BRONZE STATUE OF HORUS Late Period, 26th Dynasty. Bronze statuette depicting the god Horus in his hawk shape, standing with wings folded on his back and long feathered tail extended. Wear the Pschent, the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. The head has large round eyes and pointed beak, the anatomical details are rendered with accuracy: the wrinkled skin of the legs and the thick plumage of the wings and tail finely engraved. Ex Vermot and Associes 2015, Belgian private collection. The cult of Horus is attested from the predynastic period (3100 BC), thanks to the representation of a falcon in the stele of the serpent king Djet, until Roman times when his cult was combined with that of his mother Isis. In predynastic times there were, probably, several hawk deities, the most important of which was the hawk-god revered in Upper Egypt. When the rulers of Lower Egypt unify the Two Lands, Horus takes on the character of Unifier of Upper and Lower Egypt. The Egyptian ruler is considered the personification of Horus, that is, the living Horus; the first of the many titles that identify a sovereign of Egypt is the serekht or the name-Horo characterized precisely by the hawk Declared to the Archaeological Superintendency of Bologna 95/2015 BRONZE HORUS FIGURINE Late Period, XXVI Dynasty BC This large, beautifully cast, and richly detailed statuette of god Horus represented as a resting falcon, wears the Pschent, the Double Crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. Around the neck hangs an engraved depiction of an Usek collar composed of five lines. Engraving also details the elaborately patterned feathers and typical facial markings, slightly raised eyes. The thick heavy ridges of the legs contrast with the delicacy of the feathering, uniting the power and majesty of the falcon. The feet were cast separately and then attached to the rest of the body. The intricacy of the original wax model is evident in the powerfully curved talons that leave open spaces between the feet. Mounted. Ex Vermot and Associes 2015, private Belgian collection. The soaring flight and predatory character of the falcon linked the mighty raptor to the god of the living king, Horus, early in the pharaonic tradition. The living king of Egypt was identified as an earthly Horus, and from the late Predynastic Period (c. 3100 BCE), the king bore a special royal "Horus name." The falcon, as the sacred animal of Horus, came to symbolize divine kingship, as the king was the earthly representation of Horus. The common appearance of the Double Crown and uraeus on bronze figurines of falcons reinforces this royal connection. The falcon was also associated with the sky, with its eyes representing the sun and the moon and its large wings outspread to protect the earth below. Later, the falcon became associated with the sun god Re, bearing a sun disc on its head (known as Re-Harakhty). Other gods also had falcons as their sacred animals, such as Montu the god of war, who is distinguished by a double-plume headdress. Cod. 95/2015 664-332 BC Height 23 cm, Length 17 cm