Falcon surmounting box for an animal mummy

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The falcon god Horus stands with his wings swept back. He wears the double crown of Egypt, a royal crown that symbolizes the union of Lower and Upper Egypt, and highlights Horus’ role as the legitimate ruler of the entire land. The crown’s elements are distinct and well made: the red crown of Lower Egypt, lacking only its curling spiral at the front, and the white crown of Upper Egypt. The falcon wears the double crown because Horus and the concept of kingship were closely tied, as early as the Predynastic Period. The falcon stands on a rectangular, shrine-shaped box that would have held an animal mummy. The falcon and box were fashioned separately. The falcon stands on a thin trapezoidal base, now joined with the top of the box. Such falcon mummy boxes, or sarcophagi, would have been offered for deposition in animal necropoleis, not just in relation to the cult of Horus, but also more broadly in association with solar cult. Unlike many such boxes, which are open at the back end where the mummy has been removed, this example is sealed at both ends.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.

Metropolitan Museum of Art