Nectanebo II Makes an Offering to Osiris Hemag

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.