| 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.
| 
