How many crowns did the pharaoh have? The symbolic meaning of the Egyptian royal crowns deshret and hedjet. Lower Egypt and the Red Crown

What was the name of the double crown worn by the pharaoh? and got the best answer

Answer from Alrami[guru]
Atev is a double crown decorated with the symbols of Egypt - a kite and a snake (ureus). As a sign of the power of the pharaoh, it existed already in the 30th century BC. e.

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pschent

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pschent
Ancient Egypt costume
Hats
Due to the fact that most Egyptians wore wigs, their headdresses were quite simple. Slaves and peasants, working in the fields, covered their heads with scarves or small linen hats. Noble people wore such caps, embroidered with beads, under their wigs.
The following types of crowns were known: 1) the white crown of Upper Egypt (hedget), resembling a pin or bottle in shape; 2) the red crown of Lower Egypt (deshret), which was a truncated inverted cone with a flat bottom and a high raised rear part; 3) double crown (pschent), which combined the first two and symbolized the unity of the country; 4) blue “battle crown” with red ribbons; 5) “crown of Amun” of two feathers with a golden disk between them; 6) crown atef; 7) “reed crown” (hemkhemet) - a complex structure made of golden feathers, ram’s horns, snakes and solar disks; and etc.
Judging by the surviving sculptures and reliefs, there were up to 20 types of crowns (unfortunately, not a single authentic ancient Egyptian crown has survived to this day). An obligatory accessory of any royal headdress was the uraeus - a golden image of a cobra, which was a symbol of the goddess Wadget, the patroness of Lower Egypt. It was placed above the forehead and sometimes supplemented with a golden kite head - a sign of Nekhebt, the goddess of Upper Egypt.
During rituals, priests in temples wore painted plaster masks depicting gods. Thus, the priests of the god Thoth wore masks in the form of the head of the sacred ibis bird, the priests of Anubis - in the form of the head of a jackal, etc.

Double crown or pschent Ancient Egypt consisted of a Red and White Crown. She pointed to the unlimited power of the pharaoh over the territory of all of Egypt, Lower and Upper.

The double crown featured the emblem of the Egyptian cobra known as uraeus, which symbolized power in Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt.

Presumably, the double crown was invented by Pharaoh Menes at the beginning of the dynastic period (3100 - 2686 BC). However, the first pharaoh to wear a double crown was Jet.

Unfortunately, the original Egyptian double crown was not found during archaeological excavations, so the exact materials from which it was made are unknown. It was probably cloth and leather.

Wearing the double crown was the privilege of Horus and Aten, who were of particular importance to the power of the pharaoh.

Upper Egypt and the White Crown

Upper Egypt, which is in the southern part, is separated from Lower Egypt and is located along the Nile River. The northern part of Upper Egypt is also known as Middle Egypt.

The capital of Upper Egypt was called Nekhen. Nekhen was also the religious center of the cult of Horus; here was one of the oldest ancient temples, which was important even during the decline of the city. Nekhen is home to a necropolis containing about 100 tombs, many of which are the oldest in ancient Egypt and are decorated with colorful designs.

Upper Egypt is associated with the White Crown or Hedjet. Although little is known about its origins: imagecan be seen on many Egyptian statues and even paintings in Narmer's tomb.

Nekhbet is often depicted with a white crown, since she was the patron of Nekhen and Upper Egypt. Nekhbet is associated with the home of the famous oracle and fortune teller in Ancient Egypt. In the city there was the “City of the Dead” - a necropolis. The priestess of the temple was called "Mii", which translated meant "mother". She wore an image with the wings of a vulture emitting Nekhbet.

Lower Egypt and the Red Crown

Lower Egypt, which is located in the north of the African continent, was formed after the creation of a separate state of Upper Egypt, which is located in the south, on the banks of the Nile River.

Lower Egypt was also known as Ta-Mehu or "land of papyrus" and was divided into twenty districts called nomes.

