Art Institute of Chicago

Statuette of Horus the Child (Harpokrates)

Egyptian

Date

Late Period (664-332 BCE)

Medium

Copper alloy

Culture

Egypt

Department

Arts of Africa

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

According to ancient Egyptian myth, the god Horus was the son of Isis and her brother/husband Osiris, ruler of the underworld. Before Horus was born, Seth, the god of disorder and also Osiris’s brother, murdered the king in a quest for Egypt’s throne—but the gods elevated Horus as heir instead. This statuette shows him wearing the Double Crown, or pschent, which combines the crown of Upper (southern) Egypt with that of Lower (northern) Egypt, signifying Horus’s dominion over the whole realm. Here the young god places his right index finger to his lips in a gesture that ancient Egyptians understood as a sign for childhood. His youthfulness is further underscored by his nakedness and the “sidelock of youth,” a single braid on the side of his head, which was a common hairstyle for Egyptian children. In later periods this form of the god was worshiped under the Greek name Harpokrates, which comes from the Egyptian “Hor-pa-khered,” meaning “Horus the child.”

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