Head from a figure of Osiris

Head from a figure of Osiris

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This head is from a statuette of Osiris, principal god of the afterlife and ruler of the Netherworld. The deity is shown wearing his typical "atef" crown, a tall crown flanked by ram's horns and ostrich plumes and protected by a hooding cobra. His face is placid and his serene affect enhanced by a slight smile. Only the very top of his false beard and the straps that would have held it in place are preserved. The tip of the crown, as well as the tops of the feathers and the tips of the horns that flanked it are gone, and the head has been broken away from the body. Numerous statues and statuettes of Osiris were offered as votives, for the most part in temples and shrines, but also in contexts where their function is unclear. The vast majority of these were of bronze or copper alloy, making this stone figure an unusual example of its type.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Head from a figure of OsirisHead from a figure of OsirisHead from a figure of OsirisHead from a figure of OsirisHead from a figure of Osiris

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.