In the Roman period Egyptian mummies were sometimes equipped with extremely lifelike painted portraits rather than the traditional gilded masks. About 1000 such painted portraits survive, and of these about 100 are still attached to the mummy cases to which they belong. This class will seek to analyze and interpret the evidence of these portraits—to understand why these images were made, and what such portraits attempt to communicate about the men, women, and children represented.

This course fulfills the following Major requirements: Geographical areas (A) or (D), and Chronological period (I), based on the topic of the final research paper or project.