Statue of Yuyu, grand priest of Osiris, presenting a chapel

Probably from Abydos
Reign of Ramsses II (1279 –1213 BC)
Granite
H.: 1.11 m; W.: 36.5 cm; D.: 47.5 cm
Department of Egyptian Antiquities, Musée du Louvre
(A 67)

A kneeling man wearing an animal skin holds a chapel containing a traditional image of the god Osiris. This type of statue, called naophorus, was highly fashionable among private individuals during the New Kingdom, especially during the Ramessid era. The inscriptions covering the statue repeat the name, titles and lineage of the person depicted, namely a grand priest of Osiris, Yuyu, son of Unennefer, himself priest of Osiris and Tiy, the songstress of Osiris. In several places the statue bears the cartouches of Ramesses II. Indeed, it was under this king that Yuyu performed his functions in Abydos, succeeding his father. He belonged to a line of priests of Osiris who, under the successive reigns of Seti I and Ramesses II, presided over the building of large temples of Abydos, the principle site of worship of the god Osiris. These leading citizens, who passed their office on from father to son, are well known for the that large number of statues, stelae, and bas-reliefs bearing their names, now scattered in museums across the world (including several in the Louvre), allowing us to reconstruct, via a sometimes complicated genealogy, the careers of the individual members of this family.

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