After many hours of thought, this is either an ibis or a heron.In ancient Egyptian Mythology, the Ibis is closely associated with the god Thoth, which makes sense since Thoth has the head of an Ibis...from the entry:
Thoth was believed to have filled many roles in the world of the gods. It was believed that he invented writing and was the vizier and official scribe of the afterworld. The Book of the Dead was written by him.
Thoth is shown attending all major scenes involving the gods, but most especially at the judgement of the deceased.
No wonder I'm sleeping so well....No, wait that's wrong, what is the opposite of sleeping so well?
Maybe it's a heron.
The Bennu bird was a large imaginary bird resembling a heron. The bird may be modeled on the gray heron (Ardea cinera) or the larger Goliath heron (Ardea goliath) that lives on the coast of the Red Sea.
The Bennu was the sacred bird of Heliopolis. Bennu probably derives from the word weben, meaning "rise" or "shine." The Bennu was associated with the sun and represented the ba or soul of the sun god, Re. In the Late Period, the hieroglyph of the bird was used to represent this deity directly. As a symbol of the rising and setting sun, the Bennu was also the lord of the royal jubilee.
The Bennu was also associated with the inundation of the Nile and of the creation. Standing alone on isolated rocks of islands of high ground during the floods the heron represented the first life to appear on the primeval mound which rose from the watery chaos at the first creation. This mound was called the ben-ben. It was the Bennu bird's cry at the creation of the world that marked the beginning of time. The bennu thus was the got of time and its divisions -- hours, day, night, weeks and years.
Okay, a little less creepy. I'll go with that. But, who knew that Dayton, Ohio hotels were filled with references to ancient Egyptian mythology?
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