Ancient Egyptian kings under Divine Protection; Reflection in Art

Document Type : Original Research

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Guidance Department, Tourism and Hotels, Abou Qir institute, Alexandria

Abstract

This paper will study the protection gesture of the ancient Egyptian kings who represents before different gods in statuary and scenes of those kings and gods together. The ancient Egyptian kings were protected from behind by different gods and goddesses like Horus, Amun, Hathor, Nekhbet, Seth, Meretseger, Anubis, etc. The gods were protecting the kings from the back in different ways. Some gods were stretching their wings around the kings’ heads and crown or around the thrones’ backrest like god Horus and goddess Nekhbet. Other gods protecting the kings by putting their hands on the kings’ shoulders like Amun in his human form. Sometimes the kings were depicting stands under the gods’ chins in their animal form such as Amun as a ram, Hathor as a cow, Anubis as a jackal and Seth as a jackal or dog. The connection between the king and the gods assures that he plays a role of cosmic and political importance and was regarded as one of the guarantors of kingship, aiming to prove their ancestry from one of the gods as a sign of kingship. This study will examine through different scenes from temples and tombs and from different statues exhibited in museums from the Old Kingdom till the Late Period (from the 3rd Dynasty till the 30th Dynasty).

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