Tag: osiris

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Reading Hieroglyphs

Sketch of Osiris

While this may seem like a simple sketch of Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ on limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰, I actually find it very interesting! This is easily recognizable as the god ๐“Šน Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ because the lord ๐“ŽŸ of the underworld ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰ is always depicted in the same way – as a mummy ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ, holding the crook ๐“‹พ and flail ๐“Œ… , and wearing the Atef crown ๐“‹š. The Atef crown is the White Crown of Upper Egypt ๐“Œ‰๐“๐“‹‘ with two ๐“ป feathers ๐“†„๐“๐“ญ๐“‹› of Maโ€™at ๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“ฆ adorning the sides.

Sketch of Osiris at the Brooklyn Museum

The hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช are as follows:
๐“Šจ๐“น๐“‰ผ๐“‰ผ๐“Šน

It simply says โ€œOsiris, the great god.โ€ In this caption, Osiris is written โ€œbackwardsโ€ and without the determinative ๐“€ญ hieroglyph ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ. This was probably due to the fact that the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช would appear neater when written like this โ€œ๐“Šจ๐“นโ€ instead of like this โ€œ๐“น๐“Šจ.โ€

Also, โ€œgreat godโ€ is written like this โ€œ๐“‰ผ๐“‰ผ๐“Šนโ€ instead of this โ€œ๐“‰ผ๐“Šน.โ€ It was either done to take up the appropriate amount of space (aesthetics were everything, and was much more important than proper spelling/grammar ๐Ÿ˜‚) or to emphasize Osirisโ€™ greatness. It couldโ€™ve even been for both reasons!

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Egyptian Artifacts

“Royal and Divine Triad”

Triads (groups of three ๐“ผ) were popular among ancient Egyptian statuary and mythology. This piece from the Louvre is called the โ€œRoyal and Divine Triadโ€ (Dynasty 19, New Kingdom c. 1279-1203 B.C.E.) because it represents three ๐“ผ of the most powerful figures in the Egyptian pantheon. Rameses II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ or his son ๐“…ญ Merenptah ๐“‡ณ๐“ƒ’๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน is on the left, Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ is in the middle, while Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ is on the right. The pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป was viewed as a god ๐“Šน on Earth, Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ was the king of the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน, and Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ was lord ๐“ŽŸ of the afterlife.

I find this piece super interesting because the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป kind of inserted himself amongst the most famous of the Egyptian triads – Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ, Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ and Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ – who were supposed to represent the divine family (mother ๐“…๐“๐“, father ๐“‡‹๐“๐“€€, and child ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“€•). In some instances (like with this statue), the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป would function as the child in the statue.

Not all triads represented families, though that was the most common. Ptah ๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ฑ, Sekhmet ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“, and Nefertem ๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“๐“ƒ๐“€ฏ was a family triad that was extremely popular in Memphis. During the New Kingdom (around the time of Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“), the triad of Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–, Ra ๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“›, and Ptah ๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ฑ became very popular due to the powerful nature of these three ๐“ผ deities

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Egyptian Artifacts

Osiride Statue of Hatshepsut

Itโ€™s been a little bit since Iโ€™ve spoke about Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช!! As many of you know, Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช is my favorite pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป and she has been an inspiration to me ever since I was a little kid! The โ€œHatshepsut Roomโ€ at the MET is my most favorite gallery in any museum that Iโ€™ve been to – I feel so lucky that itโ€™s so close to me here in NY! I still get so excited every time I get to step into the gallery! It is breathtaking every single time! Even with the mask, I think itโ€™s very easy to see just how happy I am in the picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“.

This is a bust of Pharaoh Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช, in the form of Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ (Osiride). The statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ originally stood over 4.6 m (15 ft) high and is originally from Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri ๐“‚ฆ๐“‚‹๐“‚ฆ๐“ฅ๐“‰. This statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ was not a free-standing statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ- it was actually carved from the blocks that were once part of the temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰.

Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช holds the traditional crook ๐“‹พ and flail ๐“Œ… across her chest, along with an ankh ๐“‹น and scepter ๐“Œ€. In antiquity, Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช was wearing the White Crown of Upper Egypt ๐“„ค๐“‹‘ on her head. About twenty ๐“Ž†๐“Ž† years after Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช died, these statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช were cut off of the temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ and thrown into a pit near the entrance. The statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช remained buried until they were discovered by excavators from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the 1930s.

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Egyptian Artifacts

Bronze Statues of Osiris, Isis and Horus

The Bronze Age started due to the rise in the Sumerian civilization in Mesopotamia. Due to war and trade, bronze ๐“ˆ”๐“ค๐“ˆ’๐“ฆ was able to come to Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– around 700 B.C.E. and replace the traditional stone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“Šช and clay statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ. The bronze ๐“ˆ”๐“ค๐“ˆ’๐“ฆ pieces are great antiquities because they can preserve small details over long periods of time. Bronze ๐“ˆ”๐“ค๐“ˆ’๐“ฆ statuary ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ became very popular starting around the Third Intermediate Period (26th Dynasty), and became very abundant in the Ptolemaic Period, which resulted in mass production and a loss of craftsmanship and quality.

