Ptah-Sokar-Osiris Figure of the Temple Musician Ihyt

This hollow mummiform figure represents the mortuary deity Ptah-Sokar-Osiris. Dedicated to a musician of the god Nemty named Ihyt, it is inscribed with offering prayers and texts glorifying the gods. The figure was constructed in two halves, with six tenons used to fasten the lid to the box, and then set into a rectangular base. Most figures of this type have some sort of cavity that contains a roll of papyrus, a piece of cloth, or some sort of mummified material. The space inside this figure is very shallow: Found inside were grains of wheat and sand, and several fragmentary linen bundles containing mud (see 21.9.1d).

Found most often in tombs, close to the coffin, such figures are thought to help protect the body of the deceased and help to guarantee their rebirth. The grains of wheat, sand, and mud found inside this example may be meant to evoke the agricultural cycle with which the god Osiris was closely associated.