Ptah-Sokar-Osiris. Egypt, Ptolemaic Period, 3rd-1st century BC.
Carved and polychromed wood.
Measurements: 36.5 cm (height without base).
This representation of Ptah as Sokar and Osiris is notable for its high degree of detail, especially in the face and headdress. The piece continues the Egyptian aesthetic developed in the Ptolemaic period and is depicted in a mummiform position, like Osiris.
The fusion of three gods (in reality, three manifestations of a single god) into one is known in Egyptology as syncretism. The three forms of appearance are united, although without each of them losing their individuality. Ptah is the ancient god of the first capital of unified Egypt: Memphis. Patron of craftsmen, he was also a demiurge god (creator of the universe), according to Memphite doctrine. The importance of his influential clergy did not wane throughout the Pharaonic period. For his part, Sokar is a funerary god (an emanation of Osiris in the Memphite necropolis, specifically in the area of Sakkara). Finally, Osiris is the god of the dead par excellence, his main epithet being khentyamentyu, "he who presides over the westerners", i.e. the dead. These statues were placed in the burial chamber next to the sarcophagus, with a clear protective and regenerative intention.