Scarab with the Representation of a Falcon-headed Figure Between Uraei

Scarab with the Representation of a Falcon-headed Figure Between Uraei

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A figure with the head of a falcon kneels while holding a lotus flower with a long stem. He is flanked by raised cobras (uraei). Such falcon-headed figures are frequently found on Canaanite scarabs of the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1700–1500 B.C., contemporary with the Second Intermediate Period in Egypt) and can grasp a flower, a branch or a cobra. Even though they are of Canaanite manufacture, these scarabs show the falcon-headed figure paired with Egyptian signs and symbols and it is therefore very likely they represent the Egyptian god Horus. This scarab dates to the later phase of Canaanite production, ca. 1640–1500 B.C.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Scarab with the Representation of a Falcon-headed Figure Between UraeiScarab with the Representation of a Falcon-headed Figure Between UraeiScarab with the Representation of a Falcon-headed Figure Between UraeiScarab with the Representation of a Falcon-headed Figure Between UraeiScarab with the Representation of a Falcon-headed Figure Between Uraei

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.