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Head of an Osiride Statue of Hatshepsut

New Kingdom
ca. 1473–1458 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 115
This head belonged to a statue that represented Hatshepsut as Osiris, god of the underworld. It was one of four Osiride figures that decorated the sanctuary of Amun in her funerary temple at Deir el Bahri. This head and another in the collection (31.3.154) wear the White Crown of Upper Egypt and were originally at the southern end of the sanctuary. Another head in the collection (31.3.153) wears the Double Crown and came from the northern end.

The Osiride statues that decorated Hatshepsut's temple were "engaged" statues - in other words, they were attached to the temple itself. However, approximately 20 years after her death, the statues were hacked off the walls and smashed. The fragments were then thrown into a quarried area next to the temple causeway where they were discovered there during the Museum's excavations in the early Twentieth Century.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Head of an Osiride Statue of Hatshepsut
  • Period: New Kingdom
  • Dynasty: Dynasty 18
  • Reign: Joint reign of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III
  • Date: ca. 1473–1458 BCE
  • Geography: From Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Deir el-Bahri, Senenmut Quarry, in hole, MMA excavations, 1926–28; Probably originally from Temple of Hatshepsut, sanctuary, southwest corner
  • Medium: Limestone, paint
  • Dimensions: H. 36 cm (14 3/16 in)
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1931
  • Object Number: 31.3.155
  • Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Head of an Osiride Statue of Hatshepsut Originally in the Temple Sanctuary SE Corner, Limestone, paint
Head of an Osiride Statue of Hatshepsut Originally in the Temple Sanctuary SE Corner
ca. 1473–1458 BCE
Limestone sarcophagus: the Amathus sarcophagus, Hard limestone, Cypriot
Limestone sarcophagus: the Amathus sarcophagus
Cypriot
2nd quarter of the 5th century BCE
Head from a Statue of King Amenhotep I, Sandstone, paint
Head from a Statue of King Amenhotep I
ca. 1525–1504 BCE
Sphinx of Hatshepsut, Granite, paint
Sphinx of Hatshepsut
ca. 1473–1458 BCE
Stela of the Steward Mentuwoser, Limestone, paint
Stela of the Steward Mentuwoser
ca. 1944 B.C.

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