Statuette of Horus the Child (Harpokrates)
Late Period (664-332 BCE)
Medium
Copper alloy
Dimensions
14 × 3 × 4.6 cm (5 9/16 × 1 3/16 × 1 13/16 in.)
Classification
statuette
Department
Arts of Africa
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
141006
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
According to ancient Egyptian myth, the god Horus was the son of Isis and her brother/husband Osiris, ruler of the underworld. Before Horus was born, Seth, the god of disorder and also Osiris’s brother, murdered the king in a quest for Egypt’s throne—but the gods elevated Horus as heir instead. This statuette shows him wearing the Double Crown, or pschent, which combines the crown of Upper (southern) Egypt with that of Lower (northern) Egypt, signifying Horus’s dominion over the whole realm. Her...
About the Artist
Ancient Egyptian
Ancient Egyptian artists, a collective of highly skilled artisans spanning over three millennia from the Predynastic period (c. 6000–3150 BC) to the Roman era (30 BC–4th century AD), produced some of humanity's most enduring masterpieces. These anonymous craftsmen, often organized in state-sponsored workshops, lived in dedicated communities like Deir el-Medina near Luxor during the New Kingdom (c....