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Shen ring
šnWhat it actually depicts
A circle of rope with the ends tied off in a straight bar at the bottom.
What it meant
Encirclement, and therefore protection and eternity. From the verb to encircle.
Where you see it
Held in the talons of vultures and falcons hovering above the king. Stretched into an oval, it becomes the cartouche.
What gets said that is wrong
Read as an ornamental ring. It is the same idea as the cartouche and the source of it: something with no beginning and no end, drawn around what is to be kept safe.
Carried by
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