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Unknown Maker, Egyptian

Ptah-Sokar-Osiris
Now On View

Maker

Unknown Maker, Egyptian

Culture

Egyptian

Title

Ptah-Sokar-Osiris

Period

Ptolemaic Period

Year

332-30 BCE

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

gesso, wood

Dimensions

Height: 86.4 cm (34 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Samir Moubayed

Object Number

80.262.1

Type

Exhibition History

Ancient Egyptian Galleries
Jun 10, 2014

Label copy

This statuette depicts Ptah-Sokar-Osiris in his human-faced form. Popular in funerary contexts after 1000 BCE, this composite deity represents Ptah, the creater god of Memphis; Sokar, patron of the Memphite necropolis; and Osiris, the chief god of the afterlife and ruler of the underworld. Together, they suggest birth, death, and resurrection.

A linen-wrapped corn mummy was placed inside this hollow mummiform figure to represent the agriculture image of rebirth in the afterlife. The body of the god therefore functions as a coffin itself.

The crown and beard were carved separately and attached to the figure with dowels.

Image use

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Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Unknown Maker, Egyptian
Ptah-Sokar-Osiris, 332-30 BCE
Wood, gesso, and paint
Height: 86.4 cm (34 inches)
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Samir Moubayed 80.262.1

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