Prerogatives of the Egyptian Gods

Horus, shown crowned with the Double
Crown of all Egypt, was mythological heir
to Osiris and often personified the role of
the living monarch.
18th Dynasty, Tomb of Horemheb.
Valley of the Kings

We find the idea of kingship among the gods depicted in a concrete fashion in the iconography employed in the representations of the gods in formal and informal contexts alike. This is particularly clear in the frequent use of royal insignias by deities. Egyptian gods were often depicted seated on thrones - especially Amun, revered as king of the gods in New Kingdom times, Re who ruled the heavens, Osiris who ruled the netherworld, and Horus. But many other deities were also depicted in this manner, and the image of the enthroned god or goddess is probably more commonly found in Egyptian art than examples of enthroned human kings - showing the motif's importance for the portrayal of deities.

Crowns are also of great importance as elements in the representation of kings and gods. Horus, Atum and Mut, for example, were commonly depicted wearing the Double Crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, while from the Third Intermediate  Period youthful deities such as Ihy or Harpokrates may be shown wearing  almost any of the various types of royal crowns. Likewise, royalty and deities both were the uraeus emblem on these symbols of offices and stature. Other typically royal insignias such as sceptres, staves and standards were also utilized in depictions of the Egyptian gods. Although it could be argued that some of these objects were perhaps originally divine attributes utilized by the king (as for example the crook and fail of the god Andjety and later Osiris), the duality of their use still shows the interrelation of kingship and the divine roles of the gods.

The parallels between divine and kingly prerogatives do not end with physical items of insignia. Just as the personal birth and throne names of kings were usually placed within oval cartouches, the concept of gods as kings extended into this practices and also we find, for example, the name of Osiris written within the cartouche in Middle Kingdom times. It is an interesting aspect of Akhenaten's religion of the Aten that because the solar disk deity was interpreted as the true ruler of the universe, it was given a royal titulary with his name being inscribed in cartouches. The Aten also celebrated his own royal jubilees so that the distinction between god and king was almost completely blurred in this period. While Akhenaten may have had his own agenda for this fusion, it must be remembered that the idea of the god as king was not without precedent and that Akhenaten's innovation in this area was essentially one of degree rather than one of type.

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