Plaque with trial relief of falcon

Quartzite plaque with a sculptor's trial image of the god Horus as a falcon. Quartzite is one of the hardest stones of the Egyptian desert. This example was excavated at Memphis (modern Mit Rahina), and the nearest quarry is Kom el-Ahmar in the hills northeast of modern Cairo. In the Late Period and Ptolemaic Period numerous examples of such trial pieces were deposited as votive offerings, perhaps indicating the religious power ascribed to the work of the sculptor in Egyptian art.