I find it so fascinating that these two mummies, along with their fantastic encaustic portraits, were found in the same tomb. The orientation of the soldier's studded sword belt indicates that he’s of low rank, but the woman is clothed in silks and wears expensive jewelry. 🏺 1/ c. 100-200 CE. 📸 me - ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

chapps.bsky.social • 4 days ago

I find it so fascinating that these two mummies, along with their fantastic encaustic portraits, were found in the same tomb. The orientation of the soldier's studded sword belt indicates that he’s of low rank, but the woman is clothed in silks and wears expensive jewelry. 🏺 1/

c. 100-200 CE. 📸 me

1 / 2

Comments

cliftonlee.bsky.social•4 days ago

I have never seen these two Fayum portraits, but I have always been haunted by the Louvre's Fayum portraits. On occasion they would be the only area of the Louvre I would visit... These two are a historical novel in waiting, esp with M. Aurelius in the background.

chapps.bsky.social•4 days ago

Yep! I think it calls to mind some sort of forbidden romance with a tragic but wonderfully dramatic ending.

cliftonlee.bsky.social•4 days ago

Thank you so much for sharing them.

chapps.bsky.social•4 days ago

My pleasure - I love them!

mappadan.bsky.social•4 days ago

Both died young, perhaps around the same time. Possible different type of loving relationship. Similar noses. Brother and sister?

chapps.bsky.social•4 days ago

The only problem with that is that Roman soldiers were posted far away from their homes provinces (to prevent insurrections, et al). So he was unlikely to have been Egyptian - but maybe the rules were bent a bit. Very hard to say.

historylounge.bsky.social•4 days ago

Could have been a soldier who did his service, got out, and then found some success as a merchant. Or married up. The vibrancy of their portraits makes you want to imagine their stories.

chapps.bsky.social•4 days ago

No, because he's still wearing his sword belt, meaning he was active military. Further, you sign on for over 20 years service, and he couldn't have retired yet. If he had somehow left the military and 'married up', he would have worn rich clothing. It's a puzzle.

historylounge.bsky.social•4 days ago

Now I really want to find out what happened!

chapps.bsky.social•4 days ago

Get that time machine ready!

jesusspiced.bsky.social•2 days ago

Siblings maybe from a wealthy family but maybe he was like the 4th son or something and that's why his military service is highlighted?

chapps.bsky.social•2 days ago

Unlikely to be siblings, only because Roman soldiers weren’t stationed in their home provinces at this time. And if he had died far away, the body couldn’t have been ‘shipped’ back to Egypt. Any son of a patrician family would have begun service at a higher level than this guy, too. Still a mystery.

spy-fi.bsky.social•4 days ago

Given that panel paintings were held I high regard in classical time and so little survived, it fills me with awe and sadness at how many painted wonders we have lost to time.

pgmetz.bsky.social•4 days ago

The portraits are so attractive, as are their subjects.

chapps.bsky.social•4 days ago

They're a gorgeous couple, if indeed they were a couple.

pgmetz.bsky.social•4 days ago

Oh I hope they were! I’m a hopeless romantic.

amwillemsen.bsky.social•1 day ago

Hmm, why of low rank, when he's wearing a gold fibula?

andreasgheiss.bsky.social•1 day ago

The fibula could just as likely be bronze, which has a golden colour when not oxidised yet

chapps.bsky.social•1 day ago

Yes, it's difficult to know for sure. So, the position of the sword belt indicates that the sword was suspended in its scabbard below the right hand (the sword hand) - the usual custom for junior ranks below centurion at that time.

chapps.bsky.social•1 day ago

I have to agree with Andreas here. It's a very small fibula, not showy, and new bronze can read as gold when depicted in art. It could also have been bronze with gilding, far less expensive than solid gold, and perhaps a small luxury for a soldier. It could also have been a fantasy for the painting.

