Pilaren in de vorm van het lichaam van Osiris bij de tempel van Ramses III te Medinet-Habou before 1862

Here we see Francis Frith’s photograph of the pillars in the form of Osiris at the temple of Ramses III in Medinet Habu. The columns, hewn in the likeness of the resurrected god, Osiris, stand as silent sentinels. Osiris, deity of the afterlife, resurrection, and cyclical renewal, embodies life's perpetual regeneration. We see echoes of Osiris in figures like the Green Man of medieval Europe, a symbol of nature's rebirth, or even the resurrected Christ, each embodying renewal and hope. The god’s bandaged, mummified form is an ancient symbol, a powerful expression of cultural memory, tapping into humanity’s subconscious fears and desires surrounding death and rebirth. This symbol has reappeared throughout art history, each time echoing the collective hope for overcoming mortality, a psychological yearning that transcends time.