Symbolic Imagery Of Egyptian Queens - 1569 Words

In Ancient Egypt kings were believed to possess godlike power and to have been endowed with a divine right to rule. Religious practices centered around these rulers, who exercised daily prayers and offerings in order to ensure prosperity and abundance for the kingdom. Vast resources were devoted to religious rituals and the construction of lavish temples. Because the king acted as an intermediary between the people and the gods, the religion, politics, and government functioned as one. Only one percent of the population was literate and they were predominantly male scribes. As such, Egypt’s history was documented by men who mainly detailed the affairs of men. It is through the examination of artifacts and texts that we learn to†¦show more content†¦Kings often proclaimed their divinity and power through the use of symbolism on statues, monuments and temples. Beginning in the Fifth Dynasty queens began to adopt some of this regalia as their own. One of the fir st images they assumed was that of the vulture headdress, an insignia also associated with the goddesses of protection. As the headdress originated as a divine crown and continued to be worn by female deities, this possibly indicates a godlike aspect to queenship. When wearing the vulture head covering, queens often substituted the uraeus (cobra) for the vulture beak. The uraeus had many connotations, including the sun god Ra as well as Hathor, the goddess of fertility. By the Middle Kingdom queens (and kings) began simply wearing the uraeus alone. During the Amarna Period the uraeus was often decorated with two cow horns and the solar disk of Hathor. As Great Royal Wife of Amenhotep III and Mother of the King Akhenaton, Queen Tiye was illustrated many times depicting royal behavior. She was represented in equal scale with the king on statues, portrayed as a sphinx trampling foes (a symbol directly taken from kingly imagery), and honored as a living goddess at the temple of Sedeinga in Nubia. It is believed Tiye was the first queen to adapt the horns and sun disk as part of her regalia. In a bronze necklace counterpoise (fig. 1) she was presented as Hathor, who is shown again in the ovalShow MoreRelatedFormal Analysis, Contextualizing, and Compare and Contrast of the Egyptian Sculpture of Isis Nursing Horus and the Byzantine Icon, the Virgin of Vladimir1869 Words   |  8 Pagesanalysis, contextualizing, and compare and contrast of the Egyptian sculpture of Isis nurturing Horus and the Byzantine icon, The Virgin of Vladimir This essay aims to investigate two different time periods in the history of art. 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