MFA - Statue of Osiris

Statue of Osiris

Statue of Osiris
From Giza, 664–525 B.C.E.
Greywacke, Upper part height: 55 cm (21 5/8 in.)
Upper part: Harvard University—Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition 1929, MFA #29.1131, Lower part: MFA #2000.973

"The base and back pillar of this statue of Osiris are inscribed with mortuary texts on behalf of the 'king's acquaintance' Ptahirdis. The statue has a fascinating history. The upper part (from the knees up) was excavated in 1928 by the Harvard-Boston Expedition in a tomb shaft at Giza east of the Great Pyramid. The lower part (base and feet) was discovered in a French country house. It was brought back from Egypt by French General Jean Lannes, who participated in Napolean Bonaparte's short but epoch-making Egyptian Campaign of 1798-1801. The lower part was passed down in the Lannes family for six generations, unknown to scholars, until 1999, when it was recognized as belonging to the statue in the MFA. Through the generosity of a friend the lower part was purchased by the Museum and the two fragments, sundered in antiquity, are now joined. Some three to four inches have been restored by Museum conservators. The result is both a masterpiece of late Egyptian sculpture and also a historical link with the founding moment of modern Egyptology."(From info card)