Hey, i've been reading a book about Ramses II by Christian Jacq. Its a biography but written as a novel. Excuse me if it is not the right term, my native language is spanish. My concern comes to the point of realising historical facts to common beliefs or just the story invented by the author. Por example, when Seti dies and its the turn of Ramses asumption to power the author mentions that an eagle appeard and surprisingly flew towards Ramses and Nefertari and lied on the new Pharaohs shoulders representing Horus. Images like this ones keep appearing as the story develops (babboon helping him, wild elefant for war, his lion and dog, the wild bull). Is it a fact that Ramses had a gift towards animals? Maybe the question seems dumb but i think it will help me have an idea the image that Ramses represented or actually the kind of power he had. Thankss
Animal imagery is very common in the iconography of the pharaonic period, and Patrick Houlihan explains that Egyptians of this period viewed themselves as an integral part of nature. As such, the ability to summon or control animals of various species was considered a significant confirmation of a pharaoh's status and power, and the surviving imagery of this period frequently uses such motifs.
In addition, specific animals and birds were associated with various deities and that their qualities could be depicted in anthropomorphic form and associated with rulers in ways that suggested they were under the protection of those gods or possessed characteristics associated with them. The bull, for example, was associated with potency and strength. Conversely, Egypt's enemies were linked to more destructive animals. The Hittites were depicted as a plague of locusts.
The Ramessid rulers, who include Ramses II, are most frequently associated with lions, which stand as a symbol of royal authority and power. They frequently appear as royal companions in ways that suggested they could be controlled and despatched to do the ruler's bidding, most obviously when depicted alongside images of Egyptian armies attacking their enemies – for example in the reliefs depicting the Battle of Kadesh.
Though it would appear, from these contexts, that the lion was simply used as a symbol for, and depicted as the protector of, Egypt, however, the association does run deeper than that. Lions were then native to Egypt, and both Ramses II and Ramses III are known to have kept "palace-trained" or semi-domesticated lions as part of their retinue. Ramses II possessed one lion that had been given the name "Slayer of his enemies".
Sources
Patrick F. Houlihan, The Animal World of the Pharaohs (1996)
____________________, "Animals in Egyptian art and hieroglyphs," in Billie Jean Collins [ed.], A History of the Animal World in the Ancient Near East (2001)
Brent A. Strawn, What is Stronger Than a Lion?: Leonine Image and Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East (2005)
Hope B. Werness, Continuum Encyclopedia of Animal Symbolism in World Art