God Horus Protecting King Nectanebo II is a sculpture belonging to the late period of the Egyptian culture at the type of the Dynasty 30 under the rule of Nectanebo II. The sculpture dates back to the period of 360–343 B.C. The sculpture is considered to originate from Egypt. According to the available data, it comes from Memphite Region, Heliopolis. This small scale greywacke statue that is recently kept at the Metropolitan Museum of Art seems to be the only depiction of the king Nectanebo II who was the last native pharaoh of Egypt.
In overall, the statue represents the posture of the Falcon God Horus with the small figure of the king. Important with respect to the delivery of the central message of the statue is the size of the Falcon and the size of the king. The massive and majestic figure of a falcon creates the impression of power that radiates from it. At the same time, the intentionally diminished figure of the king who is located between the falcon's claws also has rather strong symbolic meaning. Looking at the statue, it seems that the king is under the protection of the large bird. From the other
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The figure of the God is crowned with the Double Crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, thus symbolizing the overwhelming power of the God. Such depiction is a sign of the divinity of the king's power in Egypt. With the figure of a human between the bird's legs, the sculpture is a reflection of the Egyptian myth that the king is a representative of the God on Earth and his power is given by the higher creature. The figure of the falcon expresses the calmness and wiseness which should be a characteristic of a God. However, not only the God should possess over those features, the king should also have them, and being under the protection and the guidance of the God, king Nectanebo is considered to have access to the characteristics that are shared with him by the divine