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The truth is probably to be found in a balance of these views:
From the human perspective, the Egyptian king was viewed as one
of the gods - he is called such and depicted along with other
gods in divine scenes. On the other hand, it could be said that
from a divine perspective the king was still human and was of
course subject to human frailties and mortality. This dual
nature of the living king - human and divine - seems to be
implicit in the serekh, the device in which the king's name was
written from early times (showing the god Horus atop the royal
palace), and in the royal titulary which was drawn up at the
king's accession from Middle Kingdom times. The nesut-bit or
"two ladies" title preceded the king's formal throne name, and
has long been interpreted as signifying only rulership over
Upper and Lower Egypt. But it may refer in fact tot he divine
identity of the king in general (nesut) and the current human
holder of the office in the line of kingly succession (bit).
Beginning with Siegfried Morenz, a number of scholars have
shown that the dual nature of the king may also be seen in
constrasting nesur with another Egyptian word relating to
kingship - hem, usually translated "majesty". The first word,
nesut, refers to the divine power held by the king and used in
the exercise of kingly roles, whereas the second word, hem,
really refers to the idea of the individual in whom the divine
power is incarnate. These two terms were sometimes used
together (hem en nesut) meaning something like "the incarnation
of divine kingship".
Accepting this duality amounts to a view of Egyptian
monarchical ideology which understands the king as being in
effect both human and divine during his lifetime. This apparent
contradiction would have hardly been seen as problematic by the
ancient Egyptian, whose theological systems contained many such
enigmas. The apparent contradiction was resolved practically in
the duality of the king's role - in essense, the nature of the
Egyptian king depended upon the situation. The king represented
the gods to his people as a god, and also the people of Egypt
to the gods as a human. Theologically neither the divine nor
the human realm could function without him.
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 The
Complete Gods and
Goddesses of Ancient Egypt
Book
Since you are interested in
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Egyptian religious doctrines.
The
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