Horus on a falcon sarcophagus. Ancient Egypt, Late Antiquity, 26th Dynasty, 664-525 BC.
Bronze
Provenance:
- Adam A. Weschler & Son, auction of 27 February 1971.
- Private collection, Maryland (USA), since 1971.
Publications:
- Adam A. Weschler & Son. 27 February 1971. Lot 403.
In good condition, intact. It has lost the curly protuberance, which curls out from inside the Red crown, probably representing the antenna of a bee, symbol of northern Egypt. It would have been made as a separate piece to be inserted into the quadrangular recess in the crown. The sarcophagus is empty and lacks a lid to close it at the back. Due to the passage of time, the back of the sarcophagus has been displaced inwards, losing some of its straightness.
Bibliography:
- Animals and Pharaohs. The animal kingdom in ancient Egypt. Somogy Editions D'art. -2015.
- BLEIBERG, E. BARBASH, Y. BRUNO, L. Soulful Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt. Brooklyn Museum. Giles. 2013.
- WILKINSON H. R. The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. London. 2003.
Parallels:
- Falcon Sarcophagus. Bronze. Late Antique - Ptolemaic, 664 - 30 BC. 12.2 cm high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Inv. 15.6.2.
-Ibis sarcophagus. Bronze. Dynasty XXVI, 664 - 525 BC. Brooklyn Museum, New York. Inv. 37.417E.
- Falcon mummy. 4th - 1st century BC. Height 52 cm. Szépm?vészeti Múzeum, Budapest. Inv. 98.4-E.
- Narmer's palette (detail). Slate. c. 3050 BC. 61 cm high. Discovered in 1897 in the Great Temple of Horus at Hierakompolis. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Inv. JE32169.
- Amulet of the Eye of Horus with wing and falcon's foot. Fayenza. Third Intermediate Period - 26th Dynasty, 1070-525 BC. 5 cm long. British Museum, London. Inv. EA29222.
Measurements: 16.3 cm high and 19 cm long.
Sculptural representation of the falcon god Horus in a standing position with his wings folded backwards and wearing the double crown of Egypt, a royal crown that symbolises the union of Lower and Upper Egypt, and emphasises the role of Horus as the legitimate ruler of the whole earth. The different elements of the crown are clearly visible: the red crown of Lower Egypt, which lacks its curled spiral on the front, and the white crown of Upper Egypt. It is richly decorated with the anatomical details of the animal, worked by means of incisions. The hooked beak, two large globular eyes that focus the attention on the face, and the identification of each of its feathers on the wings and tail stand out. The thick heavy ridges on the legs and the rough skin of the talons contrast with the delicacy of the feathers, showing the power and majesty of the falcon.
The deity stands on a rectangular box in the shape of a shrine or truncated pyramid, identified by temple architecture, wide at the base with walls sloping towards the centre and an exvesseled cornice. The interior is hollow, with an opening at the back that would have contained an animal mummy or skeletal remains as a reliquary. Once the mummy was inserted, it was sealed with a simple inlaid plate. The falcon and the box were made separately using the lost-wax technique and then joined together.
Such falcon mummy boxes, or sarcophagi, would have been offered for deposit in animal necropolises, in chapels dedicated to the god, or in the quintessential temple of Horus itself at Edfu (see the specimen housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inv. 15.6.2). Although not only in relation to the cult of Horus, but also in more general terms related to the solar cult.
In ancient Egypt, the practice of mummifying animals became widespread in the first millennium BC. Animals were given a post-mortem treatment similar to that given to humans, and hundreds of mummified animals were found in the great necropolises.