To some Egyptians, the falcon was a sacred bird. Several gods – generally sun gods or gods of the heavens − were depicted with the head or body of a falcon. The best-known of these is the god Horus. The Egyptians tended to call most birds of prey ‘falcons’. Some ‘falcon mummies’ have turned out, following X-ray analysis, to contain the remains of a hawk, buzzard, vulture or eagle.