Osiris figure for Gautsoshen

Third Intermediate Period

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 126

This Osiride figure was carved from sycomore-fig wood, then inserted into a coniferous wood base. A cylindrical chamber was created by sawing horizontally across the middle of the back, and then vertically from the feet to the cross-cut, with each part then hollowed out. The facial features are relatively well carved, and special attention was given to the god's crown—the two side feathers (representing ostrich plumes) were made of separate pieces of wood, and the uraeus (rearing cobra on the brow) was is crowned with a horned sun disk, more usually associated with Isis or Hathor. Gautsoshen's Book of the Dead (25.3.32) was put into the interior chamber through a hole in the base, which was plugged up afterwards.

Osiris figure for Gautsoshen, Sycomore wood

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