Mummy Label

Wooden mummy label carved and painted with four lines of Greek text. Fragment along the left side missing. Collected by Rev. William Frankland Hood on one of his visits to Egypt between 1851 - 1861. During the Roman Period (30 BC – AD 395) inscribed wooden labels were attached to the mummies to identify the dead person. Wellcome Historical Medical Museum accession no. 30973: Five wooden mummy labels, in Greek. One with hieratic inscriptions on either side 6¾" X 3" One with inscription on one side 4½" X 3¼" One with inscription on one side 4½" X 2½" One with inscription on one side 4½" X 2½" One 3" X 2½"; Purchased at Sotheby's, London, 11 November 1924 (Hood collection), Lot 147/10: "Four wooden Mummy Labels in Greek; one with a long hieratic inscription; the Fragment of a wooden Comb; half of a lion in wood; and three wooden Stamps, with crosses (Coptic)."