Exhibits: The Quest for Immortality

Portland Art Museum
November 5, 2006-March 4, 2007

"This exhibition focuses on the understanding of the afterlife in the period from the New Kingdom (1150–1069 BC) through the late period (664–332 BC). The pieces in these galleries—statues, jewelry, painted coffins, and other furnishings for the tomb—are evidence of their quest for eternal life. They have been lent for this exhibition by the Egyptian government and come from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, The Luxor Museum of Ancient Art, and the site of Deir el-Bahari."*

Selected Object:

Osiris Resurrecting,
664–525 BC, gneiss, with a
headdress in electrum and
gold; 115/8 x 71/16 x 217/8 in.
From Horbeit; The Egyptian
Museum, Cairo

"To be resurrected, a dead Egyptian—commoner or King—needed to imitate the form of Osiris. Once mummified, the deceased was called “Osiris,” and it was expected that he or she then would then be reborn in the same magical fashion. An unusual image of this very moment is depicted in a mummiform figure that simultaneously represents Osiris and the deceased in his form. The figure has just rolled over from its back and is becoming alert, lifting up his head, and awakening to new life."*

*Excerpts from the National Gallery of Art, Washington