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Relief Plaque Depicting the God Horus as a Falcon

A work made of limestone.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of limestone.

Date:

Late Period–Ptolemaic Period (664–30 BCE)

Artist:

Egyptian

About this artwork

Horus, shown as a falcon or a falcon-headed man, was one of the most important gods of the Egyptian pantheon. First appearing about 3000 B.C. Horus continued to be revered through the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. Each Egyptian king was considered to be the “Living Horus on Earth.” The king would often wear a double crown, which symbolized rule over both Northern and Southern Egypt. Here Horus is shown wearing such a crown,confirming the king’s shared identity with the god. Behind Horus is the disk of the sun, protected by a uraeus, a snake symbolizing royalty, from which hangs an ankh, the sign for life.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of Africa

Artist

Ancient Egyptian

Title

Relief Plaque Depicting the God Horus as a Falcon

Place

Egypt (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

664 BCE–30 BCE

Medium

Limestone

Dimensions

31.1 × 28.3 × 3.2 cm (12 1/4 × 11 1/8 × 1 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Museum Purchase Fund

Reference Number

1920.258

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/136453/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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