Between Heaven and Earth: Birds in Ancient Egypt

I saw this fascinating exhibit at the Oriental Institute in Chicago and would highly recommend it. It is the first American exhibit devoted to birds of the Nile Valley and it runs until July 28th, 2013.  It explores the impact and importance of birds on the ancient Egyptian culture and includes 40 artifacts.  I learned that some Egyptian gods took the form of the falcon (Horus) or the ibis (Thoth). Birds were a key part of the life-and-death cycle of Ancient Egypt and I spotted a mummified eagle and a coffin for an Ibis mummy (below) in wood, gesso, silver, gold, rock crystal. 332-30 BC from the collection of the Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund.

More @ http://oi.uchicago.edu/museum/special/birds/