Egyptian. <em>Isis Nursing Horus</em>, ca. 712–525 B.C.E. Egyptian alabaster (calcite), bronze, 7 3/8 x 2 1/4 x 5 5/16 in. (18.7 x 5.7 x 13.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.400Ea-c. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.400E_front_PS2.jpg)

Egyptian. Isis Nursing Horus, ca. 712–525 B.C.E. Egyptian alabaster (calcite), bronze, 7 3/8 x 2 1/4 x 5 5/16 in. (18.7 x 5.7 x 13.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.400Ea-c. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.400E_front_PS2.jpg)

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Isis Nursing Horus

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: 19th Dynasty to Roman Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

Isis helped restore Osiris to life and raised their son Horus to avenge his murder. She was thus seen as a deity with great magical powers and came to typify the faithful wife and devoted mother. She is shown here nursing the infant Horus. Her throne sits in the embrace of a vulture, a deity that spreads its wings about mother and child in a gesture of protection.

CULTURE Egyptian

MEDIUM Egyptian alabaster (calcite), bronze

Reportedly From: Saqqara, Egypt

DATES ca. 712–525 B.C.E.

DYNASTY second half of Dynasty 25 to Dynasty 26

PERIOD Third Intermediate Period to Late Period

DIMENSIONS 7 3/8 x 2 1/4 x 5 5/16 in. (18.7 x 5.7 x 13.5 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 37.400Ea-c

CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Green calcite figure of Isis seated and nursing the infant Horus. The sides of the deity's throne are decorated with texts. The stone sculpture is connected to a bronze base by means of flanges on bronze base. The figure is "protected" in the rear and on both sides by a vulture body with wings which curve around towards the front. The wings were once inlaid with red and blue glass. The bird itself was made of two castings: wings and body, legs and tail. They were attached to the body by means of a tang fitting into a slot on the bronze base. Two more slots in the bronze base, located before the goddess, may have been for the attachment of a worshiping figure. The goddess is crowned, in bronze, with a circular frieze of uraei from which rise a cow's horns with solar disk. The sides of the bronze base bear inscriptions.

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view on the 19th Dynasty to Roman Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

CAPTION Egyptian. Isis Nursing Horus, ca. 712–525 B.C.E. Egyptian alabaster (calcite), bronze, 7 3/8 x 2 1/4 x 5 5/16 in. (18.7 x 5.7 x 13.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.400Ea-c. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.400E_front_PS2.jpg)

IMAGE front, 37.400E_front_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2009

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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

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