Lower Egypt was united; the red crown of the pharaohs became a symbol of power in it. It was also known as Deshret and it has been suggested that it was originally made of copper, reeds, cloth and leather.

By wearing a red crown, Egyptian kings demonstrated that they were the successors of Horus, the true ruler of Lower Egypt. Some religious cults also wore the red crown, including Butoh and Neith.

The red crown, combined with the white crown of Upper Egypt, constituted a single symbol of power throughout Ancient Egypt.

Still from the film "Pharaoh" (1966. Director Jerzy Kawalerowicz)

Many pharaohs of the Old Kingdom era are depicted wearing shenti, a wig and reed sandals, or barefoot. The first deviations from the generally accepted shenti appeared precisely in the foraon’s costume. These were like second aprons made of pleated fabric, worn over the usual loincloth.

The signs of the royal power of the pharaoh were a golden tied beard, a crown and a staff. In the Archaic era, before the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt (c. 3200 BC), the ruler of each of them had his own crown. According to the list of pharaohs of Manetho - 2900 BC. X. Upper Egypt ruled Pharaoh Men, perhaps the same one that is called in other sources Narmer

Men moved north with a large army and captured the Nile Delta. Thus a single Egyptian kingdom was formed, stretching from north to south for about 1000 km, from the Mediterranean Sea to the first Nile cataracts. The unification of Egypt by Pharaoh Men is considered the beginning of Egyptian history, but before the end of the Old Kingdom era, the kingdom was divided into two territories, and the pharaoh was called the ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt (Scientists suggest calling this period Early Kingdom). Crown of Upper Egypt – white

Skittle-shaped crown of Lower Egypt - cylindrical red

With a high rounded protrusion at the back. After the unification, from the beginning of the era of the Old Kingdom, the crown of the pharaohs was a combination of these two forms: one was inserted into the other, the colors were preserved. The double crown symbolized an important stage in the history of the country. It was called - pschent(pa-schemti)

. Atef

A white crown with two red-dyed ostrich feathers on the sides, worn by the ancient Egyptian god Osiris. Between two ostrich feathers (they symbolized two truths - life and death) is the white surface of the crown, similar to an elongated onion. Ostrich feathers are lush at the base and form a small curl at the top. The same feathers (only one at a time) were worn by the goddess of wisdom Maat. The atef crown on the head of Osiris is a kind of symbol of control of the underworld. Feathers represent truth, justice and balance. In appearance, the atef crown is similar to the crown hedget, worn by the pharaohs of Upper Egypt. The difference between the two crowns is that the Hedget crown did not have feathers on the sides. In the New Kingdom, somewhat modernized types of royal headdresses also arose. When performing priestly duties, the pharaoh wore a sky-blue metal helmet ( khepresh)

. Khemkhemet

(also known as the "triple crown of atef") is an ancient Egyptian ritual crown. Khemkhemet consists of three atef crowns, each of which is painted with multi-colored stripes of yellow, blue, green and red; on both sides the khemkhemet is crowned with ostrich feathers; the crown can also be decorated with solar disks of Ra; at the base of the crown two ram's horns twisted in a spiral branch; sometimes, especially in cases where similar crowns were worn by the pharaohs, large uraei could hang from the horns of the hemkhemet. Depending on the context, ram's horns were a symbol of the sun god Amun, the creator of all living things, Khnum, and the moon god Yah. A similar crown was sometimes worn over Nemes. The name of the crown can be translated as "cry" or "war cry".

The luxury that the nobility allowed themselves was nothing compared to the pomp with which the royalty surrounded themselves. The pharaoh was considered the son of the sun god Ra himself, and his person was deified. Divine origin and unlimited power were indicated by special symbolism - a hoop with a ureus snake, the bite of which led to inevitable death. A golden ureus snake wrapped itself around the royal forehead so that the head of the terrible snake was in the center. Not only the pharaoh’s headband, but also his crown, belt and helmet were decorated with images of a snake and a kite. All attributes of power were richly decorated with gold, colored enamel and precious stones.

