Serekh

Serekh


 * Hieroglyphics:**



In Egyptian hieroglyphics, a //Serekh// is a rectangular enclosure representing the niched or gated facade of a palace surmounted by the royal Horus falcon, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The //Serekh// was the earliest convention used to set apart the royal name in ancient Egyptian iconography, predating the later and better known cartouche by four dynasties and five to seven hundred years. The earliest //Serekhs// were empty because the symbol alone relayed the necessary message of royal power. Over time, the king began to write an epithet within the //Serekh//.

The //Serekh// represented the king’s palace shown in a combination of plan and elevation, and echoes the term "great house" as an indicator of kingship. The rectangular enclosure represented the plan, while the patterned area represented the elevation of the facade. A //Serekh// incised or painted in ink on a vessel denoted that the contents were the produce or property of the royal court. The //Serekh// containing the king’s name was used on a variety of objects and made a fundamental statement of royal ideology.

It is interesting to note that the pharaoh Sekhemhib displayed his name in a //Serekh// topped by a Set Animal, not a falcon, while Khasekhemwy's //Serekh// included both a Set Animal and a falcon. As Set was the patron of Upper Egypt and Horus the patron of the Lower, this has been taken as evidence that the ruler wished to appease both factions. As the worship of Set fell out of favor, gradually the Horus falcon became the only creature to be pictured atop the //Serekh//.

Egyptian Symbols