Figure of Isis nursing Horus

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This amulet depicts Isis lactans, Isis nursing Horus, her posthumous son with the god Osiris. The goddess, identified by the throne hieroglyph on her head, sits on a block seat adorned on the side with a feather pattern, perhaps symbolizing the wings with which she can be shown or her form as a kite (a bird of prey). A folded cloth is shown as if covering the seat and draping over its low backrest. Isis was seen as the embodiment of a protective, nurturing mother; small figures such as this one would have evoked these qualities for the benefit of the owner.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art