joea64.bsky.social•4 days ago

This is the sort of thing one could write a historical romance novel about. One can very easily imagine them as married, or else lovers (though it may have been rather unusual, if the latter case, to bury lovers not married to one another together).

chapps.bsky.social•4 days ago

There are many - very romantic (forbidden, of course) - possibilities. Just waiting for someone to write the book.

davidluongart.bsky.social•4 days ago

I think perhaps of a tale old as time - the young guy himself was hustling and busting his ass in the merchant activities, to giving all of the boutiques-handmade expensive jewelry to his lover and recently wed fiancée.

davidluongart.bsky.social•4 days ago

While still working and enlisted in the military at the same time.

chapps.bsky.social•4 days ago

Scandal!

davidluongart.bsky.social•4 days ago

🤫

sra-fletcher.bsky.social•4 days ago

Marvelous ♥️
One question, were these paintings recently restored? Or were they found in good condition because they were in a tomb?
Thanks in advance

chapps.bsky.social•4 days ago

They were discovered in the 19th century, I believe. I don’t think any recent restorations were done, but they may have had something done after discovery. Her portrait, in particular, has issues - the limewood is very curved. Not sure if that happened during entombment or afterwards.

chapps.bsky.social•4 days ago

What was the relationship between these two people? Is this woman painted with accoutrements that she never enjoyed in life? Or is there another dimension to this story? Their hairstyles bring to mind Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the Younger. 🏺 2/

Soldier: Eton College
Woman: #BritishMuseum

Comment image

carmen-theresa.bsky.social•4 days ago

It seems like she was totally used to wearing that jewelry.

chapps.bsky.social•4 days ago

Well, you can make anyone look like that via a painting. We're definitely meant to think that when we see her. But without the mummy itself to tell us more, we can't know the truth.

therealjimsanto.bsky.social•4 days ago

perhaps they were entombed some years apart. her first husband died young, at the start of his military career, and she became a wealthy widow, either from her family fortune, or remarriage. chose to be painted as her younger self. who knows?

chapps.bsky.social•4 days ago

Except that soldiers weren’t supposed to marry until after retirement (not that this would have stopped some of them). They look contemporaneous - the hairstyles - and possibly the same artist or workshop. Soldiers weren’t usually stationed away from their homes, as well.

therealjimsanto.bsky.social•3 days ago

🤔

janaturner.bsky.social•2 days ago

He was her bitch

chapps.bsky.social•2 days ago

Or they had a mutually respectful and loving relationship.

janaturner.bsky.social•4 days ago

She looks like a boss 💪🏼 is it women’s history month or something?

chapps.bsky.social•3 days ago

It is indeed #womenshistorymonth. And she doesn’t look look like a boss. She never has to raise her voice - she’s got a steel core covered in velvet.

xavibermudez.bsky.social•4 days ago

A time traveler, no doubts.

Comment image

chapps.bsky.social•4 days ago

Great comparison! The Marcel Wave hairstyle really enhances the effect. I love it.

ellirahim.bsky.social•4 days ago

I'd like to imagine she's a patrician and he, the loyal bodyguard - both fell in some tragic event and their people recognised the devotion they had to each other.

chapps.bsky.social•4 days ago

Isn’t that the plot of … The Bodyguard? 😁 (except for the tragic end - that’s the plot of Pompeii)

ellirahim.bsky.social•4 days ago

Oh noooooooo...I'd forgotten about that movie.

chapps.bsky.social•4 days ago

Comment image

ellirahim.bsky.social•4 days ago

The soundtrack was the best bit.

chapps.bsky.social•2 days ago

BTW, I just uploaded a better photo of this beautiful woman, taken with my Canon camera. I hadn't known it existed until yesterday. https://flic.kr/p/2qRqV5E

emma-pesque.bsky.social•2 days ago

😍

chapps.bsky.social•4 days ago

High res versions of these images can be found on my Flickr site. Below is the Roman soldier, and a link to the beautiful woman from his tomb can be found in the comments. 🏺 3/ https://flic.kr/p/2qQqX7o