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HOME :
Egyptian Antiquities :
Late Dynastic Period : Egyptian Panel from a Sarcophagus Depicting Isis and Horus
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Egyptian Panel from a Sarcophagus Depicting Isis and Horus - FF.666A
Origin: Egypt
Circa: 650
BC
to 550
BC
Dimensions:
5" (12.7cm) high
Collection: Egyptian Art
Medium: Wood and Cartonage
Condition: Fine
Additional Information: Art Logic—I'etoile d'Ishtar, Paris, 2002
Location: United States
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| Description |
Isis is a goddess in Egyptian mythology.
She was
most prominent mythologically as the
wife of
Osiris and mother of Horus, and was
worshipped
as the archetypical wife and mother.
Her name literally means (female) of
throne, i.e.
Queen of the throne, which was portrayed
by the
emblem worn on her head, that of a
throne.
However, the hieroglyph of her name
originally
meant (female) of flesh, i.e. mortal,
and she may
simply have represented deified,
historical
queens.
Her origins are uncertain but are
believed to have
come from the Nile Delta; however,
unlike other
Egyptian deities, she did not have a
centralised
cult at any point throughout her
worship. First
mentions of Isis date back to the Fifth
dynasty of
Egypt which is when the first literary
inscriptions
are found, but her cult became prominent
late in
Egyptian history, when it began to
absorb the
cults of many other goddesses. It
eventually
spread outside Egypt throughout the
Middle East
and Europe, with temples dedicated to
her built
as far away as the British Isles.
Pockets of her
worship remained in Christian Europe as
late as
the 6th century.
- (FF.666A)
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