The image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ of Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ feeding Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ as a baby is one of the most popular images ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ of the Late Period through the Ptolemaic Period. Symbolically, Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ was thought to be the mother ๐“…๐“๐“ of the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป, and was often associated with motherhood, the protection of women ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“‚‘๐“๐“, and a user of magic. As Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ became a more popular religious figure, she was associated with cosmological order and was considered to be the embodiment of fate by the Romans. This image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ of a mother ๐“…๐“๐“ holding a child ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“€• is thought to have inspired the well known Catholic images of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus as a baby.

Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ was one of the main figures of Egyptian religion. This is because Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ was the god ๐“Šน of the dead ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ and the ruler of the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰, and Egyptians spent their entire time living preparing for their death ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ and meeting with Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ. When the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป was alive, he was thought to be the living image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น of the God ๐“Šน Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ, but more importantly when the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป died, he was thought to then become an Osiris-like figure.

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Egyptian Artifacts

Anubis and Osiris – Cool Pieces at the Petrie Museum

This photo ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ has two ๐“ป cool things: an interesting limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ piece that represents Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ (left) and a wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ piece that represents Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ (right). While neither piece is โ€œgrand,โ€ they pose some interesting questions because they are quite unique!

Letโ€™s start with Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ (because heโ€™s my favorite)! Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ is seated on a shrine (very similar in style to one of his determinative โ€œ๐“ƒฃโ€ hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช). The ears are strange here because they are beautifully ๐“„ค carved, but the limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ between them was not cut away. Was this a stylistic choice or was the piece unfinished? We will probably never know! Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ was found at Saqqara and dates to the 26th Dynasty.

The Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ piece is also a bit strange. It is a large wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ figure that has been put into a base during modern times (to display easier). Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ is shown in his typical mummiform ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ way – wearing the Atef Crown ๐“‹š and holding the crook ๐“‹พ and flail ๐“Œ… in his hands. Whatโ€™s interesting is that the figure is very โ€œblockyโ€ – there are absolutely no fine details shown. Ancient Egyptian artists were known for fine details so again the question is: is the piece intended to look like this or is it incomplete? Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ is dated to the 30th Dynasty – Ptolemaic Period and was also found at Saqqara.

Also totally unrelated but you can see the ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ necklace from my previous post in the background of this picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“!!

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Reading Hieroglyphs

Osiris in Hieroglyphs

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช!

The inscription ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ that you see in the picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ spells out the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of the god ๐“Šน Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ. โ€œOsirisโ€ is actually the Greek version of the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–; the ancient Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช probably would have pronounced his name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– like โ€œIsr.โ€

There are a couple of different ways to write Osirisโ€™ ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–, but โ€œ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญโ€ is the most common way! Other variations are:
๐“‡ฌ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ–๐“„ค๐“€ญ
๐“Šฉ๐“น

Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ is considered one of the most important deities in ancient Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–. While he is mostly known as the god ๐“Šน of the underworld/afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰ (Duat), but that he also controlled all life ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“ from the underworld ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰. This means that Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ was associated with the annual flooding of the Nile River ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ—๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ‡๐“บ but also the growing vegetation and annual harvest. This makes sense since Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ is strongly connected with regeneration and rebirth, and the ancient Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช also associated the Nile ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ—๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ‡๐“บ with these characteristics. Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ was even thrown into the Nile ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ—๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ‡๐“บ after he was cut up by his brother ๐“Œข๐“ˆ– Seth ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“„ก๐“ฃ!

It was believed that every person, not just deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ pharaohs, became associated with Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ when they died! However people were not resurrected in this life ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“ (even Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ himself wasnโ€™t technically resurrected), instead, the person was reborn into the next life and lived in the Duat ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Djed Pillar Amulets

I absolutely love amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช because I love tiny ๐“ˆ–๐“†“๐“‹ด๐“…ฉ things! The MET has an incredible collection of amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช, and I feel like most people just walk by them because they’re so small ๐“ˆ–๐“†“๐“‹ด๐“…ฉ! But even small ๐“ˆ–๐“†“๐“‹ด๐“…ฉ objects can tell incredible stories about history!

In ancient Egyptian religion and culture, amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช were thought to have magical ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“„ฟ๐“œ powers and bestow them upon its wearer. Worn by both the living and the dead ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ, different amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช served various religious and protective functions. Amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช were usually made of faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ, which is a cheap and easy material to work with. Most faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ pieces have a green/blue ๐“‡…๐“†“๐“› color. This is because these colors were thought to represent life ๐“‹น and regeneration.

The djed pillar ๐“Šฝ was associated with Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ and his regenerative powers and is thus considered an amulet ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…† of power. The djed pillars ๐“Šฝ are usually blue ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“๐“„ฟ๐“ธ๐“ฅ or green ๐“‡…๐“„ฟ๐“†“๐“› in color to represent the Nile River ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ—๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ‡๐“บ. These amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช date back to the Old Kingdom, and were used throughout Egyptian history. In the New Kingdom, they were strung around the neck of the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ. In hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช, the djed ๐“Šฝ symbol means โ€œstabilityโ€ or โ€œenduring.โ€

The djed pillar ๐“Šฝ has also been thought to represent the spine of Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ, as referenced in The Book of the Dead: โ€œRaise yourself up Osiris. You have your backbone once more, weary-hearted One; you have bones.โ€