Thoth

Cornice block A.D. 41-68 Sandstone From Philae Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City From the curation card: This block originally formed part of a screen wall that connected the four front columns and sidewalls of the Temple of Harendotes ("Horus the Avenger") on the island of Philae. The relief represents the "baptism of Pharaoh," a purification ritual that was part of Egyptian coronation ceremonies. The gods Horus (not preserved) and the ibis-headed Thoth poured water -- here represented by streams of ankh (life) and was (dominion) hieroglyphs -- over the head of the king. The pharaoh whose head is partially preserved is a Claudian emperor most probably either Claudius or Nero. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoth I admit I had some fun with this -- when I first saw it in the Metropolitan Museum, I thought Thoth was performing a craniotomy on some unsuspecting individual. The curation card cleared that one up. Guess you can't take the physician out of me...