The Oxyrhynchus fish, or medjed, is an elephant fish that was a primary focus of worship around the Egyptian city of Per-Medjed (Greek Oxyrhynchus) in Upper Egypt. It was closely associated with both the god Osiris and the goddess Hathor and held sacred, particularly in the town of the same name mentioned above, Oxyrhynchus (modern el-Behnasa), as well as at el-Omari, the site of a necropolis for mummified fish. In the most complete account of the Osiris myth, recorded by the Greek Historian Plutarch in the first to second centuries AD, Osiris was dismembered by his vengeful brother, Set. After Set scattered the body parts throughout Egypt, Osiris's phallus was eaten by the oxyrhychus. The Roman author Aelian, writing in the second to third centuries AD, attested that fisherman took great pains to remove the oxyrhynchus from their nets, though tomb representations do show the fish being caught for food. The oxyrhynchus was also associated with the goddess Hathor and was frequently portrayed wearing her characteristic crown.
During the Late period, there was a proliferation of small bronze images of deities and sacred objects presented as votive offerings in temples. It is possible that this figure was dedicated at such a cult center.
