Triads

Triads are statuesque portraits of divine trinities. The trinity is a concept that embraces the trilateral manifestation of a divine force. Among the earliest triads were those of the ancient Kemetians. The divine triads of ancient Kmt were usually represented by a familial image of a father, mother, and other familial relation that might be female or male depending on the customs and particular history of the locale.

Because rulers were also considered divine, they were often depicted in triads. Regardless of the trinity's membership, the central character was often the father with the mother on the right and the progeny on the left. These manifestations were commonplace in the royal temple art of ancient Nile Valley societies. With the resurrection of Kmt (called Egypt by the Greeks) and the beginning of the Middle Kingdom, nobles and professionals included statues of trinities in the shrines dedicated to their journey to the next life.

Examples of Nile Valley triads include the following:

• Mn-Nfr or Memphis) Skmt-Pth-Nfrtm, later replaced with Imhtp
• Wst or Thebes) Amn-Mwt-Khnsw
• throughout Kmt or Egypt) Ast-Asr-Hrw (often referred to in their Greek renditions: Isis, Osiris, and Horus)
• Abw of Nbw or Elephantine of Nubia) Khnwm-Stt-Anwkt

The employFment of triad statues in the Nile Valley societies seems to have had two purposes. First, they presented an image of combined powers highlighting a divine team. In Mn-Nfr, the patron saint of the early dynastic rulers and Kmt's craft guilds, Ptah, connected the forces of the original creation with Skmt, his wife and right-hand goddess who was seen as an enforcer of his will and a protector of her son, Nfrtm. Nfrtm, in contrast, was identified with the procreative force of the sun god that arose from the lilies and ushered in daily life. In unity, they were attributed with having brought about a national life of justice, right ordering, and mastery of governance.

Pharaohs, the divine rulers who were considered incarnated deities, were also presented in triads that illuminated their teams. Pharaoh Mnkara had triad statues that featured him, his patron goddess on his right, and governors of specific nomes on his left. The emphasis was on the team of divine forces. The triad presentation had a second function, which was that of reducing disunity by emphasizing the collective aspect of the god force and encouraging cooperation between the priesthoods that represented each divine force. The triads involving Pharaohs displayed teams of political unity.

Another key aspect of triad statues is their usual portrayal of the left leg extended as if the figures were in a forward walking motion. This stance was symbolic of action and steadfast purpose.

Many scholars have asserted the mathematical and supernatural significance of the number 3 for the ancients. Divine speculation was advanced in the Nile Valley, and much of the speculation inspired much of the religious development from ancient times through Christianity. The “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” are a trinity in Christianity that reveals continuity with the tradition of divine triads that were common in the Nile Valley. Other subtler triads pepper the Christian doctrines and not all were divine, again as in the Nile Valley societies. One of the subtler triads that played a semi-divine role in the Christian text was that of the three wise men who visited Jesus in his manger.

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