“The White Crown is set on your head. You seized
the crook and the flail when you were (still) in the
womb and had not (yet) emerged onto the earth”
The Book of the Dead
This magnificent bronze votive sculpture represents
Osiris, god of fertility, king of the dead, and ruler of
eternity. It survives to us from the Late Dynastic
Period.
Depicted in-the-round in typical mummiform, Osiris
stands upon substantial trapezoid base with integral
tang for mounting. Arms are crooked at the elbow
and positioned one over the other against the trunk,
the hands protrude from beneath vestment and
clutch crook and flail.
The crook, representing the shepherd and the flail,
symbolizing the punishments deemed necessary to
retain authority were Osiris’s essential attributes and
became the insignia of Pharaonic authority. No two
objects were more closely associated with the rulers’
dominion over Egypt and would have been bestowed
upon the Pharaoh upon accession.
Osiris wears the atef crown, which combines the
HEDJET – CROWN OF UPPER EGYPT – WITH
FRONTAL
URAEUS SERPENT AND RAM HORNS TOPPED BY
OSTRICH FEATHERS, REPRESENTING TRUTH,
JUSTICE,
MORALITY AND BALANCE AT THE SIDES. It was
worn
solely by Osiris and Sobek.
THE ELONGATED TRIANGULAR FACE WITH LINEAR
BROWS, LARGE EYES, FLESHY NOSE AND LIPS
BEARING SERENE SMILE HAS BEEN FINISHED TO AN
EXCEPTIONAL STANDARD. THE PLAITED ROYAL
BEARD, WHICH CURVES SLIGHTLY AT THE TIP, IS
JOINED TO THE CHEST.
INCISED COLLAR AROUND THE NECK.
SUPERB, GLOSSY PATINA OVER WHOLE.
EXCITEMENT WAS CAUSED RECENTLY IN JANUARY
2015 BY THE DISCOVERY OF OSIRIS’S MYTHICAL
TOMB IN THEBES. THE ENORMOUS ANCIENT
REPRODUCTION OF THE MYTHICAL TOMB AS
DESCRIBED BY EGYPTIAN LEGEND DATES BACK TO
25TH OR 26TH DYNASTY.
- (X.0339)
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