Although the Egyptian king became one with Osiris upon
death, he was also fused with the sun god Re. This idea is at
least as old as the Osiride association and is strongly
attested from the Pyramid Texts onward. The situation actually
parallels that described between the king and the netherworld
god.
Just as the living monarch was held to be the son of Osiris but
fused with the deity upon death, so the living king known as
the "Son of Re" could fuse with his father Re upon his entry
into the afterlife. Deified queens were also frequently
associated with the goddess Hathor (or later Isis-Hathor) who
was seen as the daughter of Ra.
While the iconography associated with the body of the deceased
king - i.e., the mummy, coffin, and sarcophagus - was
associated primarily with Osiris, the imagery of royal tomb
decoration as seen throughout New Kingdom monuments is
primarily linked with the king's assimilation with the sun
god.
This assimilation or fusion involves the king's cyclic travel
with Ra into, through, and out of the netherworld regions in
continuing renewal and rebirth. The imagery of solar
assimilation may be varied, however. On the one hand the
god-king is said to ride alongside Ra in the celestial boat of
the sun god and to act as a judge in the realm of Re while on
the other hand he is clearly said to be one with the solar god.
Both are depicted iconographically, the latter when the name of
Ramesses III is written within a solar image in that king's
tomb. In either case, however, the deceased king's divinity is
clear.
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