29
The closing panel can be made of various materials and connected to the
foot end of the cartonnage in different ways.
5.1 CUT FROM WOOD
5.1.1 CONNECTED TO THE CARTONNAGE
On the cartonnage of Her, Vienna inv. no. ÄS 225, the closing panel is not
preserved, but conclusions can be drawn from the remaining traces. Along
the edge of the foot end, in large running stitches, a thick string (twisted
from numerous linen threads) is drawn. There is additionally one hole on
each side, perhaps to secure the plank in position for lacing. Apparently,
the closing wooden panel was connected by a string threaded in a zigzag
through both the cartonnage and the wooden plank, similar to the lacing
of the back slit. On the preserved sides of the cartonnage, strings are
present below the linen strip adhered above, which was glued over the edge
(fig. 22). This type of attachment is documented on the cartonnage of Nesperennub
in
London.71
Such was also reconstructed for Neskhonsupakhered
71 London, The British Museum, inv. no. EA 30720; Salima Ikram – Aidan Dodson,
The Mummy in Ancient Egypt. Equipping the Dead for Eternity, London 1998,
176, fig. 211.
5. THE CLOSING PANEL AT THE
FOOT END
CARTONNAGES
FROM
MUMMIES
Fig. 22: Inv. no. ÄS 225, foot end with string and covering strip preserved.
