Horus name

Serekh containing the name of Djet, on display at the Louvre

This name was usually written in a serekh, a representation of a palace façade. The name of the pharaoh was written in hieroglyphs inside this representation of a palace. Typically an image of the falcon God Horus was perched on top or beside it.

This is the oldest form of the pharaoh's name, originating in the Predynastic Period. Many of the oldest-known Egyptian pharaohs were known only by this title. The king was thought to be the earthly embodiment of Horus.

At least one Egyptian ruler, the Second Dynasty Seth-Peribsen, used an image of the god SethKhasekhemwy, who placed the symbols of both Set and Horus above his name. Thereafter, the image of Horus always appeared alongside the name of the pharaoh. instead of Horus, perhaps signifying an internal religious division within the country. He was succeeded by

By the time of the New Kingdom the Horus name was often written without the enclosing serekh