Mummy
Egypt
Gift of Zenas Crane

Meet Pahat: The Real Person

This mummy was a real man named Pahat who lived over 2300 years ago. He lived in the ancient Egyptian town Ipu, now known as Akhmin. Pahat was a priest who served the temple icon of Min. Min was the local god of Ipu and an Egyptian god of harvest and fertility.

In 2007, Egyptologists studying mummies from the Akhmin region visited the Berkshire museum to study Pahat. Much to their surprise, they discovered that a mummy at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York is Pahat’s son, who, like his father and grandfather, was a priest. They determined this relationship by reading the hieroglyphs on the nearly identical coffins. Pahat underwent conservation and was transported to Berkshire Medical Center for CT scans; this forensic research has resulted in a new, 3-D model of what he looked like in life. The model and sample scans are included in the new installation opening April 12, 2008.

Amulet
Egypt
Gift of Miss Mabel Choate

In ancient Egypt, amulets were small charms worn by both the living and deceased to protect against evil. This particular amulet is called the "wadjet eye," representing the eye of Horus, god of the sky. Horus lost his left eye when avenging the death of his father Osiris, who was killed by his brother (Horus' uncle), Seth. Subsequently restored by the moon god Thoth, Horus offered his eye to his father; this amulet now represents reverence to parents and the restoration of life.

Shabti
Egypt
Gift of R. Henry W. Dwight

These funerary figures were an important component of the preparation for life after death in ancient Egypt. Their earliest function was to provide an additional dwelling place for a deceased person in the event that the mummy remains were destroyed. Shabtis later assumed the role of substitute laborers in the afterlife for the mummified person, and were often depicted with tools in hand. Some ancient tombs held as many as 365 shabtis, one for each day of labor, along with many overseer shabtis to ensure that the work was completed.

Canopic Jar
Egypt
Gift of Zenas Crane

During the mummification process, the stomach, lungs, intestines, and liver were removed from the body. They were then preserved with Natron, and wrapped in linen. The organs were often placed in canopic jars, though they could also be placed back inside the body of the mummy before the final wrapping of the body (which was normally done with the heart). Some jars were topped with head-shaped lids, which denoted the identity of the organ held inside. This jar shows the jackal-headed Duamutef and was made to hold a stomach.