What was the double crown on a pharaoh called? and got the best answer

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

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Hello! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: What was the name of the double crown on the pharaoh?

Answer from Rain drop[guru]
millet

Answer from Withstand[guru]
millet
Ancient Egypt costume
Hats
Since most Egyptians wore wigs, their headdresses were quite simple. Slaves and peasants, working in the fields, covered their heads with scarves or small linen caps. Noble people wore such hats, embroidered with beads, under their wigs.
The following types of crowns were known: 1) the white crown of Upper Egypt (khedzhet), resembling a pin or a 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 back; 3) double crown (pshent), which combined the first two and symbolized the unity of the country; 4) blue with red ribbons "combat crown"; 5) "Amon's crown" of two feathers with a golden disk between them; 6) atef crown; 7) "reed crown" (hemhemet) - a complex structure of golden feathers, ram's horns, snakes and solar disks; and etc.
Judging by the surviving sculptures and reliefs, there were up to 20 varieties of crowns (unfortunately, not a single authentic ancient Egyptian crown has survived to our time). An obligatory accessory of any royal headdress was the uraeus - a golden image of a cobra, which was a symbol of the goddess Wadzhet, the patroness of Lower Egypt. It was placed over the forehead and sometimes supplemented with the golden head of a kite - the sign of Nekhebt, the goddess of Upper Egypt.
The priests in the temples during the rituals put on painted plaster masks depicting the gods. So, 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 millet Ancient Egypt consisted of the Red and White crowns. She pointed to the unlimited power of the pharaoh on the territory of all of Egypt, Lower and Upper.

The double crown bore 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 Egyptian original of the 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 a 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, one of the oldest ancient temples was located here, which was important even during the decline of the city. There is a necropolis in Nekhen, which contains about 100 tombs, many of which are the oldest in ancient Egypt and are decorated with colorful drawings.

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

Often Nekhbet is depicted with a white crown, since she patronized Nekhen and Upper Egypt. Nekhbet is associated with the home of the famous oracle in ancient Egypt. In the city was the "City of the Dead" - a necropolis. The priestess of the temple was called "Mii", which means "mother" in translation. 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 "the lands of the 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.

Wearing a red crown, the Egyptian kings thus demonstrated that they were the successors of Horus, the true ruler in Lower Egypt. Some religious cults also wore a red crown, including Buto and Neith.

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

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

Many pharaohs of the Old Kingdom era are depicted wearing skhenti, wig and cane sandals or barefoot. The first deviations from the generally accepted shenti appeared in the costume of the pharaoh. They were, as it were, second aprons made of pleated fabric, worn over and above the usual loincloth.

Signs of the royal power of the pharaoh were a golden gartered 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 Manetho - 2900 BC. X. Upper Egypt ruled pharaoh men, possibly the same one that is called in other sources Narmer

Men with a large army moved north 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 rapids. The unification of Egypt by Pharaoh Men is considered the beginning of Egyptian history, however, until the end of the Old Kingdom, there was a division of the kingdom 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

In the form of a pin, the crown of Lower Egypt is a 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. She was called - millet(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) there is a white surface of the crown that looks like an elongated onion. Ostrich feathers are lush at the base, forming a small curl on 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 the control of the underworld. Feathers represent truth, justice and balance. In appearance, the atef crown is similar to the crown hedge worn by the pharaohs of Upper Egypt. The difference between the two crowns is that there were no feathers on the sides of the hedge crown. In the New Kingdom, somewhat modernized types of royal headdresses also arose. In the case of the performance of priestly duties, the pharaoh wore a sky-blue metal helmet ( khepresh)

. Hemhemet

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

The luxury that she allowed herself to know is nothing compared to the splendor that royal people surrounded themselves with. The pharaoh was considered the son of the sun god Ra himself, his person was deified. A special symbolism indicated a divine origin and unlimited power - a hoop with a ureus snake, the bite of which led to inevitable death. A golden ureus snake wrapped around the royal forehead so that the head of a terrible snake was in the center. Not only the headband of the pharaoh, but also the 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 striped scarf. It served as protection from the sun and dust, was called "klaft-usherbi"- an attribute of the cult of the god Amun - and also belonged to the ancient symbols of royal power. Klaft 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 sky. The transverse side of the fabric was placed horizontally on the forehead, reinforced with a ribbon, and a diadem with a sculptural image of a snake inflating its hood was put on top. The material hanging from the back, on the back, was collected and tightly wrapped around with a cord, creating a semblance of a braid. The side parts of the claft were rounded so that straight pieces of fabric on the front of the shoulders were clearly presented straight. In addition, the pharaoh willingly put on, 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 fixed on the head with a golden 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 a golden disc sparkled, framed by two uraeus topped with the same golden discs.

