Osirian Materia Sacra: A glance from corn-mummies

Corn mummies, i.e., miniature pseudo-mummies, made of a mixture of sand and cereal grains, with Osirian iconography, can provide a useful perspective from which to look at the complex nature of Osiris and his cult. Despite having been a well-researched subject at least since the 1980s, they still deserve attention. This study re-examines the known contexts, anticipates the dating of the earliest known artefacts, and analyses their relationship with other categories of related objects, such as the so-called “Osiris beds” and “Osiris bricks”. Although all these artefacts are linked to the rites of Khoiak and share a common conceptual background, the author proposes to distinguish between a cultic tradition and a funerary one. Corn mummies fit into the former strand, as images of the dead god embalmed, prefiguring his rebirth through the sprouting grain. Their main meaning seems to be related to the idea of the rebirth of nature and vegetation rather than to the hope in resurrection. In contrast, “Osiris beds” were aimed to revive an individualized Osiris, i.e., the deceased.