Corn mummy

Summary

A corn mummy or germinating Osiris[1] is an Ancient Egyptian sculpture of Osiris that contained germinated grain seeds, commonly wheat or barley.[2][3][4] The rest of the mummy was made up of other materials such as wax, sand and earth.[2][3] They were fitted with masks most commonly made of wax but sometimes silver.[5] The mummies were provided with wooden coffins.[2][3]

A corn mummy with a wax mask of Osiris, Ptolemaic Dynasty, Archaeological Museum of Kraków
Germinating Osiris, Late Period, Metropolitan Museum of Art

They seem to have been buried as part of certain festivals such as Khoiak.[2][3] They were also buried in tombs as part of funerary paraphernalia, with a notable example being found in the tomb of Horemheb, KV57, in the Valley of the Kings.[6]

References edit

  1. ^ "Germinating Osiris | Theban Mapping Project". thebanmappingproject.com. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  2. ^ a b c d "Coffin and corn mummy with Osiris mask". metmuseum.org. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d "Corn Mummy". brooklynmuseum.org. Brooklyn museum. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  4. ^ "Grain Mummy". ncartmuseum.org. The North Carolina Museum of Art. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  5. ^ "Corn-mummy with silver mask of Osiris". muzea.malopolska.pl/. Małopolska Virtual Museum. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  6. ^ "Horemheb | Theban Mapping Project". thebanmappingproject.com. Retrieved 2023-03-23.