Osirian mysteries
Studio 26, assignment on Second Chances -- a revisit of the collage assignment.
A few of the antiquities in the traveling exhibition, “Osiris: Egypt’s Sunken Mysteries,” now at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, which includes discoveries from underwater excavations of the ancient sunken cities, Thonis-Heracleion & Canopus, off the coast of Egypt., Depicted is the legend of Osiris, the pharaoh who was killed & cut into pieces by his jealous brother, Seth. Osiris’s grief-stricken sister-wife, Isis, reassembled the pieces of his body, inventing the rites of mummification. The Osiris vegetans figure here is called a “corn mummy,” formed from earth & seeds, with a face modeled of wax. The coffin, made of sycamore, which symbolizes rebirth, is topped by a gilded falcon’s head wearing a blue wig, colors associated with the gods. The efforts of Isis led to Osiris’s resurrection & the conception of their son, Horus, who had the head of a falcon. Horus was raised in secrecy, hidden from Seth. One of his protectors was the goddess Tawaret, depicted here in the form of a hippo standing on hind legs. As an adult, Horus fought & defeated Seth, though he lost an eye in the battle. He then took his place as pharaoh. Osiris became god of the dead, with associations of rebirth & fertility, including the cycle of vegetation & flooding of the Nile. His legend was perpetuated in an annual celebration, culminating in a water procession along the canals between the cities.
The excavations were carried out by the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology, directed by Franck Goddio.
Osirian mysteries
Studio 26, assignment on Second Chances -- a revisit of the collage assignment.
A few of the antiquities in the traveling exhibition, “Osiris: Egypt’s Sunken Mysteries,” now at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, which includes discoveries from underwater excavations of the ancient sunken cities, Thonis-Heracleion & Canopus, off the coast of Egypt., Depicted is the legend of Osiris, the pharaoh who was killed & cut into pieces by his jealous brother, Seth. Osiris’s grief-stricken sister-wife, Isis, reassembled the pieces of his body, inventing the rites of mummification. The Osiris vegetans figure here is called a “corn mummy,” formed from earth & seeds, with a face modeled of wax. The coffin, made of sycamore, which symbolizes rebirth, is topped by a gilded falcon’s head wearing a blue wig, colors associated with the gods. The efforts of Isis led to Osiris’s resurrection & the conception of their son, Horus, who had the head of a falcon. Horus was raised in secrecy, hidden from Seth. One of his protectors was the goddess Tawaret, depicted here in the form of a hippo standing on hind legs. As an adult, Horus fought & defeated Seth, though he lost an eye in the battle. He then took his place as pharaoh. Osiris became god of the dead, with associations of rebirth & fertility, including the cycle of vegetation & flooding of the Nile. His legend was perpetuated in an annual celebration, culminating in a water procession along the canals between the cities.
The excavations were carried out by the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology, directed by Franck Goddio.