Panel from beneath feet of a cartonnage, with scorpions on soles
Ptolemaic Period–Roman Period
Not on view
This panel once adorned the exterior foot end of a wrapped mummy. It depicts the soles of two sandals with a scorpion crushed beneath each one. The imagery reflects the ancient Egyptians' desire to control the dangerous elements of their world, a concern that here is transferred to the world of the afterlife. On the mummy, the scene was intended to give power to the deceased over the inimical forces that he would encounter on his nightly journey through the netherworld to-ward rebirth each dawn.
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