Painted wooden figure of Osiris

Painted wooden figure of Osiris

From the tomb of Hunefer, Egypt (exact location not known)
19th Dynasty, around 1275 BC

The hollow body contained a rolled funerary papyrus

From the Nineteenth to the mid-Twenty-second Dynasty (about 12950--850 BC) a carved wooden figure of the god Osiris was often included in the tombs of persons of high status. the image or its base was usually hollow, and the cavity contained a rolled papyrus on which funerary texts were inscribed.

This statue was made for the scribe Hunefer, who probably lived during the reign of Sety I (about 1294-1279 BC). It represents Osiris as a mummy, wearing a feathered crown adorned with a sun disc, and grasping the royal crook and flail sceptres that denote his status as a ruler of the netherworld. The hieroglyphic inscription painted on the front of the body invokes Osiris and the embalmer-god Anubis, who are asked to grant the deceased Hunefer unrestricted access to the realm of the dead.

S. Quirke, Ancient Egyptian religion (London, The British Museum Press, 1992)
http://www.britishmuseum.org