DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5009#0172
MYTHOLOGY OF SCULPTURE. 153
The Phoenix is represented under the form of a bird, with wings
Partly raised, and seated upon its open claws, having at the back
of its head a small tuft of feathers, and in front it raises two human
arms, as if in an attitude of prayer. It is supposed to be a type of
the Sothic period, the great year of the Egyptians, at the end of
which, all the planets returned to the same place they occupied
at its commencement. It was a period of 1461 years, which
brought round to the same seasons, their months and festivals.
The story of its rising from its ashes was a later invention,
according to Sir G. Wilkinson the Egyptian name seems to be
HI-ENES or <£>ENE2, signifying " saeculum," or a period of years.
Ihe examples we have hero given will be sufficient to give a
general idea of the representation of the Egyptian deities under the
three forms above indicated, further and more accurate information
will be found in the works of Sir Gardner Wilkinson and of the
Chevalier Bunsen.
Kings and Queens.—The figures of kings and queens which are
found in Egyptian monuments of all kinds, are represented in a
pure human form, nude, dressed, or mummified. For the kings,
as for the gods, an appendage to the chin, or plaited beard, dis-
tinguished them from the queens, as from the goddesses. This
plaited beard is the general marls: of the male form in all figures
sculptured or painted by the Egyptians. The king is recognised
by two peculiar signs : 1. The serpent (urseus), which raises its
head and swollen neck over his brow and in front of his crown.
2. The name engraved on his statue, or written by his side on bas-
reliefs and paintings, and this name is a series of hieroglyphics
enclosed in an oval or cartouche. The honours of the oval were
reserved for the kings and queens alone, and for ihose gods who
were considered as dynasts, or who had reigned in Egypt; but
in the latter case, the gods can be recognised by their attributes,
and especially by the head-dress ; the kings being distinguished
by their purely human forms, and by the richness of their costume,
The Phoenix is represented under the form of a bird, with wings
Partly raised, and seated upon its open claws, having at the back
of its head a small tuft of feathers, and in front it raises two human
arms, as if in an attitude of prayer. It is supposed to be a type of
the Sothic period, the great year of the Egyptians, at the end of
which, all the planets returned to the same place they occupied
at its commencement. It was a period of 1461 years, which
brought round to the same seasons, their months and festivals.
The story of its rising from its ashes was a later invention,
according to Sir G. Wilkinson the Egyptian name seems to be
HI-ENES or <£>ENE2, signifying " saeculum," or a period of years.
Ihe examples we have hero given will be sufficient to give a
general idea of the representation of the Egyptian deities under the
three forms above indicated, further and more accurate information
will be found in the works of Sir Gardner Wilkinson and of the
Chevalier Bunsen.
Kings and Queens.—The figures of kings and queens which are
found in Egyptian monuments of all kinds, are represented in a
pure human form, nude, dressed, or mummified. For the kings,
as for the gods, an appendage to the chin, or plaited beard, dis-
tinguished them from the queens, as from the goddesses. This
plaited beard is the general marls: of the male form in all figures
sculptured or painted by the Egyptians. The king is recognised
by two peculiar signs : 1. The serpent (urseus), which raises its
head and swollen neck over his brow and in front of his crown.
2. The name engraved on his statue, or written by his side on bas-
reliefs and paintings, and this name is a series of hieroglyphics
enclosed in an oval or cartouche. The honours of the oval were
reserved for the kings and queens alone, and for ihose gods who
were considered as dynasts, or who had reigned in Egypt; but
in the latter case, the gods can be recognised by their attributes,
and especially by the head-dress ; the kings being distinguished
by their purely human forms, and by the richness of their costume,