Head of a king with a uraeus (rearing cobra) at his brow, fragment from a larger-than-life royal statue

The Egyptian king was perceived as a god, the earthly embodiment of the god Horus and the corporeal son of the sun god. His divine nature is reflected in his names, in his pictorial images, and in his attributes. His primary role was to preserve the divine world order, which he did by maintaining a strong central rule and performing particular cultic rites. Functioning in both the divine and human spheres, the king acted as a mediator between the two, and he alone was allowed to stand in the company of the gods.

Credit: Bequest of Norbert Schimmel, New York, to American Friends of the Israel Museum