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Statue of Ptah-Sokar-Osiris

A small statue consisting of a multicolored rectangular base and a painted mummified figure oriented vertically, wearing an elaborate striped headdress with a plume.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A small statue consisting of a multicolored rectangular base and a painted mummified figure oriented vertically, wearing an elaborate striped headdress with a plume.

Date:

Ptolemaic Period (332–30 BCE)

Artist:

Egyptian

About this artwork

Divine images, powerful symbols, and sacred words placed in the burial chamber with the deceased helped ancient Egyptians transition from the earthly realm to the afterlife. This funerary statue, owned by a woman named Asetirdis (“Isis is the one who gave her”), depicts the god Ptah-Sokar-Osiris. A composite of Ptah (a creator god), Sokar (the patron deity of the necropolis west of Memphis), and Osiris (the ruler of the underworld), Ptah-Sokar-Osiris’s purview encompassed all phases of life, including rebirth. Shown in a mummified form, his red wrappings are covered in an intricate net of beads painted in blue, black, and yellow. A cavity in the statue’s base was designed to hold a papyrus scroll inscribed with funerary texts or another sacred object to facilitate Asetirdis’s rebirth after death.

Status

On View, Gallery 50

Department

Arts of Africa

Culture

Ancient Egyptian

Title

Statue of Ptah-Sokar-Osiris

Place

Egypt (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

305 BCE–30 BCE

Medium

Wood, preparation layer, pigment, gold, and textile

Inscriptions

Front: Words said by Osiris, Foremost of the Westerners, the Great God, Lord of Abydos, that he may give offerings to the Hathor, Osiris-ir-des, daughter of Wsim-nechen (?) true of voice. Back: [A gift that the king gives] to Osiris, Foremost of the Westermers, the Great God, Lord of Abydos, that he may give invocation offerings consisting of bread, beer, and every good and pure thing upon which the god lives, [to] the Hathor, Osiris-ir-des, daughter of Wsim-nechen (?), true of voice.

Dimensions

62.9 × 12.7 × 27.3 cm (24 3/4 × 5 × 10 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Phoenix Ancient Art, S.A.

Reference Number

2002.542

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

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https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/160171/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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