The artwork titled “Nany Before Osiris” is a symbolic and religious painting from Ancient Egypt, dating to approximately 1050 BC during the 3rd Intermediate Period. This piece, created on papyrus with paint, belongs to the series “Book of the Dead for the Singer of Amun, Nany,” and is currently housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met) in New York City, NY, USA.
The artwork depicts a ceremonious scene central to the Egyptian belief system. On the left side stands Osiris, the god of the afterlife, with his green face, wearing the Atef crown and holding a flail. In front of him is Nany, the Singer of Amun, raising her hands in reverence or prayer. The scene includes iconographic elements such as an offering table with a libation vessel and a spread of papyrus reeds, symbolizing offerings to the deity. Above and to the right are Egyptian hieroglyphics, meticulously inscribed, detailing hymns or spells from the “Book of the Dead,” which were intended to guide Nany in the afterlife. The presence of four ducks and a serpent along the upper part of the artwork signifies additional symbolic elements commonly depicted in Egyptian religious manuscripts.
