Through the Eras

FashionTemple relief of Ramesses II, wearing the Blue and Atef Crowns, and the goddess Anat. BROOKLYN MUSEUM OF ART, 54.67, CHARLESEDWIN WILBOUR FUND. REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION.desses and wearing them associated the queen orprincess with the characteristics of the related goddess.The oldest known female crown is the Vulture Cap.The vulture was the sacred animal of the goddessNekhbet of Upper Egypt. The hieroglyph of a vulturewas the writing of the word “mother,” and thus themother goddess Mut wore the Vulture Cap, too. TheVulture Cap thus associated the queen with Nekhbetand stressed her role as mother of the next king. Fertilityand motherhood were also symbolized by cowhorns added to the queen’s wig, a symbol of the goddessHathor. Royal women after the Sixth Dynastycould wear the Uraeus snake, a solar symbol associatedwith the eye of the god Re. Since the Egyptians recognizedthe eye as the Lower Egyptian goddess Wadjit,wearing the Vulture Cap (Nekhbet) with the Uraeus(Wadjit) could symbolize the union of Upper andLower Egypt. When queens wore tall feathers, theywere meant to represent the eastern and western horizons.The feathers thus also connected the crown to thecult of Re who rose and set on the horizon as the sun.The base for the feathers was interpreted as the marshof Khemmis, the place where the goddess Isis raised herchild Horus, the infant king. Thus the crown couldcombine symbolism from both solar religion and funeraryreligion.SOURCESAbd el-Monem Abubaker, Untersuchungen uber die altägyptischenKrone (Gluckstadt, Germany: J. J. AugustynVerlag, 1937).Edna R. Russmann, “Vulture and Cobra at the King’sBrow,” in Chief of Seers: Egyptian Studies in Memory ofCyrial Aldred. Ed. E. Goring (London: Kegan Paul International,1997): 266–284.SEE ALSO Religion: Kingship RitualsJEWELRY AND AMULETSPROTECTION. Archaeology has provided manyexamples of Egyptian jewelry for study. Upper-classEgyptian men and women wore jewelry and consideredit essential for being fully dressed. Jewelry served toprotect people, according to Egyptian thought. The areasmost in need of protection were the head, neck,arms, wrists, fingers, waist, and ankles. Thus hairpins,necklaces, armlets, bracelets, finger-rings, decorativegirdles, and ankle bracelets all became popular as ameans of protecting vulnerable areas. Unlike modernjewelers, who normally use casting to shape their products,Egyptian jewelers more often hammered sheetmetal, then cut, shaped, crimped, and soldered it toArts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) 105