fayum art comprises essentially of the Fayum mummy portraits. There are currently over 900 of these portraits surviving, some still upon the bodies themselves. A number of the portraits however were removed from the bodies which were disposed off.

This Fayum artwork was painted on wood or cartonnage panels, and wrapped within the bandages over the face of the mummy. The portraits were painted using the encaustic method (wax painting) or tempura although the former are in better condition.

Flinders Petrie discovered the first of these portraits in 1888-9 when he was working at the site of Hawara in the Fayum. He discovered a Roman necropolis and the majority of the mummies bore a painted portrait. Since this discovery a great number have been excavated, primarily from the Fayum sites of Hawara and Antinopolis.

All 900 of the portraits date to the Roman period. The artwork itself is totally Greaco-Roman in style with no Egyptian influences. However, the art of mummification itself was an Egyptian convention, and demonstrates a juxtaposition of cultures.

The portraits show both sexes and include adults and children. It is possible to trace fashion trends by examining the clothes, jewellery and hairstyles of these portraits, and some of the accessories can be matched to similar discovered in the archaeological record. However these mummies only represent the very rich, as the quality of the portraits and the process of mummification was not cheap at this time.

Scientific methods have been employed since the late 1990s to examine the bodies associated with these portraits. Wrapped mummies were scanned using a CT scanner, whereas the unwrapped mummies and skulls were reconstructed. The portraits proved to be accurate representations of the deceased in age, sex and appearance. These findings continue to intrigue in the various museum displays they have featured in.

It is clear, from the use of modern technology that these portraits are a snapshot into the lives of Roman Egypt, and in particular the multicultural society living in the Fayum. Further research can only improve this knowledge presenting a richer image of life 2000 years ago.