Sculptors have carved figures in relief for thousands of years. The Assyrians, Egyptians and Greeks used all forms of relief sculpture in their palaces and temples. Relief sculptures depict the figures or designs standing out from their background surface. The figures are only partly modeled but give the illusion of being fully modeled. Today a relief sculpture is almost the only form used in making coins and medals. The design and subject matter of a relief reflect the development of civilization, the religious trends and the art of the time in which it is made. A flail and crook are usually held in the hands of a Pharaoh or king as symbols of royalty, majesty and dominion. The cobra, associated with the king and kingdom of Lower Egypt, is also associated with the sun and with may other deities. The cobra represented the “fiery eye of Ra” and beginning, in the Middle Kingdom, the uraeus appears as a symbol worn on the crown or headdress of royalty. It is used as a protective symbol, the Egyptians believing that the cobra would spit fire at any approaching enemies.



The Egyptians believed there were numerous gods, but rather than living on an isolated mountain or in an unreachable heaven, many of them lived invisibly in the mortal world, acting through sacred sites, animals or even chosen people. This belief was portrayed in their daily carvings and stone art work. The Egyptian gods seem to be made for storytelling. There were tales to educate, tales to entertain, tales with morals, and in those stores, the god did not seem so unreachable. It was comforting to hear that the god also wept for those they had lost, to hear about the gods laughing, to learn that the gods faced many of the same problems that the people did, although on a grander scale.