Burial and Death

The Egyptians are famous for their mummification process. They would removed the deceased body's organs, place them in canopic jars, and stuff the now hollow body with salts to remove moisture. The elaborate rituals and preparations done over the body were all to prepare the ankh, or disembodied spirit of the deceased, for the afterlife. The mummified corpse served as an anchor for the ka, "life force," and ba, "spirit of mobility," of the deceased, the spiritual coutnerparts of the physical body. The ka, it was believed, needed sustenance to continue to exist, and while offerings could be left in the tomb, a more permanent solution was to have images of food and other commodities which would not go bad. The same principle is behind the mummy portraits: depict the deceased at the prime of their life, and their soul will live on forever in excellent health.

The addition of an idealized portrait of the deceased to the mummy became common during the Roman period. In the Republic, funerary portraits were limited to nobility and magistrate families, but throughout Roman Egypt portraits were available to those who could pay for them, which usually meant Roman citizens.