Historical Background
Ancient Egypt is synonymous with the Pyramids of Giza, King Tutankhamun, and Queen Cleopatra VII. However, these icons of Egyptian culture only highlight brief moments during the long story of ancient Egypt. While the Old Kingdom (c. 2700–2200 BCE) and New Kingdom (c. 1570–1069 BCE) are generally known to the public, the Third Intermediate Period (c. 1077–664 BCE) is typically a niche subject for art enthusiasts and Egyptologists.
The Third Intermediate Period marks four centuries when the pharaohs did not rule all the lands formerly under the Kingdom of Egypt. The lands were fragmented into smaller self-governing provinces, similar to city-states. Therefore, the lands of Egypt experienced a great weakening of royal authority and influence. However, the lands still ruled by the official pharaohs (as recognized by modern scholars and archaeologists) were still thriving centers of artistic and cultural output. Great works of art were still commissioned and created to exalt the beauty of Egyptian society and religion.
The Triad of Osorkon II is one such masterpiece created under King Osorkon II (r. 865–830 BCE), who ruled during the 22nd dynasty (c. 943–716 BCE) and the larger Third Intermediate Period (c. 1077–664 BCE).
Composition
Triad of Osorkon II is a statuette measuring 9 cm (3 9/16 in.) high, 6.6 cm (2 5/8 in.) wide, and 3 cm (1 3/16 in.) deep. It features three figures, a divine family, standing in a row facing in the same direction. The central figure sits crouching on a pillar while the two flanking figures stand with arms raised in adoration.
The small composition was originally designed as a pendant to be suspended on a chain from the loops soldered to the back of the figures’ heads. The pendant is fashioned from gold and lapis lazuli, which are both expensive materials to import and acquire from the regions of modern Sudan and Afghanistan. Hieroglyphics, the formal pictorial writing system of ancient Egypt, are carved into the front of the lapis lazuli column and the underside of the gold base. The overall technical skill and ideological message mark the piece as a masterpiece of ancient goldsmithing and religious art.
Osiris
The most unusual and important figure in the composition is the middle figure. He is Osiris, the god of resurrection. He sits crouched on top of the pillar, almost altar-like, with his knees bent towards his chest in a similar position to a newly-reborn sun god. He wears the atef crown on his head, adorned with the uraeus, which is a protective cobra that spits venom at the god’s enemies. On his chin, he wears the braided beard of kingship that mortal pharaohs wear and emulate in their royal regalia. Osiris’s body is wrapped in a funeral shroud (white in paintings). signifying his association with death and resurrection.
His placement in the center of the composition, according to ancient Egyptian artistic tradition, signifies his predominance in the small scene. This correlates with the patriarchal hierarchy since Osiris is the husband to Isis, the female figure on the right, and the father to Horus, the male figure on the left. He is therefore the husband and father of the Osirian triad, the divine family of ancient Egyptian religion.
Isis
The graceful figure of Isis, the goddess of motherhood and birth, stands to the right of Osiris. She wears the crown of Hathor (Hathoric crown) that is formed by a solar disc, cow horns, and an uraeus. Hathor was associated with love, beauty, and motherhood; therefore, Hathor and Isis were frequently linked in art due to their overlapping spheres of religious influence.
Under Isis’s crown is a tripartite (three-part) wig with one large lock on each shoulder and the mane in the back. Originally, the wig had small pieces of lapis lazuli inlaid, but they have not survived the centuries. She wears a form-fitting dress that is traditionally red in contemporary Egyptian paintings and highlights her elegant and feminine body.
Horus
To the left of Osiris is his son, Horus, who is the god of kingship, healing, sky, and sun. He, like his father and mother, is among the most important and revered deities of ancient Egypt. For example, his left eye, the wedjat eye, became a symbol of protection similar to modern eye amulets against the evil eye. However, unlike Osiris and Isis, Horus does not have a human face but the head of a falcon.
He wears the pschent crown or double crown, which represents the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. The crown is usually depicted in paintings as having a red base and a white top, which echoes the white shroud of Osiris and the red dress of Isis. Horus’s chest is bare, and therefore he wears just a pleated loincloth (usually white) as clothing.
Like his mother and father, he does not wear any footwear, which shows a physical connection to the primordial mound, the Benben, found in some of the creation stories of ancient Egyptian religion. Additionally, like Isis, he wears an uraeus on his crown and has lost the inlaid lapis lazuli of his tripartite wig.
Hieroglyphics
The formal writing system of ancient Egypt was hieroglyphics, which used small images and symbols to represent words and sounds. It was a pictorial language with thousands of images required to achieve literacy; hence, only a small elite of Egyptian society could read and write due to the required advanced education. Hieroglyphics were an important tool in the bureaucracy of ancient Egypt, but were more importantly used to record religious events and to perform religious rites. Spells and incantations were frequently inscribed to ensure prosperity and posterity.
Hieroglyphics are inscribed on the face of the lapis lazuli altar column. Roughly translated into English, it reads: “The king of Upper and Lower Egypt, the master of the Two Lands, Ouser-Ma’at-Re, the chosen one of Amun, the son of Re, Osorkon, beloved of Amun.”
Underneath the golden base are more hieroglyphics inscribed, but in seven columns of text. Loosely translated into English, it reads: “The god grants his blessings, in particular thousands of jubilees, to the pharaoh Ouser-Ma’at-Re, Osorkon, beloved of Amun.”
Purpose
The Triad of Osorkon II is believed to have been discovered in or near the Karnak Temple Complex in Thebes (an ancient capital of several dynasties) of what is now modern Luxor. Because of its discovery location, art historians and Egyptologists believe that it was used during temple services and not destined as funerary art buried with its owner.
Gold was associated with the flesh of the gods, while lapis lazuli was associated with spiritual immortality and divine love. Therefore, it can be agreed that such an expensive, refined, and religious piece of jewelry would have been highly prized as a protective amulet and lucky charm. Perhaps Osorkon II, or the high-priest, wore the amulet whenever he attended the gods in the temple complex?
Overlooked
The Triad of Osorkon II is a masterpiece of ancient Egyptian art that is sadly and quickly overlooked by many visitors to the Musée du Louvre in Paris, France. Monumental Egyptian pieces seem to snatch visitors’ attention like the Relief of King Seti I and Goddess Hathor. Therefore, any visitor aspiring to be a connoisseur of Egyptian art should take a decisive walk to Room 643 on Floor 1 of the Sully Wing. There, in its own glass box, is the Triad of Osorkon II just waiting for its next admirer. It charms the knowledgeable viewer with its bold use of gold and lapis lazuli but gentle use of traditional iconography and symbolism. It is not just a shiny piece of jewelry. It is a masterpiece of ancient Egyptian art.
