# Statuette of Osiris

- By: Ancient Egyptian
- Date: Late Period, Dynasty 26 or later, 664–332 BCE
- Medium: Copper alloy
- Classification: Sculpture
- Dimensions: 27 × 6.8 × 4.5 cm (10 5/8 × 2 5/8 × 1 3/4 in.)
- Culture: Egypt
- Credit line: Gift of Henry H. Getty, Charles L. Hutchinson, and Norman W. Harris
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/617)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/16b0b094-c2a2-94df-fe8b-b67241c9c808/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

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.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0