Skip to contentSkip to navigation

Nectanebo II Makes an Offering to Osiris Hemag

Location

EGYPT, BEHBEIT EL-HAGAR, TEMPLE OF ISIS

Era

Late Period (722-332 B.C.E.), 30th Dynasty (380-343 B.C.E.), reign of Nectanebo II (360-343 B.C.E.)

Title

Nectanebo II Makes an Offering to Osiris Hemag

Materials

Granite

Dimensions

120 x 151 x 9 cm

Credits

Purchase, Horsley and Annie Townsend Bequest and William Gilman Cheney Bequest, inv. 1964.B.1

Collection

Archeology and World Cultures

This bas-relief comes from the temple of Behbeit el-Hagar in the Nile Delta, where Nectanebo II had begun the construction of a large temple of Isis, known in the Mediterranean world under the name Iseum. The temple would only be completed between the reigns of Ptolemy II and III (285-221 B.C.E.). It is likely that a shrine to Isis had existed on the site since the days of the Old Kingdom, which would have made it the first place of worship dedicated to her as a primordial goddess. The iconography here suggests that the bas-relief specifically adorned the chapel dedicated to Osiris Hemag that Nectanebo II had had built north of the temple. The protective divinity of families, Osiris Hemag is the non-mummified incarnation of Osiris wearing the Atef crown. The renown of the temple was such that a slab from that chapel was found in the major temple of Isis in Rome.

Add a touch of culture to your inbox
Subscribe to the Museum newsletter

Bourgie Hall Newsletter sign up