Textiles and Death
Mummified Crocodile
Egypt
ca. 1550 BCE–600 CE
Linen with faunal remains
Bryn Mawr College, 24225
In addition to humans, animals were also mummified in Ancient and Late Antique Egypt. The body of this crocodile was preserved and then wrapped in intercrossing bands of linen. This binding technique is almost exactly the same as that used for human mummies from the Pharaonic to the Early Byzantine eras. Because similar practices were employed across this long time span, a conclusive date for this mummified crocodile cannot be determined from the style of wrappings alone.
The crocodile represents many of the problems inherent in dating Byzantine Egyptian funerary materials. Because of the extensive cultural overlap between the different periods of Egyptian history, explicit archaeological context (the findspot and detailed records of any associated materials) is necessary to date an artifact conclusively. Without such evidence, as is the case with nearly all the textiles on display in this exhibit, artifacts cannot be definitively dated or placed precisely within the complex cultural history of Egypt.
