carlos.emory.edu classroom tutorials A round 3000 bc, Egypt was unifed under one king. From its very beginning, the concept o kingship outlined a number o roles and responsibilities or the all-powerul ruler. He protected Egypt rom oreign invasion and internal uprising; he controlled a large and extensive government bureaucracy; but frst and oremost the king served as an intermediary between the people o ancient Egypt and their gods. Considered semi-divine, the king played an essential role in the continuation o the cosmos, and participated in ceremonies and rituals to appease the deities. As bearer o a divine ofce, celestial power was embodied in the king, setting him apart rom ordinary human beings. Mythically , the living king was a human maniestation o the god Horus, and the son o the deities Isis and Osiris. As such, the king battled Seth, his uncle and the brother o Osiris, or control o the throne. The Egyptians envisioned this mythical competition as a metaphor or the struggle between order and chaos. This Horus/Osiris myth also served as the prototype or ideal accession to the throne—rom ather to son, rom Osiris to Horus. While living the king was associated with Horus. At his death, he became the god o the Underworld, Osiris. Because o the king’s special semi-divine role, he had to perorm certain tasks or the gods in order to keep them content. I the gods were appeased, then the world would continue unctioning. One o these tasks was to maintain order by deending Egypt against oreign invaders. In Egyptian art, the king is oten depicted smiting the enemies o Egypt, symbolizing his power over them. The image o a king ritualistically bashing the head o a oreigner was a powerul symbol rom the beginning o Egyptian history , seen frst in the amous Narmer Palette. The king holds a weapon in his raised right hand and a submissive, kneeling enemy o Egypt by the hair in his let. The smiting scene remained a potent visual image throughout Egyptian history . A Middle Kingdom example o King Amenemhat iii smiting enemies is eatured in T utankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs on the pectoral o Mereret (see the Pectoral of Mereret pdf or Power Point or an in depth exploration o this piece). left Osiris, the god of the underworld right Narmer Palette. This relief carving dates to around 3200 BC and is on display in the Cairo Museum. far right Pectoral of Mereret Kingship in Ancient Egypt