The second most important headdress of the pharaoh was a large scarf made of striped fabric. It served as protection from the sun and dust and was called "klaft-usherbi"- an attribute of the cult of the god Amun - and also belonged to the ancient symbols of royal power. The claft consisted of a large piece of striped fabric, a ribbon and a diadem with a “uraeus” - a sculptural image of a cobra, the keeper of power on earth and heaven. The transverse side of the fabric was placed horizontally on the forehead, strengthened with a ribbon, and a tiara with a sculptural image of a snake inflating its hood was put on top. The material hanging from behind, on the back, was collected and tightly wrapped with a cord, creating a semblance of a braid. The sides of the claft were rounded so that straight pieces of fabric would be presented clearly straight on the front shoulders. In addition, the pharaoh willingly wore, especially during military operations, an elegant and simple blue helmet with uraei and two ribbons on the back of the head - khepresh. Nemes

- a special royal scarf, was large enough to rip off a small round wig. It was made of fabric, encircled the forehead, descended from both sides of the face to the chest and formed an acute-angled pocket at the back. Nemes was usually white with red stripes. It was prepared in advance. It was secured on the head with a gold ribbon, which was simply necessary when the pharaoh placed a double crown, the crown of the South or the crown of the North on top of the “nemes”. In addition, two feathers or an “atef” crown were installed on the nemes: a cap of Upper Egypt with two high feathers placed on the horns of a ram, between which sparkled a golden disk, framed by two uraei, crowned with the same golden disks.

The number of rank signs used in the official costume of representatives of the top government also included striped collar necklace, tailored in a circle - a solar sign. Also played a significant role stripe colors: yellow - for secular dignitaries, blue - for priests, red - for military leaders. Blue (wide and narrow alternately) stripes on a yellow background on the claft and collar were the privilege of the pharaoh. In addition to the uraeus, the main symbol of royal power, the pharaoh owned three-tailed whip and scepter with a hooked top part. There were also several scepters: simple staff- a symbol of agriculture and cattle breeding, rod the height of a man, which ended in a bident at the bottom, and at the top was decorated with a pointed image of a jackal’s head. An equally important sign of rank for the pharaoh during all ceremonies was fake beard- a symbol of land ownership. Beards, like wigs, were made from various materials, including gold. They had different shapes: elongated in the form of a braided pigtail with a curled tip; elongated, completely flat and smooth; curled in small curls in transverse rows; in the form of a small cube or spatula. The beard was also decorated with a small uraeus. It was usually fastened with two garters.

The attire of the royal persons differed from the clothing of the nobility in the high cost of the material and the finest workmanship. The main part of the pharaoh's attire, like all Egyptians, was a loincloth, but the royal one was made corrugated. She wore a wide belt with a metal buckle, with superbly executed hieroglyphs in a royal cartouche on the front and a bull's tail on the back. Sometimes an apron in the shape of a trapezoid was tied to the belt. This apron was made entirely of precious metal or of strings of beads stretched over a frame. On both sides the apron was decorated with uraei topped with solar disks. Jewels and decorations complete this decoration. The pharaoh wore a variety of necklaces. Most often they were strung gold plates, balls and beads with a flat clasp at the back. The classic necklace consisted of a number of beads and weighed several kilograms, but the list of necessary jewelry did not end there. Around the neck, on a double chain, they wore a breast ornament in the shape of a temple façade and at least three pairs of bracelets: one on the forearm, the second on the wrists, and the third on the ankles. Sometimes, on top of all these decorations, the pharaoh wore a long transparent tunic with short sleeves and the same transparent belt tied in front.

