14 Old Bond Street, London W1S 4PP - Email: info@rupertwace.co.uk
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| Bronze statuette of Osiris |  |
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Standing upright on an integral trapezoidal base, the god is wrapped in a close-fitting robe with a broad collar in relief with a tassel behind and bracelets at his wrists. Above his waist he holds a crook and flail in his hands. He wears a braided beard with curled tip and incised straps on his finely featured face and is crowned with the Atef headdress with incised plumes above the twisted ram horns and a uraeus with long serpentine tail at the forehead. Marked in red with a museum no. 1974.572
Osiris was one of the most prominent gods of ancient Egypt, connected with death, resurrection and fertility. Despite his importance his origins and the meaning of his name are obscure, although the most plausible explanation suggests it means ‘mighty one’. Probably originally connected to concepts of fertility he quickly took the attributes and characteristics of many other deities, including an identity as a resurrected god and ruler of the underworld and more importantly the judge of the dead. Perhaps his most well known myth tells of his dismemberment by his brother Seth, who scattered his body parts throughout Egypt. His wife Isis and their sister Nephthys gathered his fragments together and revived him. Eventually their son Horus avenged his father defeating Seth and becoming king of all Egypt. Although his underworld aspect contained some measure of fearsomeness and awe, his human origin, murder and resurrection, and his family’s devotion meant that he was viewed as a benign deity who represented the clearest idea of salvation in the next world to the ancient Egyptians. Late Dynastic Period. 664-332 BC |
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Rupert Wace Ancient Art
14 Old Bond Street, London W1S 4PP - Email: info@rupertwace.co.uk |
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