Foot covering from a mummy, with scorpions on soles
Ptolemaic Period–Roman Period
This is the footcase cartonnage of a small mummy. Cartonnage cases made of several individual pieces are characteristic of the period post 3rd century B.C. Mummies in gallery 133 have sets of this sort.
The footcase 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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