Ancient Egypt, Late Period, 26th to 31st Dynasty, ca. 664 to 332 BCE. A bright polychrome wooden panel with a progression of symbolic items, hieroglyphs, and gods that have been painted onto it using wooden bundle brushes. The center of the panel features a large djed pillar, its surface consisting of bands of yellow, red, green, and blue, topped by the Atef crown, with two curling ostrich feathers, one on either side, symbol of Upper Egypt and Osiris's cult. The Djed Pillar was commonly placed as an amulet near the spine of a mummy, and is listed in the Book of the Dead as part of a spell which can be used to allow a mummy to sit up, resurrected. It is associated with Osiris, representing his spine, and is one of the oldest symbols in Egyptian mythology. The pillar is flanked by Anubis and Horus, with lines of hieroglyphs - prayers to Osiris for protection of the dead - separating the gods from the massive pillar. Size: 12.55" W x 27" H (31.9 cm x 68.6 cm)

This was a panel on a sarcophagus. By the time of the Late Dynastic period, the elaborate funerary rituals and furniture of the Egyptian grave had become an industry, mass produced, given to, for the first time, the non-elite. While in some regards, this signaled a decline in these religious practices and a simplification of motifs and artwork, it was also a democratization of death, opening up access to certain privileged religious rituals - and the promise of an eternal afterlife - to many more members of the society.

Provenance: private Davis collection, Houston, Texas, USA

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#132931

Inactive insect damage on the surface, especially at the top and low on the right (facing). Large fissure down the center. Nice remaining pigment on the surface, with clear motifs.