Osiris

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Osiris, foremost of the Egyptian funerary gods and ruler of the underworld, stands upright in a close-fitting mummiform garment. The garment hugs the contours of his arms and shoulders. A suspension loop is positioned at the base of the neck. He holds the royal crook and flail with his arms crossed on his chest. Copper alloy statuettes of Osiris generally exhibit one of three arm positions: asymmetrical with the right fist over the left, symmetrical with the fists touching, and arms crossed. The latter position, seen here, is the least common of the three but still frequently utilized. Why these arm positions are so consistently represented and how they relate to workshop practices, chronological changes, or conceptions of cult is unknown. Osiris statuettes such as this one were some of the most abundant temple offerings in Egypt by the first millennium B.C., reflecting both the god’s importance and changing cult practices that spurred the wide-scale dedication of deity statuettes. Many statues of Osiris were offered in temples and shrines belonging to him, but they have also been found in other contexts, for example near temples and shrines honoring other prominent deities or in animal necropoleis.

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