It's all in the eyes

This is a panel from an ancient Egyptian coffin at the British Museum.

Wonderful colours and loaded with significance. The Eye of Horus is an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection, royal power and good health.

Horus was the sky god who was usually depicted as a falcon. The eye symbol represents the marking around a Peregrine Falcon's eye. The left eye sometimes represented the moon and the god Thoth.

There are seven different hieroglyphs used to represent the eye, most commonly "ir.t" in Egyptian, which also has the meaning "to make or do".