The striped necklace collar, cut 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 hooked top. The scepter also had several: simple staff- a symbol of agriculture and animal husbandry, wand the height of a man, which ended with a bident at the bottom, and at the top was decorated with a pointed image of a jackal's head. No less important ranking sign of the pharaoh during all the solemn ceremonies was fake beard is a symbol of land ownership. Beards, like wigs, were made from different materials, including gold. They had a different shape: elongated in the form of a braided pigtail with a curled tip; elongated, completely flat and smooth; curled with small curls in transverse rows; in the form of a small cube or spatula. The beard was also decorated with a small uraeus. She was usually fastened with two garters.

The robes of the royal people differed from the clothes of the nobility by 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 pleated. She held on to a wide belt with a metal buckle, with excellently executed hieroglyphs in the royal cartouche in front and an ox-tail at the back. Sometimes an apron in the form of a trapezoid was tied to the belt. This apron was entirely of precious metal, or strands of beads stretched over a frame. On both sides, the apron was decorated with uraei crowned with solar disks. Jewelry and ornaments 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. On the neck, on a double chain, they put on a chest decoration in the form of a temple facade and at least three pairs of bracelets: one on the forearm, the second on the wrists, the third on the ankles. Sometimes, over 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 embellishments. The toe of these sandals turned up. The sandals themselves were fastened to the leg with long colorful straps, wrapping them around the leg to the very knee. Domestic and military scenes were depicted on the soles. At official receptions it was impossible to appear unshod. But since it was a sign of a privileged position, they were very cherished. Even the pharaohs went 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 the three millennia of its existence, a diverse world of rules, traditions and preferences has been created. The pharaoh was bound by especially strict rules of etiquette. Neither he nor his subjects could deviate one iota from once and for all a certain role in the general “state performance”. The sacred meaning lay in all the words and deeds 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 prescribed 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 dress, or a cloak made of transparent fabric. The indispensable rank signs of the queen were the uraeus and a headdress in the form of a hawk - a symbol of the goddess Isis, who covered her head with his wings, and held a ring with a seal in his claws. The second rank headdress of the queen was a decorated hat with a small, cap-like protrusion, to which a lotus flower was attached. The queen relied on a scepter in the form of a lotus flower.

Objects surrounding The pharaoh and his family had, as a rule, a symbolic meaning, which determined their shape and decoration. royal throne- the most important accessory of power, retained from ancient times the simple form of an equilateral cube, but with the splendor of its decoration it 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 stretcher was carried by the most distinguished 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 over the seat, which replaced the canopy.

Ancient Egypt is fraught with many secrets and mysteries. He left behind magnificent monuments, frescoes, sculptures, utensils, jewelry, numerous papyri ... It would seem that there is everything to study the history of Ancient Egypt! However, for some reason it turns out that new finds, as well as the study of old ones, mostly raise questions rather than provide answers. No wonder Egypt excites the minds of more than one generation of historians, archaeologists, and simply lovers of antiquity.

Perhaps one of the most mysterious and, if I may say so, mystical ancient Egyptian figures are the pharaohs. Their life is described in numerous papyrus scrolls, their images are almost everywhere, their death is still in sight. But how many more answers remain to be found by researchers! After all, even in the simplest - in the appearance of the pharaohs, and then there are no certainties.

Here we want to talk about the headdresses of the ancient rulers of Egypt. However, it is worth noting that not a single surviving crown, known to us from ancient Egyptian frescoes and sculptures, has been found to date! So all the works that touch on this topic are the result of images and descriptions in ancient Egyptian texts, and not of real existence.

Pharaoh

Already at first glance it is clear - this is not just a man, not just a ruler - this is the son of the gods! Literally every little thing should scream about his divine essence, every detail of the wardrobe should contain religious symbols and amulets. Therefore, in relation to the rulers, a kind of dress code was developed, which they had no right to violate.

