Ptah Sokar Osiris. Ancient Egypt, Late Period, 664 - 332 BC. Wood, stucco and pigments. 20.5 cm height and 18.5 cm length. PROVENANCE: Private collection, Heidelberg, Germany. Acquired before the 1970s. CONDITION: Good condition. DESCRIPTION: The statue is part of what in Egyptology we call ‘Ptah-Sokar-Osiris statues’. 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 losing its 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 the funerary god (an emanation of Osiris) of the Memphite necropolis, specifically in the area of Sakkara. Finally, Osiris is the god of the dead par excellence, and his main epithet is khentyamentyu, ‘he who presides over the westerners’, i.e. the dead. The ‘westerners’ is a synonym for the dead, since the necropolises were located on the west bank of the Nile, the west also being the place where the sun sets, and therefore where the reign of the god of the dead, Osiris, begins. These statues were placed in the burial chamber next to the sarcophagus, with a clear protective and regenerative intention. This type of funerary object, although it began to appear at the end of the 19th Dynasty, became more widespread from the Late Antiquity onwards and lasted until the Roman domination. In the Sa'itic 26th Dynasty, it became fashionable to include a bird-shaped statuette with a head: the ba (the personality, assimilated to the soul) of the deceased. These statuettes were placed in the burial chamber next to the sarcophagus. Like the so-called ‘vegetating Osiris’, they had the magical mission of inciting the dead to an early resurrection. At the same time, their magical power would ensure that the ka (the essence of life) of the deceased would not lack everything necessary for his subsistence in the Hereafter. This justifies the request contained in the prayer of the hieroglyphic text. Notes: - The piece includes authenticity certificate. - The piece includes Spanish Export License (Passport for European Union) - If the piece is destined outside the European Union a substitution of the export permit should be requested, can take between 1-2 weeks maximum. - The seller guarantees that he acquired this piece according to all national and international laws related to the ownership of cultural property. Provenance statement seen by Catawiki.