Pharaoh and his wife wore sandals

with gilt and gold decorations. The toe of these sandals was turned up. The sandals themselves were attached to the foot with long, colorful straps, wrapping them around the foot all the way to the knee. Domestic and military scenes were depicted on the soles. It was forbidden to appear at official receptions without shoes. But since it was a sign of a privileged position, they were very cherished. Even the pharaohs walked barefoot, accompanied by a servant who carried sandals. In general, Egypt is the only civilization of the Ancient East about which we know quite a lot. Due to its closeness from neighboring states, over three millennia of its existence, a diverse world of rules, traditions and preferences was created. The pharaoh was bound by particularly strict rules of etiquette. Neither he nor his subjects could deviate one iota from their once and for all defined role in the general “state performance.” The sacred meaning lay in all the words and actions of the pharaoh - the living god, on whom the well-being of the “land of Kemet” depended. Even in the family circle, the pharaoh wore a wig and special attributes of power, which, together with the required bracelets and necklaces, weighed several kilograms.

The pharaoh's wife, like all women, wore kalaziris. It could be complemented by a luxurious belt or a tunic-like dress, or a cloak made of transparent fabric. The indispensable rank marks of the queen were the uraeus and a headdress in the shape of a hawk - a symbol of the goddess Isis, which covered her head with its wings and held a signet ring in its claws. The queen's second rank headdress was a decorated cap with a small cap-like protrusion to which a lotus flower was attached. The queen was given a scepter in the shape of a lotus flower.

Surrounding objects The pharaoh and his family usually had a symbolic meaning, which determined their shape and decoration. Royal throne- the most important accessory of power, has retained since ancient times the simple shape of an equilateral cube, but the splendor of its decoration surpassed all other utensils. The chair itself was upholstered with gold sheets, the seat was painted with multi-colored enamel, on which lay a richly embroidered pillow. The throne chair was decorated with hieroglyphic inscriptions explaining the divine origin of the pharaoh. The royal throne stood on a luxuriously decorated wide dais. Above it rose a flat canopy, which was supported by four columns, the capitals of which depicted the sacred lotus flower. All the decoration of the throne was supposed to symbolize the power of the pharaoh.
No less luxuriously decorated throne stretcher, in which the pharaoh sat during solemn processions. The stretchers were carried by the noblest dignitaries of the state. Made of gold, they were decorated with the symbolic figure of a hawk - the emblem of wisdom, a sphinx with a double crown - the emblem of dominion over both worlds, a lion - the emblem of courage and strength, uraei, etc. A fan was installed above the seat, which replaced the canopy.

The art and fashion of Ancient Egypt always touched me personally, with the way they incredibly elegantly and subtly transferred their traditions from the depths of millennia, from century to century, from era to era, from the Stone Age to the Iron Age, carefully weaving primitive beliefs and customs into new ones realities of life.

One of such interesting phenomena that has walked through the entire history of Ancient Egypt is the headdresses and crowns of queens and princesses. However, royal insignia are the most conservative part of what I called art and fashion above, and it is all the more interesting to trace their history.

The well-known double red and white crown of Pschent - “Two Strong”, which symbolized power over a united Egypt and was a symbol of the power of the God-Kings, was not worn by the Egyptian queens, judging by the images. There were, of course, exceptions, like Queen Hatshepsut, but she ascended to the throne of the country as a male pharaoh.

I want to trace the history of the royal headdresses, which were worn by women occupying the place of the queen, that is, the mother of the king or his wife (and not much about the daughters).

And the most important question that puzzled me when I was looking into this topic was, were there any?

One of the most characteristic early headdresses that crowned the heads of royal women and goddesses was Neret - a cap in the form of a female vulture. And it was this headdress that formed the basis of the royal crown in later times, a modification that was also worn by Cleopatra, the very last queen of Egypt, who was the lover of Caesar and Mark Antony.

The cap itself fit tightly to the head, and the neck and head of the Vulture protruded above the queen’s forehead; in its claws the bird clutched the Shen eternity sign.

Why was the vulture placed on the beautiful heads of the Egyptian queens? Or more precisely, its species is the Griffon Vulture - Gyps fulvus.

Those who are at least a little familiar with Egyptian mythology know that there was such a goddess Nekhbet, who patronized Upper Egypt and was revered in the city of Nekhbet. And she was depicted as a female Vulture, and later as a woman, on whose head was a Neret cap.

