Falcon Sarcophagus with Corn Osiris Mummy and Four Magic Balls
Title
Falcon Sarcophagus with Corn Osiris Mummy and Four Magic Balls
Date
Late Period, Dynasty 26, 664-525 BC
Context
Egypt
Medium/Dimensions
Coffin: wood, pigment; 14 cm High x 49.7 cm x 19.5 cm
Mummy: grain, sand, clay and/or soil, resin, linen bandages; 11.9 cm High x 40 cm x 6 cm
Mask: wax, gold; 4.8 cm High x 17.4 cm x 7.7 cm
Mummy: grain, sand, clay and/or soil, resin, linen bandages; 11.9 cm High x 40 cm x 6 cm
Mask: wax, gold; 4.8 cm High x 17.4 cm x 7.7 cm
Object Number
2018.010.001A (coffin lid), 2018.010.001B (coffin base), 2018.010.001C (mummy), 2018.010.001D (mummy mask), 2018.010.001E-H (magic balls)
Description
The falcon-headed coffin and the hieroglyphic text is associated with the funerary deity Ptah-Sokar-Osiris. Inside the coffin is a corn mummy composed of grain and earth wrapped in linen that is covered with resin. The head of the mummy is fitted with an Osiris mask of gilded beeswax with the eyebrows, eyes and beard painted in black pigment. The four clay magic balls have white markings and once accompanied the corn Osiris as magical protection.
The lower part of the lid has two columns of inscription. The text is Utterance 368 of the Pyramid Texts, reading: “words spoken by Osiris…. Your (mother) Nut (spreads herself) over you in her name….For you are the greatest of her children. Geb is gracious to you….He has given you your head….He has caused Thoth to reassemble you. . . "
Corn-mummies embody the forces of rebirth under the control of the god Osiris. The process of assembling grain and earth in the form of Osiris symbolizes the cosmic cycle of death and rebirth and its preservation.
The object was once part of the collection of Viscountess Elizabeth Dow Dalton from the early 20th century and was purchased by Georges Ricard for the Senusret Collection on 24 July 1974 from Roger F. Galliano, a member of the Conciliation Commission at Central Customs in Paris, certified expert of the Chamber of Auctioneers of France and Judicial Officer of Geneva.
[See additional images below]
The lower part of the lid has two columns of inscription. The text is Utterance 368 of the Pyramid Texts, reading: “words spoken by Osiris…. Your (mother) Nut (spreads herself) over you in her name….For you are the greatest of her children. Geb is gracious to you….He has given you your head….He has caused Thoth to reassemble you. . . "
Corn-mummies embody the forces of rebirth under the control of the god Osiris. The process of assembling grain and earth in the form of Osiris symbolizes the cosmic cycle of death and rebirth and its preservation.
The object was once part of the collection of Viscountess Elizabeth Dow Dalton from the early 20th century and was purchased by Georges Ricard for the Senusret Collection on 24 July 1974 from Roger F. Galliano, a member of the Conciliation Commission at Central Customs in Paris, certified expert of the Chamber of Auctioneers of France and Judicial Officer of Geneva.
[See additional images below]
Credit Line
Gift of the Georges Ricard Foundation
Exhibits/Publications
Publication:
Centrone, Maria 2009. Egyptian Corn-mummies: A class of religious artefacts catalogued and systematically analysed (Saarbrücken: VDM), pp. 70-73, pl. XXXVII.
Parallels and References:
Cairo, Grand Egyptian Museum, 32685. Originally from Ashmunein.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, 2001.547.1-2
Berlin, Ägyptisches Museum, Inv. No. 6/66
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 58.98 A-D
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 58.106 A-C
London, British Museum, EA 41552
Centrone, Maria 2009. Egyptian Corn-mummies: A class of religious artefacts catalogued and systematically analysed (Saarbrücken: VDM), pp. 70-73, pl. XXXVII.
Parallels and References:
Cairo, Grand Egyptian Museum, 32685. Originally from Ashmunein.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, 2001.547.1-2
Berlin, Ägyptisches Museum, Inv. No. 6/66
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 58.98 A-D
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 58.106 A-C
London, British Museum, EA 41552
Citation
“Falcon Sarcophagus with Corn Osiris Mummy and Four Magic Balls,” Michael C. Carlos Museum Collections Online, accessed December 25, 2024, https://digitalprojects.carlos.emory.edu/items/show/9290.
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