Origin: Egypt
Circa: 900 BC to 500 BC
Dimensions: 4.5" (11.4cm) high x 2.75" (7.0cm) wide
Collection: Egyptian
Style: Late Dynastic Period
Medium: Limestone
Two of Egypt's most important deities face each other at right angles on this stele. On the right is Ptah, creator-god and patron of artists. He wears a skullcap, his body is wrapped in mummy fashion and decorated with three broad bands surrounding the chest and shoulders, each containing short vertical lines. The hands are held in front of the abdomen, fists clenched one above the other with thumbs extended. Osiris's body is much the same as Ptah's, with the exception of a decorated extension hanging at the back from the neck. As lord of death and resurrection he wears the Pharaoh's high crown and seems to tower over Ptah. In the New Kingdom, Osiris becomes associated with Anubis as judges of the underworld at the “weighing of the hearts.” Details of both deities, particularly the modeling of the faces, are very delicate and quite expressive. - (PF.5297)

Antiquities
Ancient Egyptian