God Osiris. Ancient Egypt, Lower Epoch (664-323... Lot 4

God Osiris. Ancient Egypt, Lower Epoch (664-323 B.C.). Bronze. Provenance: private collection S.A., Cadiz, Spain. Intact. Measures: 10,7 x 12,5 cm. Statuette of round bulk representing the God Osiris carrying the Heka and the Nekhakha. The God is standing, with his arms crossed over his chest and a series of characteristic elements, such as the Atef crown (a more complex typology of the White crown that is composed of two ostrich feathers, sometimes with two horns at its base, uraeus and a solar disk. It is represented in yellow color and it was thought to help the deceased to be reborn, attribute for which it is carried by the god Osiris). The piece also presents the arms crossed on the chest, with which it holds the whip and the callado, which are two of its main iconographic symbols. Osiris is the Egyptian god of resurrection, related to fertility and regeneration of the Nile, protector of vegetation and agriculture. He also presides over the court of judgment of the dead, and is in fact closely related to the Afterlife. He was considered the firstborn son of Geb, divinity of the earth, and the goddess Nut, representation of the sky. He was therefore brother and husband of Isis, with whom he had a posthumous son, Horus. We find him for the first time in the sources of the V dynasty, although it is most likely that he was worshipped long before. In fact, we find the epithet Khenti-Amentiu ("leader of the Orientals", alluding to his role as king of the Beyond) already used in the I dynasty, both in relation to the divinity and as a pharaonic title. The most valuable information about Osiris is found in the Pyramid Texts of the late V dynasty, the Shabaka Stone of the New Empire and, much later, in the texts of Greek writers such as Plutarch or Diodorus.