the royal uraeus

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Depictions of the uraeus from a statue of Tutankhamun (left), a bracelet of Nimlot (centre) and a shabti statue of Tutankhamun (right).

The Uraeus was the symbol of sovereignty, and was worn on the royal head-dress or crown. According to a pyramid text, the god Geb awarded the cobra to the king as the legitimate holder of the throne of Egypt. The Uraeus shows the cobra goddess Wadjet rising up in anger, supposedly to spit flames in defence of the monarch. In war, the Uraeus on the king's brow destroys his enemies with her fiery breath.

Quartzite statue of Amenhotep III	Detail from small golden pendant inlaid with polychrome glass	Small Statue of Akhenaten

Wadjet is in harmony with her southern counterpart Nekhbet the vulture goddess. In temples and tombs, Wadjet can be frequently seen with the full body or just the wings of Nekhbet, as shown in the winged golden Uraeus. The two lands of Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt could also be embodied in the "nebty", meaning "two ladies"; referring to the cobra goddess Wadjet awho represented Lower Egypt nd the vulture goddess Nekhbet who represented Upper Egypt. Together they symbolised the unity and duality of the Egyptian world.

Gold wadjet eye pendant - the eye of Horus, incorporating Nekhbet the vulture goddess (left) and Wadjet the cobra goddess on the right.

The sun god Re also wears the Uraeus, which envelops his solar disc within its coils. Here, Wadjet is Re's agent of annihilation, particularly towards those hostile snakes of the Underworld, which may threaten Re on his nightly journey through the Underworld.