What are Serekhs?

You may have come across this symbol while browsing through Egyptian hieroglyphs. So what exactly is a serekh?

In simple terms, a serekh is a rectangular enclosure with niches or gates representing the façade of a palace. This symbol was used in ancient Egyptian iconography as early as four dynasties before the well known cartouche came into use.

The usage of serekh can be traced back to the gerzeh culture, where it was used as royal crests for pre dynastic nomes of Egypt. The famous serekh of Iry Hor is one of the earliest examples of serekhs.

The purpose of the serekh was to enclose and highlight the royal name within it. The earliest form of writing in ancient Egypt did not include vowels or spaces between words, which made it difficult to distinguish between different names and titles. The use of serekhs, helped set apart the royal name from other texts, and established its importance.

So why do we see falcon symbols on top of these rectangular enclosures? Well, according to scholars, this represents divine protection of the Falcon God Horus, the God of Kingship, over the pharaoh whose name is enclosed within the serekh.

It's interesting to note that, although most commonly seen with Horus falcons on top, there are instances of usage of other symbols, such as Seth animal, or Atef crowns in serekhs, depending on the deity associated with that particular pharaoh.

 One of the early examples of the usage of serekh, is the Narmer Palette, which dates back to around 3100 BCE and depicts King Narmer with his name enclosed within a serekh. His serekh lacks the Horus symbol, and encloses his name, symbolised by a catfish, the heiroglyph for the sound narr, and a chisel symbolising the sound merr. That's how we came to know, that owner of this pallette is called Narmer.

By comparison, the serekhs of his successors, Aha, Djer & Djet, all have the Horus symbol on top. 

Another interesting fact about serekhs is that they were not only reserved for pharaohs but also used by high ranking officials and nobles as a way to elevate their status and emphasize their connection to the ruling king.


But how did this symbol come into existence? According to some scholars, it originated from the hieroglyph for the word, palace, which was represented by a rectangle with a door in front of it. Over time, this evolved into the more elaborate serekh we see today.

In conclusion, the main function of serekh was to enclose and highlight royal names but also served other purposes such as elevating status or representing divine protection over rulers. The serekh was an essential aspect of early ancient Egyptian iconography which was replaced by more elaborate cartouches, in later periods. 

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