II.

The Pharaoh’s Dual Nature

The pharaoh possessed a dual nature whose two aspects were inextricably bound. The pharaoh was at the same time a sacred individual—the son of the Egyptian sun god Ra—and a human ruler, the legitimate successor to Horus. However, despite enormous powers, the pharaoh became a god only after death. After favorable divine judgment, the pharaoh became joined with the god Osiris in the next world.