One of the main rules was the following: the pharaoh could not go out to people with his head uncovered. Therefore, there was a whole service for the rulers, which created various headdresses for them - from a simple scarf and wig to the majestic one. And, I must say, this service worked well!

In the wardrobe of the Egyptian king there were numerous, both for everyday wear and for various celebrations. Among them were the simplest ones - short wigs with a smooth hairdo and wigs with pigtails, wigs curled in the most unthinkable way and decorated with various pendants ... In general, the art of creating wigs in Egypt was at a high level.

On especially hot days (or on religious holidays, or on some special days - you can guess indefinitely) the pharaohs put a nemes on their heads - a striped scarf. The stripes were painted in two colors - blue and gold (at least in most images, the pharaohs are decorated with a scarf of just such a color). Nemes was worn so that it covered the entire head, leaving the ears open. At the back, it was braided into a pigtail, and on the sides, the ends cut in a semicircle were lowered onto the shoulders. To keep the nemes better on the head, it was fixed with a gold ribbon or a gold hoop. By the way, the great sphinx also wears a nemes...

The Egyptian pharaohs had several crowns.

First, this millet- the double crown of the Egyptian pharaohs. Initially, there were two states in the Nile Valley, now they are commonly called Upper and Lower Egypt. The rulers of Lower Egypt wore deshret- a red crown, which had a cylindrical shape with a large protrusion at the back. The kings of Upper Egypt wore a white crown - hedge, made in the form of a high cone. It was believed that the khedzhet is associated with the moon and the lunar deities - Osiris and Thoth. This crown was a kind of conductor between ancestors and descendants, it helped in the afterlife to gain enlightenment, join the dream of deities, find a new life among the stars. With the unification of Egypt, deshret and hedzhet became a single crown - pshent.

Secondly, this atef or the crown of Horus, a crown believed to be worn by the pharaohs on special days of religious holidays. It was made in the form of a high white cap. Feathers were placed on the sides (they symbolized two truths - life and death), and at the base - ram's horns. Sometimes a solar disk was also placed in the center.

Pshent and atef are quite bulky crowns, so they were most likely used when the pharaoh was just sitting, and he had to sit absolutely still. Eh, the pharaonic lot is not easy, but the posture is the envy of everyone.

A more convenient crown was khepresh- a blue crown adorned with gold plaques. This headdress is also called the crown of war, because. for a long time it was believed that the rulers wore it during military campaigns and parades.

What materials the royal crowns were made of is still unknown. It is believed that the white crown and atef were made of cane, the red and blue crowns were made of leather. However, some Egyptologists immediately notice that the Egyptians did not like leather, considering it as an impure material, and even shoes for the aristocracy were cast from gold. So it remains to be hoped that sooner or later at least one crown will be found, and this find will at least somehow bring certainty to this issue.

But the most important attribute of royal power was not even a crown, but only a small forehead decoration - uraeus - a rising cobra with a swollen collar. It was made of gold or silver, placed in the middle of the pharaoh's forehead, attached to a ribbon, hoop or. Urey was worn with absolutely any headdress - be it a wig, nemes or crown. It was the uraeus for the pharaoh that "what makes him great." According to the Book of the Dead, this symbol served as protection for the king - in case of danger, the snake should spit fire and incinerate the enemies of the ruler. Urey also symbolized the wisdom of the pharaoh, his greatness - he stood guard over the laws of the universe.

After the unification of Egypt, next to the uraeus, they began to place the head of a kite - the protector of the rulers of Lower Egypt. Such a unity of symbols made the pharaohs the rulers of a united country, the incarnations of Horus on earth and Osiris after death. It is these symbols that adorn one of the magnificent images of ancient Egyptian jewelry - the “seshed” diadem, found in the tomb of Tutankhamen.

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

One of such interesting phenomena that walked through the entire history of Ancient Egypt are 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 Pshent - "Two strong", which symbolized power over the united Egypt and was a symbol of the power of the Kings-Gods, the Egyptian queens, judging by the images, did not wear. There were, of course, exceptions, like Queen Hatshepsut, but she ascended the throne of the country as a male pharaoh.

I want to trace the history of the royal headdresses worn by women who take the place of the queen, that is, the mother of the king or his wife (and not many daughters).

