دراسة لأربع أقنعة أغطية توابيت فخارية من جبانة تل سلفاجو بالبحيرة : غير منشورة

Abstract EN

The belief of the resurrection after death was entrenched in the certainty of the ancient Egyptians, the mummification and the manufacture of a mask for the deceased to guide the spirit to dwell him again at the resurrection, and that belief continued in the Egyptian funeral rituals through the ages.

Although it was of more quality and richer in the Pharaonic era until before the third decay era and the late era, and continued during the Ptolemaic and Roman eras to meet the needs of all groups, and the economic and social status of the deceased, sometimes made of precious materials, sometimes inlaid, and made of cheap materials such as pottery with different techniques and multiple models.

It shows from this study that the group of masks which cover the coffins studied were common models in the different regions of the Delta.

Perhaps the reason for this is the availability of silt in the Delta and the ease of assortment and cheap price, as well as that it can be controlled artistically in the quality of its manufacture and formulation according to the public financial capabilities.

Some of which came simplified in their formulation and the other is the artist's interest in the composition as a whole mask or separate elements, and the artist's interest in burning it, which shows the disparity between these coffins in general.

The mask was one of the artist's main interests in the formation and manufacture of the coffin, although it does not bear any features of a personal portrait.

It seems that the workshops continued to produce these coffins during the Ptolemaic and Roman eras, which makes it difficult to determine a specific date, especially with the lack of funerary furniture found in the collection of Silvago Coffins, from which precise chronicling can be inferred.