The Shen is a hieroglyphic representation of a coiled rope. It dates back to ancient Mesopotamia, where it was an emblem of divinity: The
shen is often found in depictions of Egyptian deities, pharaohs, and
other important persons. Where it appears surrounding a name, it
signifies that the person named is under divine protection, and is
called a shenu:  |
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| Shenu as cartouche |
The
nemyss is the ritual Egyptian head-dress of the pharaohs. It is best
known from popular images of the sarcophagus of King Tutankhamen. The
nemyss is a folded linen cloth that rises from the brow and hangs toward
the shoulders.
The nemyss is still in wide use today by Kemetic practitioners and a
number of magickal orders, including various Golden Dawn reconstructions
and in Thelemic rituals.
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| Pharaoh wearing a nemyss head-dress |
The Menat (Menit, Menyat) was
an emblem of the goddess Hathor, a beaded necklace or collar with a
counterweight which symbolized the life-force. The necklace was worn by
priests and priestesses of Hathor, and by pharoahs and their queens.
The menat was a frequent offering to the goddess, and menat amulets were worn to attract prosperity and good fortune. |
| Goddess Hathor with Menat |
A pylon
is a specific type of gate built at the entrance to a New Kingdom
Egyptian temple. The shape of the pylon was modeled after the djew, the
sacred mountain of the horizon. A pylon is two squarish inclined towers
with a gate between.
The
temple would be situated so that the rising sun would be framed between
the towers. Banners would be flown from the top of the towers.
| A Temple with pylons |
The Seba
is the representation of star in Egyptian religious art. Patterned
after a starfish, with five equidistant spokes, the seba was a symbol of
the constellations, or star-gods. Enclosed in a circle, the seba
represented the Duat, or otherworld, where the sun diappeared each
night, and to which the souls of the dead ascended after death. The word
seba means ‘learning’ or ‘discipline’ and is associated with doorways
and gates.
|
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| Goddess Nut with Seba |
The Sma
represented the union of the kingdoms of upper and lower Egypt, and
occasionally stood in for the axis mundi, or earth-axis. It is described
variously as the lungs and attached windpipe, or genitals in sexual
union, and appears to have been depicted as both at times- the double
meaning is certainly intentional.
An
emblem of rulership, the sma was placed on the chest of a mummy to give
it breath (life) in the underworld. The sma was also used as a charm
for fidelity in love.
|
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| Sma Amulet |
Akhet
means dawn, or horizon, in the Kemet (Egyptian) language. An amulet
shaped like the akhet represented the daily rebirth of the sun. The
lower shape represents the djew, or sacred mountain, later represented by the pylons of solar temples. The akhet was guarded by the Aker, a double headed lion who insured the safe passage of the sun-barque (boat).
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| The akhet, guarded by the Aker |
