Step 1 of 9

The Osiris Amenkhau

Related Images

  • Fig. 1 - Transcription into standardized hieroglyphs of the text on the ushabti of Amenkhau – JSesh – created by the author
  • Fig. 2 - Depiction of the god Osiris in mummiform as depicted in the temple of Seti in Abydos. – photo by the author

On the body of this statuette, an inscription in black ink is written in hieroglyphs. It tells us that this ushabti belonged to ‘The Osiris, Amenkhau, justified’ (Fig. 1). Osiris was the ancient Egyptian god of the dead and was often depicted as a mummified person (Fig. 2). The appearance of Osiris as a mummy has to do with the myth of Osiris and his brother Seth. In this myth Osiris rules as king, but Seth is jealous of him. In order to become king, Seth kills his brother and divides his body in many parts, which are spread all over the world. The wife of Osiris, Isis, collects the body parts of her husband and mummifies his body, in order to bury him.

But why is this man with the name Amenkhau called ‘an Osiris’ on this figurine? During most of the time period that we call the Old Kingdom (2686-2181 BC), it was thought that the king could become ‘an’ Osiris after he died. And from the end of the Old Kingdom onwards, it was believed that everyone could become an Osiris in the afterlife. M. Smith, Following Osiris: Perspectives on the Osirian Afterlife from Four Millennia (Oxford, 2017), 159-161. That is why the deceased Amenkhau is referred to as an Osiris here. Let us now take a closer look at his name.