Mummy Case of Paankhenamun Essay -- Archeology Egypt Analysis Essays

Mummy baptistery of PaankhenamunWorks Cited Not Included The work I chose to analyze was from a wall fragment from the grave of Ameneemhet and wife Hemet called Mummy Case of Paankhenamun, found in the Art Institute of Chicago. The case of the Mummy Paankhenamun is one of the most exquisite pieces of art produced by the Egyptian the great unwashed during the time before Christ. This coffin belonged to a man named Paankhenamun, which translates to He Lives for Amun (Hornblower & Spawforth 74). Paankhenamun was the doorkeeper of the temple of the deity Amun, a position he inherited from his father. Interestingly, X-rays happen upon that the mummy case of Paankhenamun does in fact contain a mummy inside dating back to the years of c. 945 715 B.C. The practice of mummification was the Egyptian peoples way of preserving the spirits of the Gods/Goddesses and royalty. The idea was that when these beings came back to life, they would be preserved and well prepared for their next lives. B y the time of the New Kingdom, the Egyptians already had actual techniques of mummification, which were done under a priests supervision (Stokstad 114), and since Paankhenamun was the priest of Amun, he was most likely was in charge of these procedures. In the ancient Egyptian culture, the belief was that there was a life force and spirit inside of the body, known as the Ka. Therefore, mummification was performed as a ritual to preserve the physiological features of the body as well as to protect its inner spirit, mainly to ensure that the Ka could recognize the body where it may dwell in the eternal life. Thus, the funerary psychology of ancient Egyptians was that death did not bring an end to living, plainly instead was provided an escape from the physical human life and a gate to immortal being. Due to the fact that a beings life span was short in ancient times, peoples main hopes rest in their afterlives, where they would be with the gods (Stockstad 121).Aside from being a priest, the importance of Paankhenamuns position was due to his association with the Amun, who was a significant god of Egyptian Thebes. Viewed as chief divinity, Amun was often equated with the famous god Zeus and he even had his own worshiping cult (Freedman, 322). Moreover, Amun was originally one of the eight gods of Hermopolis, known as the god of air. However, at the time of the New Kingdom, this ch... ...rown, and in particularly gold. The gold ruse was used thoroughly, but due to ageing, it seemed to have changed shades and turned into brownish color (Freeman 321-2). An example of that could be illustrated by the face, which has a golden touch to it but is seen to be roughly all turning brown. These decorative features were also seen on different mummy coffins, such as on the coffin of Tutankhamun, found on the Valley of the Kings in Dynasty 18 (Stockstad 120-2). Tutankhamuns case also demonstrated similar golden tones being used, which as a result of aging varnished and fainted in some areas to a darker golden- brownish and yellowish shade (Stockstad 123,125). The Mummy Case of Paankhenamun has great significant in that it provides us with very fundamental evidence from ancient history. It does not only exhibit a complex form of art, but it also demonstrates the religious practices of ancient Egyptians in association with their beliefs in life after death, as well as their great fascination with immortality. It not only teaches us about the great science of mummification, but it also provides us all with the incredible opportunity to learn about the life of an ancient person.