Image 3
Statuette of Isis
Egypt
1st century A.D.
Bronze
9 inches high
The Morse Foundation 68.9.5

• Isis (EYE-sus) figures prominently in Egyptian mythology as a healer, a magician, and an exemplary wife and mother.
• During the age of the Roman Empire, the cult of Isis gained immense popularity not only in Egypt but also throughout the Mediterranean world.
• While the subject and pose of this statuette of Isis are Egyptian, the NATURALISTIC treatment of its form is characteristically Roman.

Long, long ago the Egyptian sun god, Re (RAY), created virtually everything that existed in the world. Simply by speaking the name of something, Re created it. As he named birds, animals, and things, they appeared. Because Re made all things, he also controlled them. More powerful than anyone, he ruled both heaven and earth.

Isis, a clever god gif ted in the arts of magic, envied Re's power. She desired to know Re's secret Great Name, because it was the key to his magic and would give her greater power. Isis spent a lot of time wondering how she could obtain Re's secret. As Re grew older and weaker, she devised a plot.

Whenever Re drooled, the wily Isis gathered up his spit. Kneading the spit with soil, she created a serpent. Although the serpent came forth from Re, he had not created it, so it was outside of his control. Isis molded the serpent into the form of a dart and placed it on Re's daily walking path across the sky. When Re passed by, the serpent reared up and stung him.

Soon, Re began to burn with the serpent's venom. He was baffled by the creature's behavior and dismayed to discover that he had no power over it. He could not cure his body of the terrible pain. Re called to his children for help, but they could not end his suffering.

Then Isis came forth and offered to work her magic to end Re's pain. However, she insisted she could cure Re only if he revealed his secret Great Name. Re offered a variety of nicknames, but clever Isis was not fooled. Fearing for his life, Re finally gave in and transmitted the Great Name from his heart to Isis's. That is how Isis successfully learned the secret of Re's all-powerful magic.

Isis
According to a rich mythology surrounding the Egyptian goddess, Isis raised her husband, Osiris (oh-SIGH-rus), from the dead, protected her son, Horus (HOR-us), from a variety of certain deaths, and knew the secrets of immortality. She was faithful, intelligent, strong, and beautiful. Like Osiris, Isis was associated with vegetation and the cycles of the seasons and the Nile River. Ancient beliefs attributed the annual rainfall, which sustained the people of the Nile Valley, to the tears Isis shed for Osiris.

Romans in Egypt
In the 1st century B.C., Egypt became a province of Rome under the leadership of Augustus. The Romans ruthlessly exacted money and resources from Egypt. The Roman rulers thrived at great expense to the conquered Egyptians. Over the centuries of Roman domination, people in Egypt and throughout the Mediterranean world sought hope and comfort through the worship of the traditional Egyptian gods whose mythology embraced a central belief in life after death--Osiris, Isis, and their son, Horus.

Figures
In Egypt, people regularly left small bronze figures of deities at temples or funereal sites in order to attract the deity represented. By offering a sculpture at a temple, one could pay homage to a god and hope to gain his or her favor and protection.

Statuette of Isis
This statuette of Isis dates to the 1st century A.D., when Rome ruled over Egypt; the artistic traditions of both cultures are evident in its design. Traditional ATTRIBUTES identify Isis--her crown, serpent, AMULET, and jug. Her stiff stance is characteristically Egyptian. The sculpture's naturalism, however, is characteristic of Roman Imperial art; Isis's large eyes, broad upper lip, and rounded cheeks all give her face a portrait quality. Much of her gown is close-fitting, revealing the solidly rounded form of her breasts, stomach, and thighs. Her gown falls loosely over her legs in graceful and realistically fluid folds.

Several aspects of the sculpture are symbolic attributes of Isis's identity and power. In her left hand Isis holds her magical dart-shaped serpent, a reference to the power gained from her knowledge of Re's secret name. In her right hand is a jug, presumably of sacred water, associated with accomplished magicians. Over a fabulous wig of cascading curls, Isis wears the combined crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, indicating her dominion over both. At the base of her crown a vulture wraps its wings around her head, symbolizing her protective powers. At her bust is a Tyt (tit) amulet, also known as an Isis-knot, a fertility SYMBOL and a reference to her life-giving powers.

Look
1. This statuette includes two important features from the story of Isis. What are they? (Isis and the serpent.) Does the serpent look different from other snakes you have seen? How? (Straight and stiff rather than curved and writhing.) What part of Isis's story was the artist recalling when he made the serpent look straight and stiff? (Isis molded the serpent into the form of a dart.)

2. How big do you think this sculpture is? Discuss the sculpture's purpose: Egyptian people left small bronze figures like this one at temples or funeral sites to attract the deity the sculpture represented. Now how big do you think it is? Show an object of similar size to illustrate the size of this sculpture - nine inches high. What clues to size does the title give you? ("Statuette" has diminutive suffix.)

3. Isis was a very important figure in Egyptian mythology. She was known to the Egyptian people as a healer, magician, and exemplary wife and mother. (See Osiris story, image 1.) How does this sculpture show us that Isis is an important person? (Crown or tall hat identifies rulers, deities, and/or important members of a community in many cultures.)

4. An ATTRIBUTE is a distinctive symbolic feature that identifies a character. Identify Isis's attributes: a serpent (left hand), a vulture (wrapped around the base of Isis's crown), a jug of water (right hand). What is an AMULET? (An object or charm, usually worn as jewelry.) Is Isis wearing one? (Yes.) Where? (Around her neck.)

5. Compare with the painting of Osiris (image 1). Both of these works of art are Egyptian, but their overall STYLES or design qualities are different. Name the stylistic differences between Osiris and Isis. Consider: facial features, treatment of bodies and garments, and media. (Osiris's face, shown in profile, is consistent with Egyptian formulas for representing people. Isis has natural features more consistent with portraiture and meant to be seen from many sides. Isis's body is a THREE-DIMENSIONAL sculpture with rounded forms, Osiris's body is a TWO-DIMENSIONAL painting with flat, straight outlines and angles. Isis's garments have NATURALISTIC and descriptive folds, Osiris's mummy garment has no folds or descriptive elements. The artist who painted Osiris used color, the artist who sculpted Isis did not.)

2. Discuss with students the Roman occupation and rule of Egypt at the time this statuette was made. A SYMBOL is something that stands for or represents another thing or idea. What did Isis represent for the Egyptian people at the time this statuette was made? (Egyptian people looked to traditional deities like Isis as a symbol of hope during Roman domination.)

3. Isis was a superhero to the ancient Egyptian people. A superhero is a hero who takes human form but possesses supernatural powers. Can you think of any women who are superheroes today? (Super Woman. Bat Girl. The Bionic Woman. She-Ra Princess of Power. Wonder Woman.)

4. Egyptian works of art you have studied in the World Mythology in Art image set all include ATTRIBUTES of the gods they represent. Review Osiris, Thoth, and Isis. Why did the Egyptian artists use attributes when they depicted these gods? (To identify the gods. Without attributes, they all look the same. FORMULAIC Egyptian style makes no attempt at portraiture.)