Crook and flail
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| crook in hieroglyphs | ||
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| flail in hieroglyphs | ||
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The crook and flail (heka and nekhakha) were symbols used in
The earliest known example of a crook is from the
The only extant pharaonic examples of both the crook and flail come from the
Theories on significance
Traditionally crossed over the chest when held, they probably represented the ruler as a shepherd whose beneficence is formidably tempered with might.[2]
In the interpretation of Toby Wilkinson, the flail used to goad livestock, was a symbol of the ruler's coercive power: as shepherd of his flock, the ruler encouraged his subjects as well as restrained them.[4]
Still another interpretation, by E. A. Wallis Budge, is that the flail is what was used to thresh grain.[5]
Percy Newberry, a specialist on ancient Egypt, speculated that the "flail" or "whip" of Osiris was more likely an instrument for collecting labdanum similar to that used in nineteenth-century Crete.[6] He examined archaeological remains of such items and their representations in art, and found that they were mechanically incapable of acting as either a flail or whip and so must be some other instrument. Similarly to crooks, he further noted that these items were also associated with shepherds, who used them to gather labdanum while their flocks grazed on and among the bushes from which the gum was gathered.
References
- ^ ISBN 1435851730.
- ^ a b "Tutankhamun "Wonderful Things" From The Pharaoh's Tomb" (PDF). Herkimer Community Museum. p. 75. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ISBN 1588391892.
- ISBN 0-415-18633-1.
- ISBN 0486226816.
- )
