Late Period, 664-332 BC. A bronze figurine representing Osiris with flail and crook in his crossed arms, plaited beard, atef crown to his head, affixing spike absent. See O'Connor, D, Abydos: Egypt's First Pharaohs and the Cult of Osiris, London, 2009, for a discussion on the role of Osiris in Egyptian religion and society. 59 grams, 10.6cm (4 1/4"). From the private collection of a London gentleman, acquired prior to 1985. Osiris was both ruler of the underworld and judge of the dead, and represented the nocturnal aspect of the sun in its journey. He is also a deity connected to the fertility of the land and the production of crops, as well as the annual flooding of the Nile. His main cult centre in Egypt was at Abydos which was believed to be his burial place. In the Greek and Roman periods of rule in Egypt he became associated with the god Serapis in the Mysteries of Isis, his consort.