The Mummy of Hornedjitef, Sculpture of a Huastec Goddess

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Date: 11Th June, 2014
Figure 1: The Mummy of Hornedjitef
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Source: The British Museum Web site (2014)
This is the mummy of an Egyptian priest (Hornedjitef) who was buried in a coffin in a second coffin. The mummy of Hornedjitef is housed within a massive black outer coffin that is shaped like the human body. It has an inner case that is decorated elaborately then the mummy that is carefully embalmed and wrapped up in amulets and talismans. The inner coffin has a face that is finely gilded with the underside of the coffin’s lid decorated with inscriptions of spells, images of gods that act as protectors, and constellations of stars. Below the face, there is a face of a sun god as a winged scarab beetle which is a symbol of spontaneous life and planked by baboons that worship the rising sun (Aufderheide 257).
Mummification was practiced all over Egypt as a means for preserving a dead body for the afterlife. However, before the mummified individual enters the afterlife, he would undertake a hazardous journey; therefore, he needed to prepare carefully and he the individual took charm and spells for any eventuality. This evident in Hornedjitef’s mummy as it is filled with written spells and charms that he would use as he travelled to his afterlife (Filer 4-5).
Looking at the mummy one gets the feeling of amazement as to how individuals in the past were so skillful to come up with such an elaborate body preservation method that up to date has not been fully understood. One is also shocked by the belief system that the people at the time had regarding death. The mummy immediately captures one attention and gives a quick mental picture of how life was at the time especially for the noble people in Egypt due to the obvious expensive materials used for burials. This mummy is displayed at the entrance of the museum for individuals interested in Egyptian history and the traditional religious practices and believes including historical enthusiast.
Figure 2: Sculpture of a Huastec Goddess
Source: The British Museum Web site (2014)
This is a statue of a mother goddess of the people of Huastec. It is carved from one block of stone and is 6 feet tall, 2 feet wide and 6 inches thick. From its appearance that is having basic straight geometric shapes and lines, it was carved using basic tools and similar slab-like structures were popular in Huasteca. The people in these regions believed that female deities were hugely followed; therefore, similar statues were common in communal locations (Susan, Webster and David 106).
The deities among the Huastec people and their predecessors were Tlazolteotl (the goddess of health) and Mixoatl (a deer like supernatural being). Mayan writings contain some information about a god fitting the description of Tlazolteotl (Oxford University 14.Vol.2). A translation of the word Tlazolteotl means the goddess having a quintuple personali...