Creating Sacred Spaces Through Colour Choice in the Roman-Egyptian Tombs of Terenouthis

This paper sheds light on colour use in Roman Egypt by examining the polychrome decoration of a group of limestone funerary stelae from Terenouthis. The stelae and their tombs were excavated in 1935, and they are currently preserved in the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan. Kelsey Conservators have undertaken a project to investigate colour on the surface of these artefacts and to record the distinct ways colours are used on the stelae. We used the British Museum’s technical imaging capture and processing protocols to begin to characterize pigments on the stelae, including Egyptian blue, rose madder, and green earth, providing new data on pigment selection and access in Roman Egypt. Specific trends were revealed in how colour was used to present people, banquet scenes, text and architectural spaces on the stelae. The paper demonstrates how the inhabitants of Terenouthis made deliberate colour choices to communicate and amplify values and ideas specific to Roman Egyptian culture and funerary religion.