Ivory Plaque with the Birth of Horus, Second Version
Unknown · Neo-Assyrian period, eighth century BC
A second plaque of the birth of Horus, nine centimetres wide, repeats the design of its neighbour: the child god seated on a lotus flower, flanked by two winged genies in the double crown of Egypt whose wings fold protectively around him. Purple traces on the wings and on the plant stems show where gilding has gone. On the back the ivory carries the marks of the saw used to slice the plaque from the tusk, a reminder of the raw material. Compare the two versions to see how a workshop repeated a design while varying small details.
The plaque was found near the north wall of room fourteen in the Building of the Ivories at Arslan Tash, the Assyrian residence at ancient Hadatu in northern Syria, in the 1928 excavations of François Thureau-Dangin. The concentration of Egyptianising plaques in that spot suggests that they came from a single piece of furniture, perhaps a bed. The ivory came to the Louvre through the partage of 1929. The elephants that supplied the tusks lived in Syria itself until they were hunted out in this very period.
Did You Know? Saw marks on the back show how the plaque was sliced from an elephant tusk, at a time when Syrian elephants were being hunted to extinction.
Unlock the Full Guide
Read every room and listen to every work in all museums with premium.