By December 9, 2008 Read More →

Mummy Portrait of Hermione Grammatike, 40-50 CE

Mummy_of_Hermione

Mummy Portrait of Hermione Grammatike

Mummy portraits became popular in Roman Egypt in the first century BCE. They were painted on wooden panels and attached to the mummies. This mummy portrait was inscribed with the name of its subject, Hermione Grammatike. Grammatike means grammarian or teacher of classics. The portrait is the only known portrait or other remains of a learned woman from the ancient world.

Hermione’s mummy portrait was discovered by Flinders Petrie in the Fayum Cemetery of Hawara, Egypt, in 1911. It is currently housed in the Lawrence Room of Girton College, Cambridge University.

Posted in: Roman Period I

1 Comment on "Mummy Portrait of Hermione Grammatike, 40-50 CE"

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  1. Ros Horton says:

    I wonder if you can help? I am compiling a guidebook to Cambridge on behalf of a German publisher, Emons Verlag. I am also responsible for taking the photos (no picture budget).

    I have written an entry on Girton’s Lawrence Room and would like to use a photo of Hermione to illustrate it. But I was unable to take a decent picture of her when I went last week and so wondered if you might give permission for your photo to be used (if duly credited). I would need a high res version of it.

    Kind regards
    Ros Horton