Art Institute of Chicago

Statuette of Osiris

Egyptian

Date

Late Period, Dynasty 26 or later, 664–332 BCE

Medium

Copper alloy

Culture

Egypt

Department

Arts of Africa

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Ancient Egyptian worshippers purchased statuettes like this one from temple workshops and deposited them in temples or shrines. They made such offerings in thanks for answered prayers or to request good health, long life, and other favors from the gods. This finely cast statuette depicts the mummified Osiris, ruler of the underworld. The god holds a shepherd’s crook and a flail, symbols of royal authority that signify his role as Egypt’s first king. The statuette would have been inserted into a rectangular base inscribed for the person who offered it.

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