Ceremonial helmet? / funerary crown? inscribed for the Osiris Hor-Psamtik

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Generally described as a helmet because of a very general resemblance to Assyrian helmets of this time, this piece was created in relatively fragile faience and is unlikely to be intended for actual battle. Another possibility is that it is a squat approximation of an Egyptian white crown, typically worn by Osiris along with the kings. The purpose must be ceremonial and / or funerary, although nothing similar is known, nor is the practice of supplying life-size faience funerary accessories documented. However, the helmet / crown was represented to its collector in the late 1800s as having been found on a mummy, and conservation and technical examination supports this representation. This determination reveals an unknown practice. The headgear bears an unusual name - Hor-Psamtik, or Psamtik is Horus - that points to the owner having lived during or near the reign of one of the three Psamtik's of the 26th dynasty.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.

Metropolitan Museum of Art