Religious Imagery

The religious aspect of the mummy portraits is hard to ignore, for the entire practice of mummification is based in the Egyptian belief in the afterlife. Religious iconograhy is not found in every portrait, but there are quite a few that can tell modern scholars about the beliefs at the time. Some portraits feature a hawk or falcon figure, meant to represent Horus, whose eye was a popular funerary amulet, or Harpocrates, adapted by the Greeks from the child god Horus. Flower garlands were also popular funerary imagery, as they were symbols of rebirth. A cup of wine is also present in some portraits, usually accompanying a flower garland, and was a symbol of piety.