The Scenes of the Lion Accompanying Kings in the New Kingdom

Document Type : Review Articles

Authors

1 Assistant lecturer, The High Institute for Tourism and Hotels, King Mariout, Alexandria.

2 Professor, Tourist Guidance Department, Faculty of Tourism & Hotels, Alexandria University.

3 Professor, Tourist Guidance Department, Faculty of Tourism & Hotels, Matrouh University.

Abstract

Domestic royal lions in ancient Egypt got continuous care from the Egyptian Kings. They have been viewed as pet animals. Evidences of the existence of lions in ancient Egypt extends back to the Predynastic period. In the New Kingdom; several Kings, including King Amenhotep II, Amenhotep III, Tutankhamun, and others possessed royal pet lions.
This article investigates the scenes of lion accompanying Kings in the Ancient Egyptian art, analyzing a variety of scenes that will assist understand how the Ancient Egyptians associated the lion with the divine King and how this connection influenced ancient Egyptian art, with a focus on the New Kingdom. Study revealed the different occasions where the lion accompanied kings in the ancient Egyptian art whether in peace time as during procession festivals, during receiving the tributes, during the deification or during battle field in different wars like Qadesh Battle and War Against the Sea people, the War Against the Nubian and others.

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