Ram-headed falcon amulet-E 80-IMG 2503-with reflection-gradient

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

, a shen ring was a circle with a line

tangent In geometry, the tangent line (or simply tangent) to a plane curve at a given point is, intuitively, the straight line that "just touches" the curve at that point. Leibniz defined it as the line through a pair of infinitely close points o ...

to it, represented in hieroglyphs as a stylised loop of a rope, bound to a stick. The tool used by builders and architects. Shen rings can most often be seen in the clutches of

Horus Horus (), also known as Heru, Har, Her, or Hor () in Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as the god of kingship, healing, protection, the sun, and t ...

. The word ''shen'' itself means "encircling" in ancient Egyptian, while the shen ring itself represents eternal protection. What the French called a cartouche is in fact an elongated shen ring encircling a name of a

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

or god/goddess, thus "eternally protecting" that personage. In Gardiner's sign list, it is sign V9.

Shen ring use in iconography

The shen ring is most often seen carried by the falcon god

, but was also carried by the vulture goddess Nekhbet. It was used as early as the Third Dynasty where it can be seen in the reliefs from Djoser's Step Pyramid complex. The symbol could be stretched to contain other objects, which were then understood as being eternally protected by the shen ring. In its elongated form the shen ring became the cartouche, which enclosed and protected a royal name.UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology online: definition cartouche *The Goddess Heqet, (the 'Frog'), is often seated on a ''shenu.'' *For Eternity, the '' renpit'', a palm rib with the leaflets removed, is usually based on top of a ''Shen ring.'' See the Egyptian god Huh. ( Senusret I has a famous ''Lintel relief'' showing this.) *The shen ring is often attached to various types of staffs, the staff of authority, or power, symbolizing the ''Eternal'' authority of that power. *The Goddess

Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

, and the Goddess Nekhbet are often shown kneeling, with their hands resting upon a ''shenu.'' *The Hawk (

), and the Vulture (Goddess Mut) have the ''shenu'' in their talons, wings outstretched, over the scene portrayed. The "Horus with Outstretched Wings", ''shenu''s in its talons, is an example from the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

of a Pectoral Brooch, possibly for royalty. Outside of Egypt, a Tartessian archaeological site, Cancho Roano in southern Spain, has a shen ring-shaped altar.

References

* {{Ancient Egyptian religion footer, state=collapsed Egyptian mythology Egyptian hieroglyphs: rope-fiber-baskets-bags Ancient Egyptian symbols

Shen ring use in iconography

See also

References