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From Egypt Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 BC
Side view
A hovering falcon
Length: 28.000 cm
EA 27388
Ancient Egypt and Sudan
Animal Mummies
Mummy of a falcon
This falcon has been well wrapped up and has a bronze mask on its head. Falcons are birds which fly fast and high, up towards the sun, so the falcon became the symbol of the god Horus, the god of the sun.
Falcons were quite difficult to catch, so not every falcon mummy contains a whole bird. Sometimes the bandages cover just a few bones and feathers. Perhaps the embalmers hoped that Horus would not notice!
The picture underneath is a falcon pectoral - an ornament that was placed on the chest of the mummy.