The domination of Egypt, first by the Macedonian dynasty, then by the Roman Empire, and the coexistence of the Hellenistic and Egyptian populations with different cultural and religious systems of views, with socio-political inequality, inevitably led to problems with self-determination in a multi-ethnic society. Often the inhabitants of Roman Egypt experienced difficulties with ethnic and cultural identity. A representative of the well-off segment of the population in one situation (for example, in a gymnasium) He could call and consider himself a "Greek", in another (when establishing a religious cult) — "Egyptian", and in the third (in the Roman administration) - "Roman" (Borg, 2000, pp. 76-83). Under these conditions, the features of the funeral rite could indicate not only the religious beliefs of the deceased, but also his socio-ethnic affiliation, helping to solve the problem of self-determination. Keywords: Roman Egypt, Roman Empire, funerary portraits. page 101Throughout the thousand-year history of Ancient Egypt, starting from the time of the first Pharaohs and up to the Greco-Roman time, the funeral rite was aimed at preserving the human body as the receptacle of its "soul" 1 and reproducing the appearance of the deceased. The beginning of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt (323-30 BC) and the introduction of Hellenic culture, including painting and sculpture, influenced the iconography and symbolism of elements of the funeral rite and led to a mixture of artistic styles. Hellenic culture also brought to Egypt the idea of the need for a naturalistic representation of the subject.2 The penetration of the ideas of the veristic 3 portrait into the Egyptian funerary cult with the beginning of Roman rule was reflected in the appearance in the first half of the first century. pictorial funerary portraits attached to the mummy's bandages. They were naturalistic images of the deceased, either frontally or with slightly turned shoulders. In compositional terms, the po ... Read more