Minneapolis Institute of Art

Goddess Isis

Egypt

Date

c. 664 BCE–30 CE

Medium

Bronze

Culture

Ancient Egyptian

Department

Arts of Global Africa

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Many world religions and belief systems have a sacred mother figure, personifying a strong, caring character—like the Hindu goddess Parvati, the Greek goddess Gaia, or the Christian Virgin Mary. Isis is the sacred mother figure of ancient Egypt, known as the Mother Goddess, with a dramatic backstory: to conceive her son, she resurrected her murdered husband. In this statuette, Isis holds Harpocrates—the child Horus—to her breast, a position that represents the mother figure as the nurturer and protector of humankind. Ancient Egyptian, Africa

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