Jean Hazel B. Mendoza
Professor Harmansah
Art in Antiquity
September 29, 2008
Ancient Egyptian Afterlife: The Role of Ptah-Sokar-Osiris in Burials
At first glance, a viewer might overlook the Ptah-Sokar-Osiris, an object in one corner of
the RISD Museum’s Egyptian collection. It is easy to get lost in the sea of artifacts, seemingly
homogenous and dense with decorations and impenetrable hieroglyphics. An observer looking
for the “meaning” behind a work of art will find it difficult to do so in this particular gallery,
where most of the displays are everyday objects like vases and seals and the most conspicuous
pieces are the two mummies lying in the center of the room. But upon closer inspection, a viewer
can find in the Ptah-Sokar-Osiris a fascinating work of art of incredible detail with a complex
historical context that gives great insight into the ancient Egyptians’ views on creation, death,
and the afterlife.
The Ptah-Sokar-Osiris dates from the Egyptian Ptolemaic Period, between 332 and 330
BC. Not much more than a foot tall and a half foot wide, this figure stands upright with a
commanding presence yet still maintains a calm expression, its skin smooth and youthful and its
eyes serenely directed at the viewer. It has a round and simplified upper torso, narrowing down
to elongated legs, an outline of which includes a subtle hint of a pair of knees and calves. The
statue’s feet, however, merge into a single block, almost disappearing into the small box it stands
on. The simplicity of the Ptah-Sokar-Osiris’ outline is more than made up for by the intricate
decoration painted on the surface of its body. The main feature is three vertical bands of
hieroglyphics lining its forefront from chest to ankles, the outer bands blue and the inner yellow.
Outside these bands is an interesting repeating pattern of five-pointed flower- or star-like shapes
all connected at the tips of their arms, depicted in such detail that must have required a lot of
patience and skill on the part of the artist. The Ptah-Sokar-Osiris also wears a long headdress that
matches the color of the beard adorning its chin. It is made of wood and gesso (plaster and glue),
and painted red, blue, yellow, and gold. The general color scheme unifies the entire piece,
exuding a certain warmth that complements the imposing, even protective atmosphere given off
by the face and regal crown.
The crown is a particularly striking feature, for it almost matches the proportion of the
Ptah-Sokar-Osiris’ upper torso in length. A symmetrical headpiece decorated with diagonal
stripes, its base curls out like horns and its centerpiece is a prominent round circle. This circle,
the only part the piece asides from the face that is plated with gold, could possibly be a
representation of a solar disk. This emphasis indicates the level of importance the artist imparted
on this emblem, which may be a reference to the Egyptian sun god Ra. Looking at the profile of
the statue, the viewer notices that it is actually split in half between its front and back so that an
opening is created on the side of its entire body. This small opening lets the viewer know that the
statue is hollow inside, perhaps for the purpose of holding or storing an object. In fact, the
museum plaque accompanying the Ptah-Sokar-Osiris informs us that inside the statue used to lay
a sack of grain in the shape of a mummy, which the ancient Egyptians believed would grow with
new life in the next world.
Interestingly enough, the statue itself composes only half the piece, as it stands on top of
a small box which in turn lies on top of a large coffin-like case. The small box is black and
simple, its size exactly complementing that of the feet. The large coffin-like case, on the other
hand, is carefully decorated, almost more intricate than the painting on the Ptah-Sokar-Osiris’
body itself. Its top cover is painted almost like a chess board with alternating squares of blue and
white. The sides are bordered with patterns of horizontal and vertical bands and semi-circles of
blues, reds, and yellows, all of which feature a central strip of figures. These human figures hold
hands in alternating pairs of a tall, outlined figure and a short, colored in-figure. The tall figure is
large and wide, giving almost a sense of guardianship over the small, thin child-like figure. This
base of the Ptah-Sokar-Osiris is especially worn away, large areas of which are completely
erased.
One intriguing fact about this artifact is that, according to its accompanying museum
plaque, it is actually an object found in many non-royal burials after 1000 BC. Figures like the
Ptah-Sokar-Osiris were largely widespread among common people, who placed them in their
tombs in hopes of keeping them company in their afterlives. The ancient Egyptians, therefore,
had a very special relationship with this piece of art. They revered it and truly believed in its
protective powers in the next world. The Ptah-Sokar-Osiris statue is a creation meant to last
forever, an object used in burials to bridge life and death in hopes of surpassing both to reach the
afterlife.
Furthermore, this figure is an important example of a religious iconography in ancient
Egyptian society. The Ptah-Sokar-Osiris actually combines Ptah, the creator god of Memphis;
Sokar, the god of the necropolis of Sakkara; and Osiris, the god of the underworld and
resurrection. As the museum plaque reports, “United, therefore, in this single composite figure
are the forces of creation, death, and rebirth.” The ancient Egyptians held a fascinating (and
drastically different) perspective on death and this artifact gives a profound insight into that
perspective. To them, death was a rite of passage, even an anticipated transformation into the
next phase of the cycle of life. The Ptah-Sokar-Osiris combines their beliefs of life, death, and
life after death, and at the same time calls upon the three representative gods for protection and
assurance during this important transformation. In this message that the Ptah-Sokar-Osiris
conveys, merging religion and the fundamental outlook on life that the ancient Egyptians held,
lies the complexity and beauty of the piece.
A plaque by the entrance of the museum’s Egyptian collection informs visitors that the
ancient Egyptians, interestingly enough, never invented a word for “art.” This fact is surprisingly
ironic in light of the view we today hold that the ancient Egyptians are one of the most
fascinating ancient civilizations for the wealth of art and architecture they produced. This lack of
a solid name for “art” alludes to the fact that many of the objects the ancient Egyptians left us
today were in fact never intended to be works of “art” accompanied by hidden meanings for us to
interpret. Many of the pieces in the collection, rather, were made not for beauty but for specific
functions in mind, whether mundane, like the vases and seals for daily tasks, or religious or
funerary purposes like the Ptah-Sokar-Osiris. Together, these artifacts paint a picture of a
complex society that despite thousands of years of changes and development, still maintained a
large degree of constancy evident in the religious services they practiced, the forms of art they
produced, and objects they left behind. The culture of the ancient Egyptians is fascinating
because in spite of time, much of it remained essentially the same. This fact is hard for many to
grapple in today’s world, but is the kind of appreciation one comes out with when they visit the
Egyptian collection of the RISD museum. The Ptah-Sokar-Osiris is a remarkable representation
of the religious beliefs and outlook on life that became the mark of ancient Egyptian culture. Its
historical context indicate that the three major Egyptian gods Ptah, Sokar, and Osiris played a
critical role in the development of ancient Egyptian beliefs on life, death, and the afterlife.
Through time, these three gods then merged in a single and powerful association epitomized in
the Ptah-Sokar-Osiris, an object that became an important and common feature of non-royal
tombs.