Art Institute of Chicago

Statuette of Re-Horakhty

Egyptian

Date

Third Intermediate Period-Late Period, Dynasty 21–26, about 1069–525 BCE

Medium

Copper alloy with gilding

Culture

Egypt

Department

Arts of Africa

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Here Re-Horakhty, a combination of the solar gods Re and Horakhty, strides forward in the form of a falcon-headed male. He is identifiable by his falcon head (once crowned with a sun disk inserted into the hole at the top of his head) and the golden hieroglyphs at the center of his belt, which read, “Re-Horakhty, Chief of the Gods.” Re-Horakhty was worshipped throughout Egypt but was particularly revered in Iunu, an ancient city located near modern Cairo that the Greeks called Heliopolis (“city of the sun”) in his honor. Statuettes of deities such as this one were set up in temples and shrines to receive offerings or presented to the gods as gifts that were later ceremonially buried.

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