Openwork furniture plaque with a falcon-headed figure in a papyrus thicket. Culture: Assyrian. Dimensions: 4.76 x 2.2 x 0.24 in. (12.09 x 5.59 x 0.61 cm). Date: ca. 9th-8th century B.C..This intricately carved, rectangular openwork plaque depicts a falcon-headed figure standing in profile in a papyrus thicket raising one arm with an open palm and holding a scepter in the hand of its other, lowered arm. The motif of a falcon-headed figure is known from Egyptian art where it represents Horus, the Egyptian sky god. This piece was found in a storeroom at Fort Shalmaneser, a royal building at Nimrud that was probably used to store tribute and booty collected by the Assyrians while on military campaign. Two fragmentary tenons, one preserved above the upper edge and one below the lower edge of this plaque, suggest that this piece may have been fitted into a frame, likely as part of a piece of furniture. The West Semitic letters Pe, Shin, and Resh are inscribed into the reverse of the ivory.