Uraeus
The cobra worn on the brow of Egyptian kings, standing for royal power and linked with the serpent goddesses.
Meaning
The Great Sphinx wore one: the British Museum’s 1909 guide lists a piece of the Sphinx’s painted limestone uraeus, from the forehead. Petrie records many names and meanings for the uraeus amulet, among them goddesses, knowledge and divine life, and the name mehen for the uraeus on the crown. Paired with the vulture it meant royal power in Upper and Lower Egypt. In the legend of the winged sun disk, the goddesses Uatchet and Nekhebet take the form of serpents beside it.
See also
Eye of Horus, Scarab, Djed pillar, Was sceptre, Shen ring, Cartouche.
Sources
- Amulets, illustrated by the Egyptian collection in University College, London, W. M. Flinders Petrie, 1914, Constable and Company, London (Internet Archive), Nos. 51, 58
- A guide to the Egyptian collections in the British Museum, British Museum, 1909 (introduction by E. A. Wallis Budge), Harrison and Sons, London (Project Gutenberg), Ancient Empire
- Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts, E. A. Wallis Budge, 1912, Project Gutenberg, Chapter IV
Last reviewed September 25, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research