How old is the crook and flail

Of course, these items also displayed the wealth, power, and often the divine right of the ruler. Such items might be simple objects such as spears, bead necklaces, or headgear. Special head adornments exist in many civilizations around the world and while they differ widely, they are almost always made from rare and symbolic materials. Western and oriental crowns were usually made from gold and precious stones, while crowns from the Pre-Columbian era in the Americas were embellished with feathers of rare and beautiful birds.

They also served to make the ruler more recognizable and attest to his status. The early Egyptian kings came to power in approximately BC and the system of royal rule lasted for nearly 3, years. Among the many other items used to symbolize their rule were the crook and flail. The humble crook known as the heka in Egyptian used by shepherds, is a long, multipurpose stick with a hook at one end, to herd and sometimes catch sheep.

It made a useful weapon against predators and helped with balance when negotiating rough terrain. In Egypt, the crook was carried by gods and high officials, and represented the pharaoh's role as a shepherd caring for the people of Egypt. Metaphorically, church leaders care for their "flock", with Christ portrayed as the Good Shepherd. The flail known as the nekhakha in Egyptian was made up of three strands of beads attached to a rod.

Although historians cannot agree exactly what this was used for, there are two primary interpretations of its origin. When used as a weapon to defend livestock, the flail represented the pharaoh's responsibility to establish the order, through punishment if necessary.

Toby Wilkinson, an English Egyptologist and academic, theorized that the flail was a symbol of the ruler's coercive power. As shepherd of his flock, the ruler cared for his subjects while restraining them.

Secondly, a flail is an agricultural tool used for threshing - the process of separating grains from their husks. English Egyptologist and author, E. Wallis Budge, who worked for the British Museum , interpreted the flail as representing the pharaoh's role in providing for the people of Egypt and protecting his kingdom and farmlands.

The flail is made from two or more large sticks attached by a short chain. When one stick is firmly held and swung, the other stick hits the pile of grain and loosens the husks. The dimensions and shape of flails changed to suit the particular grain they were harvesting. The flail is thought to be an origin of the baton known as the nunchaku and was first recorded as a weapon during the 5th crusade, at the siege of Damietta in Because the crook and flail were such important symbols, they were often illustrated and added to sculptures with the pharaoh holding them crossed over his chest.

Some of these images date back over 5, years. Both items were typically embellished by gold or ivory with blue bands. The earliest known example of a royal crook is from the Gerzeh culture, and comes from tomb U in Abydos , one of the oldest cities of ancient Egypt. The culture dates back to between circa BC through to circa BC. By late Predynastic times, the shepherd's crook was used as a royal symbol of rule. The flail was initially depicted alone on early representations of royal ceremonies, but by the Second Dynasty c.

The only surviving examples of both the crook and flail come from the tomb of Tutankhamun. The staffs are made of bronze decorated with stripes of blue glass , obsidian , and gold, while the flail's beads are made of gilded wood. A flail, a crook, and a sekhem scepter from the tomb of Tutankhamun. Eighteenth Dynasty, 14th century BC. Image: A. The crook and flail, which were carried by the pharaoh to all public appearances and among the most famous symbols from ancient Egypt, symbolized the power and majesty of the king.

Both these items were associated with Osiris, and later Horus, and signified their early rule of the land. Osiris, mythical first king of Egypt , was the god of fertility, agriculture, life, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, and vegetation. He was portrayed as either green the color of rebirth or black alluding to the fertility of the Nile floodplain with a pharaoh's beard, wearing a feathered white atef crown, and holding a symbolic crook and flail.

The crook represents Osiris as a shepherd god while the flail dates back to the god Andjety, a precursor of Osiris, who was one of the earliest Egyptian gods with roots in prehistoric Egypt. According to the myth, Osiris was murdered by Set, who then usurped his kingdom. Osiris was resurrected by his sister-wife Isis , who bore him a son, Horus. Set was defeated by Horus, and order was restored to the land.

The pharaohs were almost always associated with Horus during life and with Osiris in death. Once Horus avenged his father and defeated Set, he took the crook and flail of his father to represent the legitimacy of his reign, and so it was for the kings of Egypt who identified with these gods. After he was murdered by Set, Osiris' soul, or rather his Ba which was the personality part of the multi-faceted soul , was occasionally worshipped in its own right, almost as a distinct god.

With Osiris as the ram, the god's crook and flail represent him herding the tribes of the upper Nile. As with the gods, when crossed over the chest, the crook and flail presented the ruler as a shepherd whose might was tempered by benevolence. In Egyptian society, as pharaohs were the representation of the gods on Earth, the crook and flail connected the sacred with the secular. The symbols appeared regularly in the Early Dynastic Period during the reign of the first physical king, Narmer.

Narmer is considered the unifier of Egypt and as the founder of the First Dynasty, the first king of a unified Egypt. Before BC and before the unification of Egypt, the land consisted of autonomous villages.

The earliest Egyptian hieroglyphs appear just before this period, though little is known of the spoken language at the time. Egyptian societies along the Nile based their culture on raising crops and domesticating animals. Shortly thereafter, they began to advance toward a more developed civilization. They experimented with pottery, used copper more frequently, and large constructions made from sun-dried bricks became popular during this time.

Egypt almost certainly unified both culturally and economically long before Narmer ascended to the throne in Memphis where the dynastic period originated.

Political unification proceeded gradually, perhaps over a century. As trading networks were established and agriculture labor increased, divine kingship may also have gained spiritual momentum as the cults of gods like Osiris, Horus, and Set associated with living representatives became widespread in the country. Narmer circa first appears on the necropolis seal impressions of Den a pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period who ruled for 42 years, starting c.

This confirms that Narmer was recognized by the first dynasty kings as an important founding figure. While the crook and flail were used by the pharaohs to demonstrate their lineage to the gods as well display their supreme status, these were not the only items treasured by the ancient Egyptian rulers. According to legend, the uraeus was created by the goddess Isis and used to acquire the throne of Egypt for her husband Osiris.

The uraeus was the protector of the pharaoh and was believed to spit fire at enemies from its place on the forehead.

It was the personification of the goddess Wadjet, the protective goddess of Lower Egypt and one of the earliest Egyptian deities. You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. Post navigation There is no item that better represents the sheer power held by the Pharaoh in the excessively hierarchical Egyptian Society than the symbols of the crook and the flail.

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