Uraeus

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The Uraeus (plural Uraei or Uraeuses) is a stylised upright cobra (or snake / serpent), used as a symbol of sovereignty, royalty, deity and divine authority in ancient Egypt. Uraeus is a Greek word that may have its origins in ancient Egyptian, meaning "she who rears up".

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The Uraeus originated from the goddess Wadjet, who was seen as a cobra. She became the patron of the Delta, Lower Egypt, and so was worn by the Pharaohs as a head ornament, in effect part of the crown, as a claim over the land. There is evidence for this even in the Old Kingdom (3rd millennium BCE). The pharaoh was seen as a manifestation of the sun-god Re, and so it was also believed that the Uraeus protected the Pharaohs by spitting fire on their enemies. In some mythological works, the 'eyes' of Re are said to be uraei.

As the Uraeus was seen as a royal symbol, Horus and Set were also depicted wearing one.

Another name for this is the term "Totaf" found also in the Bible.

Contents

1 Golden uraeus of
2 Uraeus, as a
3 See also
4 References

Golden uraeus of
In 1920, after only a half-hour excavation, the Qufti worker Hosni Ibrahim held in his hands the solid gold Golden Uraeus of Sesostris II. It had been decided to make a (follow-up) complete clearance of the El-Lahun Pyramid's rooms, at Saqqara. The start in the rock-cut offering chamber, leading from the sepulchre, on the south, immediately revealed in the turnover of the 6 inches of debris, the Golden Uraeus, crown ornament.
Prior to the 1922 find of Tutankhamun's tomb, this Golden Uraeus was the only ornament ever known to be worn by a Pharaoh.
The Golden Uraeus is of solid gold, 6.7 cm, black eyes of granite, a snake head of deep "ultramarine" lapis lazuli, the flared cobra hood of dark carnelian inlays, and also inlays of turquoise. For mounting on the Pharaoh's crown, two loops in the rear-supporting tail of the cobra, provide the attach points. See Reeves Ref, pg. 157 (1920). See Hagen Ref, pg. 202.

Uraeus, as a
Uraeus –
Uraeus on Basket
Ntr(God) w/Cobra
in hieroglyphs
I12- or-I13-.gods.-R9-R9-R9

Besides, the Uraeus being used as an ornament for "Statuary", or as an adornment on the pharaoh, it was also used for jewelery and in amulets. However another important usage is as the Hieroglyph.

For Uraeus ornament as a mummy grave example, See: Djedptahiufankh, "High Priest" of 21st Dynasty, Shoshenq I.
The simplest hieroglyph is the "Cobra" (the Uraeus), however there are subcategories, referring to: goddess, priestess, the goddess Mehnit, shrine of goddess (àter), goddess Isis, and lastly goddess: (Cobra (uraeus) at base of God (ntr)). The Rosetta Stone uses the plural of the last example, "3-god 'Flags' with Cobra at each base of flag ". The story of the Rosetta Stone has the Pharaoh (the Priests of the pharaoh), listing His reasons for being honored, and in return, "The Gods and Goddesses (plural)" reward Him. The last (2/3) of the Rosetta Stone relates how He will be honored, including erecting the Rosetta Stone, for all to read.
Uraeus on buildings
in hieroglyphs
O16-.-O17

Another example of the hieroglyph usage, is as adornments upon the hieroglyph for "shrine" itself, and also for 'buildings'. See the Budge Ref.

References

Budge, Sir E.A.Wallis. An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary, in Two Volumes, Sir E.A.Wallis Budge, (Dover Publications, Inc, New York), c 1920, Dover Edition, c 1978. (Large categorized listings of Hieroglyphs, Vol 1, pp xcvii-cxlvii (97-147, 50 pgs.)
Hagen, R. Hagen, R. Egypt; People, Gods, Pharaohs, Rose-Marie & Rainer Hagen, (Barnes and Noble Books, New York), c 2003, (originally: Taschen, GmbH, Koln), c 2003, 1999, pg 202.
Reeves, Nicholas. Ancient Egypt, The Great Discoveries, a Year-by-Year Chronicle, Nicholas Reeves, (Thames and Hudson Ltd, London), c 2000. See 1920, The Golden Uraeus of Sesostris II from el-Lahun, pg. 157.

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Uraeus

See also

References