Upper part of a figure of Isis nursing Horus

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The upper part of an Isis lactans figure, when complete this would have depicted Isis nursing her Horus, her posthumous son with the god Osiris (see 55.121.5). Enough of the figure is preserved to show that the goddess is offering her breast to her baby, although his figure is now missing. On her head is the throne hieroglyph that symbolized her name. The face of a a second group of Isis with Horus, of which again only the upper part is preserved, is almost identical to this one, and both also display similarities to certain shabtis, suggesting a date in the early Ptolemaic Period. Additional study of these pieces may allow us to add to our understanding of workshop practices. Isis was seen as the embodiment of a protective, nurturing mother; 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