AN UNUSUAL WOODEN STATUETTE OF

Jadwiga Lipinska Warsaw

An almost perfectly preserved mummiform figure positioning of the hands (left above the right one) (fig. 1), property of the Louvre Museum (N 670; is also infrequent. 22; 207) is now kept on long-term loan in the I was not able to find any representation of National Museum in Warsaw, Poland (inv. nr. Osiris in a . But closest are repre- 143346).1 It is made of one solid piece of wood, to- sentations of the falcon-headed Osiris-Sokar or gether with the plinth, but the hemhem crown was Sokar-Osiris on two papyri dated to ca. 300CE.3 made separately and fixed on top of the head. It Several kings and gods were wearing such a has been suggested that the crown was added in crown4 in the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods, so modern times to the “normal” -Sokar-Osiris there is no reason why Osiris could not have figure, but there are no traces of such changes, worn this crown, as it was considered to be a and the crown seems to have been pegged before symbol of resurrection. the wig was painted. Most probably the crown is Lack of insignia in the hands of the figure is original. The figure wears a tripartite wig, divine not so easy to explain. Possibly the painter forgot beard, and simple semicircular collar of colored to paint them. Also, the unusual position of the plain bands terminating with falcons, reaching hands awaits explanation. Some of the bronze down low upon the chest. The arms are folded figurines of Osiris also have the hands mistakenly with the hands kept close against the chest, one represented, but such small mass-produced votive above the other in a position usually character- bronze statuettes were apt to be not quite up to istic of holding the flail and crook. In this case, the standards. Wooden sculpture of moderate size however, there are no insignia present. The el- should conform to the iconographic principles. bows are widely drawn aside. The figure presents But this one does not. a round face and a rather slender body with The text on the front of figure contains data narrow knees and well-defined shins. The texts about the owner. She was the “chantress of (fig. 2), in cursive hieroglyphs, are written in two -Re, named Isetemkheb, daughter of the columns, one on front, between the hands and god’s father, prophet of Amunrasonter, Mentu- toes, the other on the back pillar. The general emhat” (ı"h.ıt" n "Imn-R# Ast-m-´ Ah-bıt" sAtnıt" ntr hm[n. tr] appearance is similar to Ptah-Sokar-Osiris statues "Imn-R# nıswt" ntrw Mntw-m-˘t). ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ . described by M.J. Raven as the type IV,especially The text on the back pillar contains a corrupt, IV B,2 but there are also some differences. abbreviated version of the first clauses of a hymn Two features make the statuette unusual: the to Osiris. The name of the deceased owner of the hemhem crown instead of the usual white crown, statue is very common in the Late and Ptolemaic or two ostrich feathers; and empty fists. The Periods,5 as is the title “chantress of Amun-Re.”

1 Total height: 51.5cm, without crown, 40cm; width 3 Pap. Berlin 10477: Peter Munro, Die spätägyptischen across the elbows 11cm; across the shins 5.5cm. Colors: dark Totenstelen, Tafelband (Glückstadt: J.J. Augustin, 1973), ill. red—body; yellow—face, ears, fists, foreground for texts, 191; pap. Medelhavsmuseet 1981:22: Beate George and Ove back of crown; black—eyes, wig, horns of the crown, cursive Kaneberg, Kärlek till Egypten (Stockholm: Medelhavsmuseet, signs and vertical lines framing them. Crown details—green, 1999), 98. red, and black; bands of collar—dark green, yellow, dark 4 Raven, “Papyrus-sheaths,” 276–281. red, contours black, falcons yellow. 5 Hermann Ranke, Die ägyptischen Personennamen 1 2 Maarten J. Raven, “Papyrus-sheaths and Ptah-Sokar- (Glückstadt: J.J. Augustin, 1935), 4,3. Osiris Statues,”OMRO59–60 (1978–1979): 267. an unusual wooden statuette of osiris 167

There is evidence for seven such persons with belonged to the discussed statue, and it would be the same names and titles found in the tomb interesting to join the objects again. of Ankhhor at Asasif,6 but only one of them Another object, a funerary papyrus in Turin,9 had a father named Mentuemhat, with the same is inscribed with the names of all three members priestly titles as on the statuette discussed here.7 of the family. One of the finds also bears the name of the The date for this extraordinary statue is pro- mother: “Takereret, called Heres.” One of those vided by its shape, graphical peculiarities of the objectsisthebaseforastatuewithahollow hieroglyphic signs, and the archaeological context casket, inscribed with an offering formula to of finds in the Ankhhor tomb: it is Dynasty 30 or “Osiris, the first of the West”8 and with all three early Ptolemaic Period.10 names of parents and daughter. It evidently once

6 Manfred Bietak and Elfriede Reiser-Haslauer, Das whom I express here my sincere thanks for helping me. Grab des #Anch-Hor 2, Untersuchungen der Zweigstelle Kairo 9 A.Fabretti,F.Rossi,andR.V.Lanzone,Regio Museo di des Österreichischen Archäologischen Instituts 5 (Vienna: Torino: Antichitá Egizie (Turin: Paravia, 1882), no. 1793. Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1982), esp. 10 This date is given for the second phase of using the 267. tomb (Bietack and Reiser-Haslauer, Das Grab des #Anch-Hor, 7 G 10 and G 89. 252). 8 Letter dated April 20, 2004 from Dr. E. Haslauer, to