Sacred Fish with a Crown of Isis (Primary Title)

Unknown (Artist)

664–332 BC
Egyptian
bronze, glass
Overall: 5 1/8 × 7 × 2 in. (13.02 × 17.78 × 5.08 cm)
2001.247
Glass eyes enliven this fish, which also wears the Isis crown-a sun-disc between the horns of a bull. According to myth, the divine brothers Osiris and Seth struggled for control of Egypt. After defeating Osiris, Seth scattered his body parts throughout the land. Isis, Osiris’s wife, gathered the pieces for burial. She found his penis inside a fish, which she honored by declaring it sacred and forbidding anyone to eat it.
26 or later
Late Period
Gift of Evelyn M. Pope in memory of her husband Edward J. Pope
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC

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