Sphinx of Senwosret III (Part II)

Here is a link to Part I!

The Horus Name is one of five 𓏾 ways to write the name 𓂋𓈖 of a pharaoh 𓉐𓉻, and it is the oldest way to do so. The purpose of the Horus Name was to identify the king 𓇓 as an earthly representation of the god 𓊹 Horus 𓅃𓀭. 

The Horus Name consists of three elements: the palace facade 𓊁, Horus the Falcon 𓅃 standing on top of the palace 𓊁, and the name 𓂋𓈖 of the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 within the palace 𓊁. The palace 𓊁 hieroglyph 𓊹𓌃 is pronounced like “serekh” 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 𓎛𓅱𓃭 of Pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 Senwosret III 𓇳𓈍𓂓𓂓𓂓, you can see the Horus name, however, the throne name is also in the serekh! This is unusual to see both names 𓂋𓈖𓏦 in the serekh! 

Let’s read some hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪! 

𓊹𓆣𓅱 – “Horus, Divine of Form” (Neter-kheperu) (Horus Name)

𓇳𓈍𓂓𓂓𓂓 – “The Souls of Ra have Appeared” (Kha kau ra) (Throne Name)

Something I love about this sphinx 𓎛𓅱𓃭, is that it is made out of gneiss, which is one of my favorite rocks 𓇋𓈖𓂋𓈙𓏦! Gneiss is a foliated metamorphic rock 𓇋𓈖𓂋𓈙 which means that it was subjected to such extreme heat and pressure during its formation (probably due to mountain 𓈋𓅳 building or plate tectonics), that the minerals 𓇋𓌻𓂋𓅱𓈙𓏦 have separated into bands of light (felsic) and dark (mafic) colored minerals 𓇋𓌻𓂋𓅱𓈙𓏦! This gives gneiss a natural zebra-like appearance! 

Gebel el-Asr is the only quarry 𓎛𓏏𓏏𓉐 in Egypt 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖 where gneiss can be found, and gneiss was prized from the Predynastic to Middle Kingdoms for statue 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓀾 making!

The following pictures 𓏏𓅱𓏏 show a close up of one of my samples of gneiss, so you can see this banding!