A shen ring is a circle with a line at a tangent

Tangent

In geometry, the tangent line to a plane curve at a given point is the straight line that "just touches" the curve at that point. More precisely, a straight line is said to be a tangent of a curve at a point on the curve if the line passes through the point on the curve and has slope where f...

 to it, which was represented in hieroglyphs

Egyptian hieroglyphs

Egyptian hieroglyphs were a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that combined logographic and alphabetic elements. Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus and wood...

 as a stylised loop of a rope. The word shen itself means, in ancient Egyptian, encircle, while the shen ring represented eternal protection. In its elongated form the shen ring became the cartouche

Cartouche

In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an ellipse with a horizontal line at one end, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name, coming into use during the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty under Pharaoh Sneferu, replacing the earlier serekh...

 which enclosed and protected a royal name.

The shen ring is most often seen carried by the falcon god Horus

Horus

Horus is one of the oldest and most significant deities in the Ancient Egyptian religion, who was worshipped from at least the late Predynastic period through to Greco-Roman times. Different forms of Horus are recorded in history and these are treated as distinct gods by Egyptologists...

, but was also carried by the vulture goddess Nekhbet

Nekhbet

In Egyptian mythology, Nekhbet was an early predynastic local goddess who was the patron of the city of Nekheb, her name meaning of Nekheb...

. It was used as early as the third dynasty where it can be seen in the reliefs from Djoser

Djoser

Netjerikhet or Djoser is the best-known pharaoh of the Third dynasty of Egypt. He commissioned his official, Imhotep, to build the first of the pyramids, a step pyramid for him at Saqqara...

's Step Pyramid complex.

The stretched "shen ring", the cartouche

The symbol could be stretched to contain other objects, which were then understood as being eternally protected by the shen ring. When it contained the name of the pharaoh the symbol became the cartouche

Cartouche

In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an ellipse with a horizontal line at one end, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name, coming into use during the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty under Pharaoh Sneferu, replacing the earlier serekh...

. The word shen itself means, in Egyptian

Egyptian language

Egyptian is the oldest known indigenous language of Egypt and a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. Written records of the Egyptian language have been dated from about 3400 BC, making it one of the oldest recorded languages known. Egyptian was spoken until the late 17th century AD in the...

, encircle.

Shen ring uses in iconography

Iconography

Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...

The Shen ring is the 'shenu'.

• The Goddess Heqet
  Heqet
  To the Egyptians, the frog was a symbol of life and fertility, since millions of them were born after the annual inundation of the Nile, which brought fertility to the otherwise barren lands...
  
  , (the 'Frog'), is often seated on a shenu.
• For Eternity, the renpit
  Renpet
  In the Egyptian language, Renpet was the word for year. Its hieroglyph was figuratively depicted in art as a woman wearing a palm shoot over her head. This figurative woman was often referred to as the mistress of eternity. She is the goddess of springtime and youth in ancient Egyptian history....
  
  , papyrus stalk is usually based on top of a Shen ring. See the Egyptian god Huh
  Huh (god)
  In Egyptian mythology, Huh was the deification of eternity in the Ogdoad, his name itself meaning endlessness. As a concept, he was androgynous, his female form being known as Hauhet, which is simply the feminine form of his name...
  
  . (Senusret I
  Senusret I
  Senusret I was the second pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt. He ruled from 1971 BC to 1926 BC, and was one of the most powerful kings of this Dynasty. He was the son of Amenemhat I and his wife Nefertitanen. His wife and sister was Neferu. She was also the mother of the successor Amenemhat II...
  
   has a famous Lintel relief showing this.)
• The Shen ring is often attached to various types of staffs, the staff of authority, or power, symbolizing the Eternal authority of that power.
• The Goddess Isis
  Isis
  Isis or in original more likely Aset is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic...
  
  , and the Goddess Nekhbet
  Nekhbet
  In Egyptian mythology, Nekhbet was an early predynastic local goddess who was the patron of the city of Nekheb, her name meaning of Nekheb...
  
   are often shown kneeling, with their hands resting upon a shenu.
• The Hawk (Horus
  Horus
  Horus is one of the oldest and most significant deities in the Ancient Egyptian religion, who was worshipped from at least the late Predynastic period through to Greco-Roman times. Different forms of Horus are recorded in history and these are treated as distinct gods by Egyptologists...
  
  ), and the Vulture (Goddess Mut
  Mut
  Mut, which meant mother in the ancient Egyptian language, was an ancient Egyptian mother goddess with multiple aspects that changed over the thousands of years of the culture. Alternative spellings are Maut and Mout. She was considered a primal deity, associated with the waters from which...
  
  ) have the shenu in their talons, wings outstretched, over the scene portrayed. The "Horus with Outstretched Wings", shenu's in its talons, is an example from the Louvre
  Louvre
  The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
  
   of a Pectoral Brooch
  Pectoral (Ancient Egypt)
  The Pectorals of ancient Egypt were a form of jewellery, often represented as a brooch. This was mostly worn by richer people.One type, was the pectoral with a necklace, as a form of attachment, to be suspended from the neck, but to lay upon the breast...
  
  , possibly for royalty.