Through the Eras

FashionRelief of Mentuhotep III, showing queen in vulture headdress, king in Red Crown and Neme. BROOKLYN MUSEUM OF ART, 37.16E,CHARLES EDWIN WILBOUR FUND. REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION.and Nephthys, the chief mourners for the king. Duringthe Twenty-fifth Dynasty (760–656 B.C.E.), rulers fromSudan (ancient Kush) adopted the double Uraeus as partof their cap-like crown. Women’s crowns also includedthe Uraeus with the head of a gazelle or ibis. By thePtolemaic Period (332–30 B.C.E.) queens adopted tripleUraeus adornments to their crowns. Finally, some tallcrowns adopted in the reign of Amenhotep III(1390–1352 B.C.E.) incorporated a base made from multipleUraeus snakes. Amenhotep III’s son, Akhenaten,adopted this base as a circlet and wore Uraeus snakesaround some of his crowns. The expansion of the importanceof the Uraeus correlated with the importanceof the sun god, especially during the reign of Akhenaten.The Uraeus was thus a basic element of royal crowns inall periods, but was used in a variety of ways.ANIMAL AND PLANT ELEMENTS. Some crowns incorporatedelements in shapes derived from other animal’sbodies. These features also associate the wearer withthe god who had an association with that animal. Thusfalcon feathers on the crown associated the king with thefalcon god Horus. The curved ram’s horn, a symbol ofthe god Amun, became part of the royal crown as earlyas the reign of Amenhotep I (1514–1493 B.C.E.) and associatedthe king with the chief of the Egyptian pantheonduring the New Kingdom. Some crowns were wovenfrom reeds or were made from other materials in theshape of plant elements. Some crowns worn by queensand princesses incorporate plant elements that suggestyouthful beauty. Some kings’ crowns and even thecrowns worn by the muu-dancers during funeral danceswere made from reeds.RED AND WHITE CROWNS. At least as early as theOld Kingdom (2675–2170 B.C.E.), kings wore nine differentcrowns. These crowns probably represented differentaspects of the king’s office. Similar crowns appearedin the coronation of Hatshepsut (1478–1458 B.C.E.) andof Ptolemy V (209–180 B.C.E.). Thus kings separated bythousands of years wore essentially the same crowns. Themost commonly represented crowns were the WhiteCrown, Red Crown, and Double Crown. The Red Crownand White Crown were the oldest crowns that Egyptiankings wore. Kings wore them from at least Dynasty 0 inthe Predynastic Period (3200–3100 B.C.E.) and continuedto wear them until the end of ancient Egyptian history.The Red Crown took its name from the oldestEgyptian name for the crown, desheret (“red thing”). Bythe Middle Kingdom (2008–1630 B.C.E.), EgyptiansArts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) 101