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Painted wooden figure of Osiris

British Museum

British Museum
London, United Kingdom

From the Nineteenth to the mid-Twenty-second Dynasty (about 12950--850 BC) a carved wooden figure of the god Osiris was often included in the tombs of persons of high status. the image or its base was usually hollow, and the cavity contained a rolled papyrus on which funerary texts were inscribed.This statue was made for the scribe Hunefer, who probably lived during the reign of Sety I (about 1294-1279 BC). It represents Osiris as a mummy, wearing a feathered crown adorned with a sun disc, and grasping the royal crook and flail sceptres that denote his status as a ruler of the netherworld. The hieroglyphic inscription painted on the front of the body invokes Osiris and the embalmer-god Anubis, who are asked to grant the deceased Hunefer unrestricted access to the realm of the dead.

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  • Title: Painted wooden figure of Osiris
  • Physical Dimensions: Height: 76.00cm; Height: 68.50cm
  • External Link: British Museum collection online
  • Technique: painted
  • Registration number: 1852,0525.2
  • Place: Found/Acquired Egypt
  • Period/culture: New Kingdom
  • Material: wood
  • Copyright: Photo: © Trustees of the British Museum
  • Acquisition: Purchased from Boone, H
British Museum

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