Horus name

The Horus name is the oldest known and used crest of Egyptian rulers. It belongs to the "Great five names" of an Egyptian pharaoh. However, modern Egyptologists and Linguists start to prefer the more neutral term "serekh name", because not every pharaoh had placed the Horus falcon atop his serekh.

Heraldic appearance

The picture of the Horus name is made of two basic elements: A sitting or walking figure of a certain deity holds an rectangular, ornamentic vignette, imitating the floor plan of a palace facade and the royal courtyard. The rectangular vignette is called serekh, after the Egyptian word for "facade". There are countless variations of the facade decor in the serekh. The complexity and detail of the facade decor changed remarkably on any object on which it was present. It seems, that no strict artistic rules for the design of the serekh itself existed. The name of the pharaoh was written inside the free space that represents the royal courtyard.

Symbology