Mourner Figurine
GEM Number
1615
Period
Middle Kingdom
Dynasty
11
Description
This crude figurine shows a female mourner raising her arms in grief. Mourners often appeared in tomb scenes following the funeral of the deceased with their arms raised, wailing, pulling their hair, beating their chests and smearing dirt on their bodies. Two female mourners would impersonate the goddesses Isis and Nephthys, the first mourners in Egyptian mythology and are usually depicted sitting or standing at either end of the dead body.
Pottery