A Study On Serekh Of Ancient Egypt In Predynastic Period

Serekh is a symbol of imperial power.Its first appearance was in Naqada I and it partly reflects the origin of kingship in Ancient Egypt.The serekh is mainly depicted on the pottery,it also is depicted on the seal,palette,lable and so on.The Serekh is based on the niched facade and Horus worship.At the same time,the serekh is one of sources of earlily Egyptian writing,is a sign of royal ownership and is helpful for economic management in Ancient Egyptian.This paper is divided into three parts,and I mainly introduces the origin of serekh,including the shape of serekh,the cause of emergence and the meaning of serekh.The traditional serekh usually consists of three elements:at the bottom,a section of niched facade;above this,a panel in which the king's name is written and,sittings on the top of all this,a falcon.The design of serekh is based on the niched facade and Horus worship is the religious reason.Serekh has a variety of meaning,including “to be known”,“banner of Horus name”,“kingship”and “Royal palace”and so on and serekh has different meanings in different backgrounds.I mainly introduce the historic development of serekh in the second part.After archaeological excavations and collating a series of serekhs,I find that serekh has been classified three types:plain serekh,anonymous serekh and serekh,and it is a process of gradual development and evolution.Every king has his own serekh in predynastic period and these serekhs are depicted on the pottery.I mainly introduce the work of serekh,including the relations of serekh andkingship,the geographical distribution and the relation of serekh and writing.On the one hand,the serekh reflects the worship of Horus;On the other hand,the serekh reflects the holiness and legality of kingship.In geographically distribution,the serekhs are dispersive in lower Egypt.However,the serekhs are intensive in the upper Egypt and they centralize on Abydos.The production of writings in ancient Egypt are not occasional,it is the result of the development ancient Egyptian civilization.The signs on the pottery,including serekhs are the source and channel of writings.writings are created on the basis of the constant maturity and stability of symbols.In a word,the serekhs are materials which are the collection of politic,economic,religious,writings and architecte and so on.