And the most important question that puzzled me when I analyzed this topic, were they?

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 worn by Cleopatra, the very last queen of Egypt, who was the beloved of Caesar and Mark Antony.

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

Why was the neck placed on the beautiful heads of Egyptian queens? Or more precisely, its species White-headed 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 Nekheb. And she was depicted in the form of a female Vulture, and later in the form of a woman, on whose head was a cap-Neret.

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

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

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

Image of Nekhbet in the form of a kite with a white crown of Upper Egypt and Wajit in the red crown of Lower Egypt

An image of the goddess Wajit in her snake form, attached to the forehead of a headdresspharaoh, called Uraeus. And often next to Wajit was Nekhbet.

Wadjit, 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 crowned millet between the goddesses Wajit and Nekhbet. Temple of Horus at Edfu. On both the goddess Neret with the head of a Vulture

Wadjit in the red crown of the deshret of Lower Egypt and Nekhbet in the crown of Upper Egypt hedzhet, with staffs entwined with snakes in their respective crowns. In the center is Isis with the infant Horus among the reeds. Temple in Dendera

By the reign of Pharaoh Nyuserre (Vdynasty) refers to one of the early images of the modification of Neret, which has in the frontal part not a head of a vulture, but an uraeus, which is explained by the fact that in a particular case, not Nekhbet, but the snake goddess Wajit 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 in the Neret headdress, worn over a classic three-part wig. The main visual difference of 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 Wajit has an uraeus snake.

Images of Neret's cap on the heads of the goddesses, which they wear over a three-part wig, appear quite early, already at the time

IV dynasty. This

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

Nekhbet feeding Pharaoh Sakhur from the 5th Dynasty. Cairo, Egyptian Museum. From the mortuary temple of Sahure at Abydos. One of the earliest images of the goddess in the Neret cap.

According to Horapollon (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 vulture goddess Nekhbet expressed was motherhood. Vultures are very caring parents. In the hieroglyphic writing of Egypt, the identifying 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 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, not infrequently, wore a headdress in the form of a female vulture - Neret, on top of which the Pshent crown was placed.

Mut feeding King Seti I. Relief from the mortuary temple of Seti I at Abydos. 13th c. BC. photo - Viktor Solkin.

Besides 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 determiner for the noun "Nehru" - "intimidation", "horror".

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

In the Pyramid Texts, Nekhbet calls 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 is in the House of the Noble, who is in June ».

The fact that Nekhbet was depicted as a vulture or a woman with a Neret headdress, over which the white crown of Upper Egypt - Khenzhent was put on, can 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 to be the pharaoh himself . In her sacred city of Nekhen, Horus of Nekhen was considered Nekhen'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 the foregoing, the main functions of Nekhbet were to protect his son-pharaoh, to nurture him, and also to be a formidable intimidator of his enemies.

The most ancient evidence that the headdress of Neret was also worn by queenscan be found on a fragment of a sculptural portrait of the mother (possibly) of 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 illustrative example is known from the reliefs of the burial complex of the "king's mother" Khentkaus II in Abusir (V dynasty). At the end of the inscription with the title and the name of 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 in a long wig and Neret's cap,

On the other - in a simple wig, but with a urea 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 a complete assimilation of a woman of the royal family to her divine prototypes (that is, the patron goddesses Nekhbet and Wajit).

Starting from the 5th Dynasty, the headdress in the form of a vulture can be considered as a characteristic accessory of the mother of the reigning king, or the mother of the heir to the throne. This observation is best illustrated by a miniature alabaster figurine of the queen-mother Ankhesenmerir (Ankhesenpepi) II in the Neret cap, holding the child king Pepi II on her knees.OK. 2288-2224 or 2194 BC 6th dynasty

Queen Ankhnesmerira II and her son Pharaoh Piopi II

She wears a striped wig and a headdress in the form of a royal vulture with outstretched wings; the bird's head, now lost, was made separately from metal (possibly gold) or stone and inserted into a hole in the front of the statue.In 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 stele of King Sebekhotep III (XIII dynasty). On the stele, the mother of King Iwahetibu and his wife Senebhenas are shown in headdresses in the form of a vulture, while the princesses depicted in the lower case wear uraeus.

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

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