Figure

According to mythology, Osiris ruled over Egypt as a wise and popular king. As such, he aroused the envy of his brother Seth. He killed and dismembered him and threw him into the Nile. Isis, sister and wife of Osiris, fished him out of the river and reassembled him - as the archetype of the mummy. Through their love, the brother-consort was revived. From this union, Horus emerged as the reincarnation of Osiris. Ancient Egyptian belief relates the life, death and resurrection of Osiris to the annual cycle of nature: the land withers under the heat, it is as if it were dead. Then the Nile floods bringing new life. The seed is laid in the earth (i.e. burial), it rests in the ground (i.e. stays in the underworld) and germinates to young seed (i.e. resurrection). The figurine shows Osiris in the typical upright position as a mummy, only head and hands protrude from the shroud. The insignia are held in his hands, the crosier as symbol of the good shepherd and the flail as symbol of fertility. His chin is adorned with the characteristic long narrow beard. His head is adorned with a lofty crown with two large lateral feathers. Above the forehead there is a Uraeus, the Egyptian cobra, a sign of the sun and the pharaoh, which combats enemies with its fiery breath. Author: Eva Gerhards, Translation: Timothy Connell