Sacred Fish with the Crown of Isis in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, June 2018

Sacred Fish with a Crown of Isis (Primary Title)

Unknown (Artist)

Date: 664-332 BC

Culture: Egyptian

Category: Sculpture

Medium: bronze, glass

Collection: Ancient Art

Dimensions: Overall: 5 1/8 × 7 × 2 in. (13.02 × 17.78 × 5.08 cm)

Object Number: 2001.247


Glass eyes enliven this fish, which also wears the Isis crown-a sun-disc between the horns of a bull. According to myth, the divine brothers Osiris and Seth struggled for control of Egypt. After defeating Osiris, Seth scattered his body parts throughout the land. Isis, Osiris’s wife, gathered the pieces for burial. She found his penis inside a fish, which she honored by declaring it sacred and forbidding anyone to eat it.

Text from: www.vmfa.museum/piction/6027262-7903463