Textile Draped over Anubis Figure

Ancient Egyptians draped textiles around objects in deliberate acts, but the results are often no longer visible as the fabrics were removed in modern times in order to expose the objects underneath.

Here, Harry Burton documented the outermost layer of textiles on a figure of the jackal-headed god Anubis before they were removed by the excavators of Tutankhamun's tomb. The body was found covered in a large, carefully arranged textile, a repurposed fringed tunic bearing the name of King Akhenaten, who was probably Tutankhamun's father. Beneath that was a thin shroud, followed by floral garlands around the figure's neck. A long piece of cloth had also been draped around the neck like a scarf, trailing downward. This bottommost layer would have been the first step in the sequence of shrouding and garlanding the diety figure. (For other layers see TAA 94 and TAA 96.)