Coffin Fragment Showing Mourning Isis Wood, painted Late Period, Dynasties XXVI-XXXI, ca. 664-332 B.C.E Provenance not known Brooklyn #37.1992e, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund Photo © Joan Lansberry, May 2008-2016

From the info card: After Osiris's death, Isis and her sister Nephthys mourned him. "Their grieving may be seen as preparation for the god's magical 'rebirth.' In allusion, the Egyptians hired professional mourners to participate at funerals. It was believed that just as the goddesses helped bring about Osiris's resurrection, so too would the presence of mourners at a funeral help ensure the deceased's rebirth."