Here is a link to Part I!
The Horus Name is one of five πΎ ways to write the name ππ of a pharaoh ππ», and it is the oldest way to do so. The purpose of the Horus Name was to identify the king π as an earthly representation of the god πΉ Horus π π.Β
The Horus Name consists of three elements: the palace facade π, Horus the Falcon π standing on top of the palace π, and the name ππ of the pharaoh ππ» within the palace π. The palace π hieroglyph πΉπ is pronounced like βserekhβ and some Egyptologists are now referring to the Horus Name as the Serekh Name. This was basically the early version of the cartouche!
On the sphinx ππ ±π of Pharaoh ππ» Senwosret III π³ππππ, you can see the Horus name, however, the throne name is also in the serekh! This is unusual to see both names πππ¦ in the serekh!
Letβs read some hieroglyphs πΉππͺ!
πΉπ£π ± – βHorus, Divine of Formβ (Neter-kheperu) (Horus Name)
π³ππππ – βThe Souls of Ra have Appearedβ (Kha kau ra) (Throne Name)
Something I love about this sphinx ππ ±π, is that it is made out of gneiss, which is one of my favorite rocks πππππ¦! Gneiss is a foliated metamorphic rock ππππ which means that it was subjected to such extreme heat and pressure during its formation (probably due to mountain ππ ³ building or plate tectonics), that the minerals ππ»ππ ±ππ¦ have separated into bands of light (felsic) and dark (mafic) colored minerals ππ»ππ ±ππ¦! This gives gneiss a natural zebra-like appearance!
Gebel el-Asr is the only quarry ππππ in Egypt ππ ππ where gneiss can be found, and gneiss was prized from the Predynastic to Middle Kingdoms for statue ππ ±ππΎ making!
The following pictures ππ ±π show a close up of one of my samples of gneiss, so you can see this banding!
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