LATE PERIOD-PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, CIRCA 664-30 B.C.

Osiris, the god associated with re-birth and regeneration, was in particular linked with the life-giving forces of the Nile and the associated germination of the seed from the ground; for the ancient Egyptians, this was a metaphor for the rebirth of the human from the physical body of the deceased. The Osiris 'Vegetans' figures, or corn-mummies, were produced every year, during the Festival of Osiris, which took place in Khoiak, the fourth month of the Inundation. Priests would take silt from the Nile, seeds and sacred water to make a 50 cm long figure of Osiris. After a process lasting several days that involved covering the mummy in germinating seeds, drying, wrapping in papyrus bandages and a procession in a barque, the figure was then placed in a miniature wood coffin with the face of a falcon, most probably alluding to the god Sokar. They were then buried for a year in special cemeteries dedicated to these figures. This elaborate ritual was a celebration of Osiris to ensure the god's resurrection and, by extension, the continuation of life in Egypt. For a similar figure in the Cairo Museum (inv. no. JE 36539) cf. Sunken Cities Egypt's Lost Worlds, (exhibition catalogue), British Museum, London, 2016, pp.168-169.