Souls of Pe and Nekhen

These figures of the souls of Pe and Nekhen are identified as King Amenhotep III. The soul of Nekhen is represented by the jackal-headed figure. Its counterpart was the falcon-headed souls of Pe Dep (the double mounds of Buto), which was located in the northern part of the Egyptian Delta.

The Souls of Pe and Nekhen, mentioned first in the Pyramid Texts, refer to the ancestors of the ancient Egyptian kings. Nekhen (Greek Hierakonpolis) was the Upper Egyptian center of the worship of the god Horus, whose successors the Egyptian kings were thought to be.

Souls of Pe and Nekhen. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 41210, JE 41211

The approbation of their predecessors, even as mythological and nameless as the Souls of Pe and Nekhen, was important to the Egyptian kings, who referred to them in many inscriptions. Even the Kushite kings saw themselves as descendants of the Souls of Pe and Nekhen.

Related: Ka Statue of King Hor Awibre

The souls of are depicted in the kneeling kneeling pose and the placement of the arms are part of temple rituals by which gods and kings as living gods were hailed by this gesture of jubilation.

The gesture of jubilation was called ‘henu’. The pose is also indicative of their readiness to hammer the enemies of their lawful descendants.

The souls of the figures were referred to as the ‘Bau’. In ancient Egyptian mythology, the concept of the soul was complex and multifaceted.

The Egyptians believed in multiple components of the soul, including the ka, ba, akh, and others. The deities are upholders of the divine right of kingship inherited by the ruler in his manifestation as the god Horus.