Decoration Gold, carnelian, turquoise, glass National Museum The goddess Nekhbet in the guise of a vulture, wearing the crown of Atef, shades with her wings the pharaoh, wrapped in the robe of the god of death Osiris

(This is how it was depicted in hieroglyphs.) Thus, it was emphasized that the pharaoh identified with himself all the power and completeness of power in a united Egypt.

(Around 3100 BC, the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt took place; the paired image of Wadjet and Nekhbet symbolized power over both parts of the country).

Depiction of Nekhbet in the form of a kite with a white crown of Upper Egypt and Wadjet in the red crown of Lower Egypt

An image of the goddess Wajit in her serpentine form attached to the forehead of the headdressPharaoh was called Uraeus. And often Nekhbet was next to Wajit.

Wadjet, in the form of a uraeus, together with Nekhbet on the forehead of Tutankhamun's mask. The pharaoh's striped scarf was called Nemes.

Pharaoh Ptolemy I X wearing a pschent crown between the goddesses Wadjet and Nekhbet. Temple of Horus in Edfu. On both the goddess Neret with the head of Vulture

Wadjet in the red crown of the Lower Egypt deshret and Nekhbet in the crown of the Upper Egypt hedjet, with staves entwined with snakes in their respective crowns. In the center is Isis with the baby Horus among the reeds. Temple in Dendera

To the reign of Pharaoh Niuserre (Vdynasty) refers to one of the early images of the modification of Neret, which has in the frontal part not the head of a vulture, but a uraeus, which is explained by the fact that in a particular case it is not Nekhbet, but the snake goddess Wadjet, who is depicted in an anthropomorphic form.

Reliefs from the pyramidal complex of King Pepi II (VI Dynasty) also show the goddesses Wajit and Nekhbet in anthropomorphic form and wearing the Neret headdress, worn over a classical three-part wig. The main visual difference between both goddesses from each other (except for the names inscribed above them) is the only element of their headdress: Nekhbet has a vulture head on her forehead, and Wadjet has a uraeus snake.

Images of the Neret cap on the heads of the goddesses, which they wear over a three-part wig, appear quite early, already in the times

IV dynasty. This

2639–2506 BC e. (By the way, the same dynasty to which the famous pyramid-building pharaohs Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure belonged). And the privilege of wearing it belonged mainly to goddesses. The royal women of the Old Kingdom era in the images differ from other aristocrats only in their titles. Already at this time, Neret is not an attribute only of the goddess Nekhbet. Wadjet, Meret and other goddesses try it on.

Nekhbet feeds Pharaoh Sakhur from the V dynasty. Cairo, Egyptian Museum. From the mortuary temple of Sahura at Abydos. One of the earliest images of the goddess wearing Neret's cap.

According to Horapollo (4th century BC), “The genus of vultures... is only female. Therefore the Egyptians place the vulture as a crown on all female images, and consequently the Egyptians use this sign for all goddesses ».
One of the aspects that the griffin goddess Nekhbet expressed was motherhood. Vultures are very caring parents. In the hieroglyphic writing of Egypt, the defining sign “Neret” - “Vulture”, was also an ideogram for the word “Mut” - “Mother”. And they also wrote the name Mut - the great mother goddess, the wife of the supreme creator god in the Theban cosmogony - Amon, the patroness of motherhood (accordingly, the name Mut is translated as “Mother”).
Mut was not depicted as a vulture; her main appearance was human, and sometimes with a lion's head.

But on her head, she often wore a headdress in the form of a female vulture - Neret, on top of which was placed the Pschent crown.

Mut feeding King Seti I. Relief from the mortuary temple of Seti I in Abydos. 13th century BC. photo - Victor Solkin.

In addition to the fact that Nekhbet was a mother goddess, she also frightened the enemies of the pharaoh. The word “Neret” - “Vulture”, is considered to be derived from the verb “Neri” - “to intimidate”. The head of the vulture (or simply the vulture) was used as a qualifier for the noun “Nehru” - “intimidation”, “terror”.

