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Statuette of Osiris

Late Period
664–332 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 138
Osiris is most often represented as a shrouded mummy, emphasizing his connection with the dead. He holds a flail and a shepherd’s crook, insignia associated with Egyptian kingship, and wears a long, braided beard, emblematic of divinity. On the front of his tall crown is a uraeus, a cobra ready to spit fire at his enemies. The horns may link him with the sun god, who often appears as a ram-headed man at the end of the day and during the night.

By the first millennium B.C., statues and statuettes of Osiris were offered in profusion, reflecting both the importance of the god and a shift in how the ancient Egyptians performed certain rituals. Some of the places where statues of Osiris have been found can be identified as temples and shrines belonging to him, but they have also been found as offerings in contexts where explanations are not evident. This example is unusually large, though not the largest known in bronze.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Statuette of Osiris
  • Period: Late Period
  • Dynasty: Dynasty 26–30
  • Date: 664–332 BCE
  • Geography: From Egypt
  • Medium: Leaded bronze
  • Dimensions: H. 45.7 × W. 13 × D. 10 cm, 9.2 kg (18 × 5 1/8 × 3 15/16 in., 20.2 lb.); Base: 8 × 8.5 cm (3 1/8 × 3 3/8 in.)
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1961
  • Object Number: 61.45
  • Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

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