Statuette of Osiris

Late Period, Dynasty 26 or later, 664–332 BCE

Ancient Egyptian

Ancient Egyptian worshippers purchased statuettes like this one from temple workshops and deposited them in temples or shrines. They made such offerings in thanks for answered prayers or to request good health, long life, and other favors from the gods. This finely cast statuette depicts the mummified Osiris, ruler of the underworld. The god holds a shepherd’s crook and a flail, symbols of royal authority that signify his role as Egypt’s first king. The statuette would have been inserted into a rectangular base inscribed for the person who offered it.