Neret not only frightened the enemies of the pharaoh, but also protected him.

In the Pyramid Texts, Nekhbet is invoked for the protection of the pharaoh: “May this king N live thanks to his father Atum! May you protect him, Nekhbet! For you have already protected him, Nekhbet, king N, who dwells in the House of the Noble, located in Iunu ».

The fact that Nekhbet was depicted as a vulture or a woman with a Neret headdress, over which was worn the white crown of Upper Egypt - Khengent, may serve in favor of the fact that this goddess was a kind of female parallel to the falcon god Horus, whose earthly incarnation was considered the pharaoh himself . In her sacred city of Nekhen, Horus of Nekhen was considered Nekhbet’s husband. According to legend, she was the embodiment of his invisible eye. And by analogy with how Horus clasped the head of the pharaoh, Nekhbet was placed on the head of the queen

Statue of Pharaoh Khafre c. 2500 with Horus

Based on all that has been said, Nekhbet’s main functions were to protect her son, the pharaoh, to raise him, and also to be a formidable intimidator of his enemies.

The most ancient evidence that the Neret headdress was also worn by queenscan be found on a fragment of a sculptural portrait of the mother of (possibly) King Khafre and a relief depicting the royal wife Khamerernebti II (IVdynasty). However, on the reliefs in the tomb of Meresankh III, the wife of Khafre, this headdress is not found in her iconography. Neret is not found in other images of royal women of this era.

An even more significant example is known from the reliefs of the burial complex of the “mother of the king” Khentkaus II in Abusir (V dynasty). At the end of the inscription with the title and name Khentkaus there is a identifying sign in the form of a figure of a queen sitting on a cube-shaped throne of gods and kings.

On one relief the queen is shown wearing a long wig and Neret cap,

On the other - in a simple wig, but with a uraeus on his forehead.

The uraeus on the headdress of Khentkaus II is the first reliably established evidence of the use of this important attribute in the iconography of royal women.According to S. Roth, the unique images of Khentkaus II are the only evidence of the era of the Old Kingdom of such complete assimilation of a woman of the royal family to her divine prototypes (that is, the patron goddesses Nekhbet and Wadjet).

Starting from the V dynasty, a headdress in the form of a vulture can be considered as a characteristic accessory of the mother of the ruling king, or the mother of the heir to the throne. This observation is best illustrated by a miniature alabaster figurine of Queen Mother Ankhesenmerir (Ankhesenpepi) II in the Neret cap, holding the child king Pepi II on her lapOK. 2288-2224 or 2194 BC VI dynasty

Queen Ankhnesmerira II and her son, Pharaoh Piopi II

She wears a striped wig and a headdress in the shape of a royal vulture with outstretched wings; the bird's head, now lost, was made separately from metal (possibly gold) or stone and was inserted into a hole in the frontal part of the statue.During the reign of Pepi II, the wearing of a headdress in the form of a vulture, which was probably at first the exclusive privilege of the queen mother, extended to the royal wives in general.

Clear evidence that the headdress in the form of a vulture became an attribute of both the ruling and the future royal mother no later than the era of the Old Kingdom is provided by the stela of King Sebekhotep III (XIII Dynasty). On the stele, the mother of King Ihuakhetibu and his wife Senebhenas are shown wearing vulture-shaped headdresses, while the princesses depicted in the lower register wear a uraeus.

From the beginning of the New Kingdom (XVI-XI centuries BC), the headdress in the form of a female vulture became the main type of headdress for the mothers and spouses of the king.

Well, already from the middle of the 18th dynasty (XIV century BC), coming from the Old Kingdom, the combination of a three-part wig and a Neret cap became noticeably more complicated. From now on, a three-part blue wig is covered with a chased Neret, the head of the vulture on the cap is either replaced by a uraeus, or framed by two uraei, and the cap itself is complemented by a crown with a solar disk and two stylized feathers of a falcon or ostrich - the so-called Shuti crown. They were most likely made of metal (copper or gold).