Mummy of a Falcon

Culture: Egyptian

Period: Late Period, 664-332 B.C.

Material: Animal mummy, linen

Dimensions: 35 cm high

Price: 10 000 Euro

Ref: 1599

Provenance: Belgian private collection of Anne and Christophe Vaes, acquired in 1970 from Dr. Adriaensen in Brussels. Recorded in an insurance document dated March 1985. In the family collection ever since.

Condition: The right inlaid eye is missing. A minor loss in the uppermost linen layer at the back, otherwise excellently preserved.

Description: Carefully wrapped falcon mummy, bound in thin strips of natural-colored linen, likely representing the god Horus. The figure is anthropomorphic, with the head modelled in the form of a bird. To achieve this, several layers of linen were skillfully layered on top of one another, the eye sockets were left open, and the beak was modelled. The eyes and the flattened beak itself are rendered in relief using black linen pieces and secured with bitumen. Additionally, the facial features are further emphasised with black paint. The body itself is wrapped in numerous layers of linen, which are sewn together at the back. The feet protrude plastically at the front. The rather archaic manner of modelling and the deliberate absence of painted decoration suggest a fairly early date for the mummy. It was likely embalmed in the pre-Ptolemaic period, during the Egyptian Late Period. Mounted on a base.