The Shepherd’s Attributes in the Imageof Egyptian Royalty. Some Notes for its Comprehension during the Early Period

Abstract

The ancient societies from the Near East and Egypt used to associate their leaderships positions with the figure of a shepherd. Thus the rulers of these societies used to act as shepherds whose main activities were to lead their people on the right path, as a herd follows its shepherd.   In Egypt, the development of leadership and kingship during the Predynastic period was linked to some features which clearly belong to a pastoral world. Therefore, it is possible to observe the close relationship between the origins of the pharaonic monarchy and all the elements relating to pastoral activities from the study of iconography and the archaeological records. In fact, one of the sacred objects of Egyptian kingship was the so-called heqasceptre, which derived from a shepherd’s crook.   Thus, this paper aims to study the pastoral backgrounds which inspired the imagery of the rising Egyptian kingship during the Early Period, stating the hypothesis that in Predynastic Egypt, some of the aspects of the imagery of the pharaonic monarchy were taken from the figure of the shepherd.