This cartonnage mummy mask was discovered during excavations made in Asyut in Upper Egypt by Ch. Palanque under the direction of E. Chassinat in 1903. It originally belonged to a nobleman named ‘Kheti’ who lived in the Herakleopolitan Period (Dynasties 9–10). His sarcophagus was apparently re-used as it was found to conceal the bones of a child of four to five years of age, whose height may have reached 70–80 cm. The little skeleton had its head turned to the left, without any support. It was discovered in the middle of a pile of textiles, folded or simply rolled into pads, hemmed and fringed on one of the sides. The body was half inserted within this beautiful mask that features a bearded man (the beard is painted blue) wearing a black wig surrounded by a multi-coloured diadem with a central ornament. The chest is covered by a necklace containing several rows of beads of various colours.