di Bretschneider, 1980.
WALKER, S.; BIERBRIER, M. Ancient Faces: Mummy Portraits from Roman Egypt. London: British Museum, 1997.
Obras de apoio
ABDELWAHED, Y. E. H. Houses in Graeco-Roman Egypt: Arenas for Ritual Activity. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2016.
ABDELWAHED, Y. E. H. Egyptian Cultural Identity in the Architecture of Roman Egypt (30 BC-AD 325). Oxford: Archaeopress, 2015.
AZIZ, S. The Fayum mummy portraits: ancient diseases captured in the brush strokes of realism. Nile, n. 26, p. 12-20, 2020.
BAGNALL, R. S. The Fayum and its people. In: WALKER, S.; BIERBRIER, M. (ed.). Ancient Faces: Mummy Portraits from Roman Egypt. London: British Museum, 1997, p. 17-20.
BORG, B. E. The dead as a guest at table? Continuity and change in the Egyptian cult of the dead. In: BIERBRIER, M. (ed.). Portraits and Masks: Burial Customs in Roman Egypt. London: Colloquium London, 1997, p. 26-33.
BOOZER, A. L. At Home in Roman Egypt: A Social Archaeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021.
BURKE, P. Hibridismo Cultural. São Leopoldo: Unisinos, 2003.
CARTWRIGHT, C. Understanding wood choices for ancient panel painting and mummy portraits in the APPEAR Project through Scanning Electron Microscopy. In: SVOBODA, N.; CARTWRIGHT, C. (ed.). Mummy Portraits of Roman Egypt: Emerging Research from the APPEAR Project. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2020, p. 16-23.
CHILVERS, I.; OSBORNE, H.; FARR, D. Apelles. In: CHILVERS, I.; OSBORNE, H.; FARR, D. (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994, p. 21.
DYER, J.; NEWMAN, N. Multispectral imaging techniques applied to the study of Roman-Egyptian funerary portraits at the British Museum. In: SVOBODA, N.; CARTWRIGHT, C. (ed.). Mummy Portraits of Roman Egypt: Emerging Research from the APPEAR Project. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2020, p. 54-67.
ELIAS, N. A solidão dos moribundos. Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar, 2012.
HART, G. Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. London: Routledge, 2005.
MONTSERRAT, D. Sex and Society in Graeco-Roman Egypt. London: Kagan Paul International, 1996.
MONTSERRAT, D. The representation of young males in ‘Fayum Portraits’. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, v. 79, p. 215-225, 1993.
RIGGS, C. The Beautiful Burial in Roman Egypt: Art, Identity and Funerary Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
SVOBODA, M.; CARTWRIGHT, C. R. Mummy Portraits of Roman Egypt: Emerging Research from the APPEAR Project. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2020.
TERPSTRA, T. The materials of mummy portraits in the context of the Roman economy. In: RÖNKKÖ, E.; TERPSTRA, T.; WALTON, M. (ed.). Portrait of a Child: Historical and Scientific Studies of a Roman Egyptian Mummy, 2019, p. 63-71.
UYTTERHOEVEN, I. Hawara in the Graeco-Roman Period: Life and Death in a Fayum Village. Leuven: Peeters, 2009.
VASQUES, M. S. Cidade e urbanismo no Egito Romano. In: LIMA NETO, B. M.; SILVA, G. V.; KORMIKIARI, M. C. N. (org.). A África antiga: ensaios de História e Arqueologia. Vitória: Antíteses, 2025, p. 65-86.
VASQUES, M. S. Espaços urbanos e relações de poder no Egito Romano. Romanitas, v. 3, p. 47-64, 2014.
VASQUES, M. S. Crenças funerárias e identidade cultural no Egito romano: máscaras de múmia. 2005. Tese (Doutorado em Arqueologia) – Programa de Pós-Graduação em Arqueologia, Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 2005. v. 1.
VON SEEHAUSEN, P. L. D. Etnia e identidade nas estelas funerárias do Egito romano. 2014. Dissertação (Mestrado em Arqueologia) – Programa de Pós-Graduação em Arqueologia, Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 2014.
WALKER, S. Mummy portraits and Roman portraiture. In: WALKER, S.; BIERBRIER, M. (ed.). Ancient Faces: Mummy Portraits from Roman Egypt. London: British Museum, 1997, p. 14-16.
WOODWARD, K. Identidade e diferença: uma introdução teórica e conceitual. In: SILVA, T. T. (org.). Identidade e diferença: a perspectiva dos estudos culturais. Petrópolis: Vozes, 2021, p. 7-72.
Sítios de Internet
THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. Human mummy; mummy-case; cartonnage; burial-cloth; mummy-wrapping. c.2024. Disponível em: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA21809. Acesso em: 30 jul. 2025.
THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. Mummy-portrait. c.2024. Disponível em: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1890-0921-1. Acesso em: 30 jul. 2025.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Jéssica Ladeira Santana

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
a. The authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right to first publication.
b. The authors are authorized to assume additional contracts separately, for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in this journal (e.g., publishing in institutional repository or as a book chapter), with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this journal.
c. Authors are allowed and encouraged to publish and distribute their work online (e.g. in institutional repositories or on their personal page) after the first publication by the journal, with due credit.
d. The journal's texts are licensed under a CC BY 4.0 Deed Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY).