Osiris

Gold medallion of Caracalla

This gold medallion of the Roman Emperor Caracalla, was found in Abu Qir, Egypt, and dates from, c. 215-243 A.D. It is one of 20 medallions found within a hoard in Abu Qir, Egypt. One of the medallion’s is marked with “Olympic Games of the year 274”, which could mean that these were medallions given...

Statuette of Osiris as a Mummy with Erected Phallus

This baked clay statuette depicts the god Osiris naked, wears a tripartite wig and a divine beard. The penis and testicles are shaped separately and inserted into an oval recess. The black stone pupils are placed in a white stucco eyeball. The eye framing and eyebrows are inlaid sheet gold. Within the mummy case were...

Osiris with Isis and Nephthys. Book of the Dead of the scribe Hunefer. New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, c. 1300 B.C.British Museum. EA9901,3

Osiris with Isis and Nephthys

Osiris with Isis and NephthysThe Book of the Dead of the scribe HuneferNew Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, c. 1300 B.C.British Museum. EA9901,3 Hunefer was a scribe during the 19th Dynasty (c. 1300 B.C.). He was the owner of the Papyrus of Hunefer, a copy of the funerary Egyptian Book of the Dead, which represents one of the...

Ptolemaic gold finger ring inscribed with the title Osiris

Ptolemaic gold finger ring inscribed with the title Osiris

Upon death, people who were thought to have lived moral lives were reborn in the afterlife as a form of the god Osiris. This Ptolemaic gold ring is inscribed with the title “Osiris,” followed by the owner’s names and titles, attesting to his faith that he would become one with the god after death. Gold...

Corn Mummy of Osiris

Corn Mummy of Osiris

This falcon-headed coffin does not contain an actual mummy but a symbolic Osiris mummy stuffed with grains like corn and sand. The falcon head on the coffin and the hieroglyphic text on the painted lid indicate they are associated with the funerary deity Ptah-Sokar-Osiris. During the mysteries, two statuettes of Osiris were manufactured: one was...

Statuette representing Isis and Osiris

Statuette representing Isis and Osiris

A bronze statuette of the goddess Isis with outstretched wings around her husband and brother the god Osiris. In a bloody battle, Seth dismembered Osiris and spread his remains all around Egypt. Isis searched for the fragments to make a mummy and thus bring her beloved husband to life once again. Nevertheless, certain versions of...

The Opening of the Mouth Ceremony on the deceased King. Scene from the Burial Chamber of Tutankhamun

Opening of the Mouth Ceremony of Tutankhamun

This scene is unique in its nature. We never witnessed an heir or a successor performing the ritual of the Opening of the Mouth Ceremony on the deceased King. The scene from the north wall of the burial chamber in the Tomb of Tutankhamun shows the brown “freckling” of the paintings that may have resulted...

Weighing of the Heart in the court of Osiris

The Weighing of the Heart in the court of Osiris

One of the best-known vignettes in the Book of the Dead is that of the weighing of the heart (“psychostasia”) in the tribunal of the Double Truth, in the presence of Osiris and other gods of the netherworld. Chapter 125 of Book of Dead, Papyrus of Taysnakht, daughter of Taymes. The heart of the deceased...

Golden Head of the God Osiris

Gold Head Amulet of Osiris

Amulet showing the head of the god Osiris, on his head he wears the White Hedjet Crown of Upper Egypt on which the uraeus stands out. The cult and images of the god have undergone profound changes over time. For example, Osiris, lord of the underworld, is also included in the solar cycle: it is...

Relief of Osiris and Isis

Detail of a wall relief depicting Osiris and Isis in the Temple of Seti I in Abydos, the cult center of Osiris, lord of the dead. The necropolis is a place of pilgrimage and burial and at least ten temples were originally constructed there.  Among those ten temples, three remain that are of special note. These...