Head of an anthropomorphic falcon god

Deciphering the identity of this battered sculpture of a falcon-headed god is challenging. The carefully ridged wig indicates that it is a falcon-headed man and not a bird, and the tenon at the top shows that he once had a head ornament, which is now lost. The statue is complicated because a careful study of its surface, facial features, and wig suggests that it originated in the reign of Amenhotep III, a king who created many lifesize sculptures of gods. But it appears this head was later recarved. The wig was cut down, a tenon was created, and the eyes were rounded, sinking them below the face’s surface, a clear indication of recarving.

If this statue were a representation of Horus, then he would probably wear a double crown, or perhaps just a white or red crown. To do that, however, the head would likely have had a broader, flatter surface to support a wide-based crown. The presence of the wig’s ridges up to the tenon suggests, instead, that there was a narrow point of contact between the head and head ornament. A sun disk, perhaps made from gold or gold-covered wood, would be a possible head ornament if that were the case, and a falcon-headed god wearing a sun disk is likely to be the sun god Re or the merged form Re-Harakhty.