15 amazingly realistic Fayum portraits that decorated Egyptian mummies (16 photos)

There is nothing stranger than looking into the eyes of people who lived two thousand years ago. Fayum portraits found on some Egyptian mummies make this possible.





Today there are about 900 Fayum portraits. They are amazing for their realism and how detailed they are drawn. Each portrait very accurately conveys the appearance of a person, and experts say that in the West such realism appeared about six centuries later.

The first paintings were found in the El-Fayum oasis, which is why the portraits received their name. Today, this oasis is home to Egypt's oldest surviving city.

In fact, such images of the dead were found throughout Egypt, but in the local necropolis there were the most of them. We invite you to look into the eyes of the Egyptians and once again be surprised by their realistic depiction, as well as the funerary culture of the ancient world.

Portraits replaced death masks for some Egyptians

First, the body was mummified, then wrapped in special fabrics, and a portrait was placed on top in place of the face.



This practice was not cheap, and not everyone could afford a portrait.

Of course, the cost of such a portrait has not been preserved, but it can be assumed that it was high. In addition, materials and paints were very expensive at that time, which is why artists in Ancient Egypt were more classified as artisans.

Mostly such portraits were created for the upper class

Scholars have studied the Fayum portraits in detail and come to the conclusion that all of their owners belonged to the wealthy upper class of military personnel, religious dignitaries, or government officials.



By the way, death masks were also used at that time, but they were more expensive

For example, there are family tombs where mummies of all family members are found. In some, portraits were made for the wife and children, and the man’s mummy was decorated with a gilded mask.



These portraits were painted during an interesting period for Egypt, when it became part of the Roman Empire



Portraits began to be painted in the 1st century BC. e., and the latest finds date back to the 3rd-4th centuries AD. e.



The hot and dry Egyptian climate helped preserve the vibrant colors of these masterpieces.



The images allow us to judge not only the funeral traditions of the Egyptians



Experts see them as how Greek culture assimilated with Egyptian



And not only the culture, but also the population

The first Greeks came to Egypt during the conquests of Alexander the Great (IV century BC). They were just soldiers and military officials. But, of course, the Hellenes lived not only in Fayum, but also in other Greek settlements. Foreigners intermarried with Egyptian women, and by the time the Romans arrived (the Roman period began in the 30s BC), the population was already very mixed. Then the local people were not just Egyptians, they became Hellenized Egyptians.



But, of course, the Romans considered them all Egyptians, and the locals themselves saw themselves more as Greeks



They wore clothes influenced by Greek fashion and gave their children Greek names.



Fayum portraits reflect this complex synthesis of cultures that reigned at that time

Of course, DNA tests were taken from the mummies. If the influence of Greek culture was outwardly visible (it was felt in the jewelry on women’s necks, the way they dressed, and how they put their hair away), then the genes were not so “fast.” These studies document genetic continuity, but foreign rule for several centuries had virtually no effect on the local population at the genetic level. By blood, the heroes of the Fayum portraits were still the same Egyptians.



There's something deeply disconcerting about looking into the eyes of someone who lived so long ago.



The portraits are painted so naturalistically that you get the impression that a living person is looking at you