Uraeus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Uraeus (plural Uraei or Uraeuses) is the stylized, upright form of an Egyptian spitting cobra (or snake / serpent / asp), 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".
According to the Story of Re, the first uraeus was created by the goddess Isis who formed it from the dust of the earth and the spittle of the sun-god. The uraeus was the instrument with which Isis gained the throne of Egypt for her husband Osiris.
The depicted Uraeus is the associated form of the goddess Wadjet, who was often depicted as a cobra. She became the patroness 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 BC). 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.
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[edit] Golden uraeus of Senusret II
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.
[edit] Uraeus, as a hieroglyph
| Uraeus – Uraeus on Basket Ntr(God) w/Cobra in hieroglyphs |
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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 |
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Another example of the hieroglyph usage, is as adornments upon the hieroglyph for "shrine" itself, and also for 'buildings'. See the Budge Ref.
[edit] See also
[edit] 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.
