Apis carrying a mummy

Apis carrying the mummy 



Separated from the mummy-shaped coffin of which it once formed the footboard, the board now appears to have been created as an independent work of art: a lively depiction of a bull with black spots, carrying a mummy on its back. According to a myth, the sacred Apis bull carried the corpse of Osiris for Horus. It is a rare image which the priest of Montu Nes(er)-amun has utilized in order to achieve resurrection like Osiris.

Present location KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM [09/001] VIENNA
Inventory number 912
Dating 25TH DYNASTY AND CONTEMPORARIES
Archaeological Site UNKNOWN
Category COFFIN/SARCOPHAGUS ELEMENT
Material WOOD
Technique PAINTED
Height 36.2 cm
Width 27 cm
Depth 2 cm

Translation
Speech by Osiris, the great god, and by Montu, the Lord of the West. Nes(er)-amun, the lord of veneration.

Bibliography•Bergmann, E. von, Inschriftliche Denkmäler, in: Recueil de Travaux rélatifs à la philologie et à l'archéologie égyptiennes et assyriennes (RecTrav) 9 (1887) 49: Nr. 22.
•Katalog "5000 Jahre Aegyptische Kunst", Wien (1961/62) 86, Nr. 154.
•Katalog: "Osiris, Kreuz und Halbmond", Stuttgart (1984), 100, 102, Nr. 78.
•Satzinger, H., Das Kunsthistorische Museum in Wien. Die Ägyptisch-Orientalische Sammlung. Zaberns Bildbände zur Archäologie 14. Mainz. 1994.
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