Mummy Mask: Was the Subject a Christ-Follower?

Photo credit: Craig Evans

Here is an interesting article on the use of old papyrus documents to make mummy masks. The death mask in question is a part of the Gospel of Mark and is believed to be about 1900 years old. It may be the oldest known copy of Mark's Gospel.  Because papyrus was expensive people often reused documents.  No one is asking the obvious questions:

Why did this person have a copy of Mark's Gospel?

Was this mummified person a follower of Jesus? Probably!

Mummification was a practice of Abraham's people, the very people who anticipated Messiah's appearing. The Kushite-Kushan connection reveals that the practice was associated with pyramid tombs from the Sahara to the Tarum Valley in China.

The Egyptians believed in the second death which is mentioned in the book of Revelation. Priests officiated at funerals, offering prayers and sacrifices for the dead. They also prepared the bodies of the dead in the hope that they might rise to life. This belief did not originate with the Egyptians, however. They received it from their Kushite ancestors. The Kushites controlled the Nile Valley long before Egypt became a world power and they were the first to unite the Upper and Lower Nile regions.

Saint Augustine wrote "that the Egyptians alone believe in the resurrection, as they carefully preserved their dead bodies." (Jon Davies, "Death, burial, and rebirth in the religions of antiquity", Routledge, 1999, p. 27) However, Augustine was wrong about that. The Kushites and the Kushan also practiced mummification and for the same reason.

Related reading: The Kushite-Kushan Connection; The Bosom of Abraham