Late Period (664-332 B.c.) Mummified Falcon, Representation Of Horus, Votive Offering

This mummified falcon from the Egyptian Late Period (664-332 B.C.) has just been added to the gallery. A remarkably well-preserved specimen, it represents the god Horus, god of the sky and protector of royalty. Mummified as a votive offering to be deposited in temple precincts, it is wrapped in delicate, perfectly preserved bandages. These falcons, along with other animals that are divine symbols, were born and raised in captivity in the temples, for the sole purpose of being sacrificed and mummified, then sold as offerings. Falcons and hawks were considered the earthly manifestation of Horus and the vectors of his power.

Frequently, and particularly in the Ptolemaic period, these mummies were sold incomplete, or even without a skeleton. This example, on the other hand, features a whole falcon, swaddled and sealed in its mummy. After several millennia, parts of its body, such as its beak, part of its skull, leg bones and talons, are now visible through the bandages.

From an important collection of Canadian antiquities, acquired on the European market in the 1990s.