Name:
The Uraeus Symbol of the Cobra Goddess
Classification:
Sacred Symbol
Culture: Kemet/ Egyptian
Classification:
Matron Deity
The
Uraeus is a symbol for the goddess Wadjet. She was one of the earliest Egyptian
deities and was often depicted as a cobra, as she is the serpent goddess. The
center of her cult was in Per-Wadjet,
She
became the matron of the Nile Delta and the protector of all of Lower Egypt.
The pharaohs wore the uraeus as a head
ornament: either with the body of Wadjet atop the head, or as a crown encircling
the head; This sacred serpent symbol reiterated the connection between the Gods
and the Pharaohs and wearing the Uraeus conveyed legitimacy to the royal
personage.
The
rearing cobra indicated that the ruler enjoyed the protection and patronage of
Goddess Wadjet, the Lower Egypt deity. After the unification of Egypt, the
Uraeus was depicted together with the Vulture, which was the symbol of Nekhbet,
the patroness of Upper Egypt. The merged symbol was called ‘The Two Ladies’,
the joint protectors of the country.
Later,
the pharaohs were seen as a manifestation of the sun god Ra, and so it also was
believed that the Uraeus protected them by spitting fire on their enemies from
the fiery eye of the goddess.
As
the Uraeus was seen as a royal symbol, the deities Heru and Set were also
depicted wearing the symbol on their crowns.
Some
mythology tells that Auset created the Wadjet from dust of a dying star and the
black soil of the Land (Kemet)
And
she is thus a central part of the Wadjet itself. And it was her key to gaining
the throne.
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