All Topics  
Pschent

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Pschent
 
 
  Topics Pschent Topic Home

The Pschent (sh-yen) was the name of the Double Crown
Crown (headgear)

A crown is the traditional symbolic form of headgear worn by a monarch or by a deity, for whom the crown traditionally represents Political power, legitimacy, Crown of Immortality, righteousness, victory, Roman triumph, resurrection, honour and glory of life after death....
 of Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
. The Ancient Egyptians generally referred to it as sekhemti, the Two Powerful Ones. It combined the Red Deshret Crown
Deshret

Deshret, from ancient Egyptian, was the formal name for the Red Crown of Lower Egypt and for the desert Red Land on either side of Kemet, the fertile Nile river basin....
 of Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt

Lower Egypt is the northern-most section of Egypt. It refers to the Fertile Crescent Nile Delta region, which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet Dahshur, south of modern-day Cairo, and the Mediterranean Sea....
 and the White Hedjet Crown
Hedjet

Hedjet is the formal name for the White Crown of Pharaoh Upper Egypt. The crown was white and, after the unification of Ancient Egypt, it was combined with the Deshret of Lower Egypt, with the Nile Delta to form the Pschent, the Double Crown of Egypt....
 of Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt

File:Ancient Egypt map-en.svgUpper Egypt is a narrow strip of land that extends from the Cataracts of the Nile section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Asyut is sometimes known as Middle Egypt....
.

The Pschent represented the pharaoh's power over all of unified Egypt. It bore two animal emblems. An Egyptian cobra
Egyptian cobra

The Egyptian cobra , commonly confused with the snouted cobra , is a type of venom snake native to North Africa and the Middle East. The Egyptian cobra is the most common cobra in Africa and is responsible for many deaths there....
, known as the uraeus
Uraeus

The Uraeus is the stylized, upright form of an Egyptian spitting Egyptian cobra , used as a symbol of sovereignty, Royal family, deity, and divine authority in ancient Egypt....
, ready to strike, which symbolized the Lower Egyptian goddess Wadjet
Wadjet

In Egyptian mythology, Wadjet, or the Green One , was originally the ancient local goddess of the city of Dep, which became part of the city that the Egyptians named Per-Wadjet, House of Wadjet, and the Greeks called Buto, a city that was an important site in the Predynastic era of Ancient Egypt and the cultural developmen...
. And an Egyptian vulture
Egyptian Vulture

The Egyptian Vulture is a small Old World vulture, found from southwestern Europe and northern Africa to southern Asia. It is the only living member of the genus Neophron....
 representing the Upper Egyptian tutelary goddess Nekhbet
Nekhbet

In Egyptian mythology, Nekhbet was an early predynastic local goddess who was the patron of the city of Nekheb, her name meaning of Nekheb....
.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Pschent'
Start a new discussion about 'Pschent'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The Pschent (sh-yen) was the name of the Double Crown
Crown (headgear)

A crown is the traditional symbolic form of headgear worn by a monarch or by a deity, for whom the crown traditionally represents Political power, legitimacy, Crown of Immortality, righteousness, victory, Roman triumph, resurrection, honour and glory of life after death....
 of Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
. The Ancient Egyptians generally referred to it as sekhemti, the Two Powerful Ones. It combined the Red Deshret Crown
Deshret

Deshret, from ancient Egyptian, was the formal name for the Red Crown of Lower Egypt and for the desert Red Land on either side of Kemet, the fertile Nile river basin....
 of Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt

Lower Egypt is the northern-most section of Egypt. It refers to the Fertile Crescent Nile Delta region, which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet Dahshur, south of modern-day Cairo, and the Mediterranean Sea....
 and the White Hedjet Crown
Hedjet

Hedjet is the formal name for the White Crown of Pharaoh Upper Egypt. The crown was white and, after the unification of Ancient Egypt, it was combined with the Deshret of Lower Egypt, with the Nile Delta to form the Pschent, the Double Crown of Egypt....
 of Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt

File:Ancient Egypt map-en.svgUpper Egypt is a narrow strip of land that extends from the Cataracts of the Nile section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Asyut is sometimes known as Middle Egypt....
.

The Pschent represented the pharaoh's power over all of unified Egypt. It bore two animal emblems. An Egyptian cobra
Egyptian cobra

The Egyptian cobra , commonly confused with the snouted cobra , is a type of venom snake native to North Africa and the Middle East. The Egyptian cobra is the most common cobra in Africa and is responsible for many deaths there....
, known as the uraeus
Uraeus

The Uraeus is the stylized, upright form of an Egyptian spitting Egyptian cobra , used as a symbol of sovereignty, Royal family, deity, and divine authority in ancient Egypt....
, ready to strike, which symbolized the Lower Egyptian goddess Wadjet
Wadjet

In Egyptian mythology, Wadjet, or the Green One , was originally the ancient local goddess of the city of Dep, which became part of the city that the Egyptians named Per-Wadjet, House of Wadjet, and the Greeks called Buto, a city that was an important site in the Predynastic era of Ancient Egypt and the cultural developmen...
. And an Egyptian vulture
Egyptian Vulture

The Egyptian Vulture is a small Old World vulture, found from southwestern Europe and northern Africa to southern Asia. It is the only living member of the genus Neophron....
 representing the Upper Egyptian tutelary goddess Nekhbet
Nekhbet

In Egyptian mythology, Nekhbet was an early predynastic local goddess who was the patron of the city of Nekheb, her name meaning of Nekheb....
. These were fastened to the front of the Pschent and referred to as the Two Ladies
Two Ladies

In Ancient Egyptian texts, Two Ladies is a religious euphemism for Wadjet and Nekhbet, the deity who were the Tutelary deity of the Ancient Egyptians and worshiped by all after the unification of its two parts, Lower Egypt, and Upper Egypt....
. Later, the vulture head sometimes was replaced by a second cobra.

History

The invention of the Pschent is generally attributed to the First Dynasty pharaoh Den
Den (Pharaoh)

Den was the fourth Egyptian Pharaoh of the First dynasty of Egypt. He was the son of Queen Merneith and presumably Djet. Early Egyptian records mention battles against Bedouin tribes in the Sinai Peninsula during his reign....
, but the first one to wear a Double Crown may have been Djet
Djet

Djet, also known as Wadj, Zet, and Uadji , was the third Egypt pharaoh of the First dynasty of Egypt. Djet's Horus name means "Horus Cobra."...
: a rock inscription shows his Horus wearing it.

The king list on the Palermo stone
Palermo stone

The Palermo Stone is a large fragment of a stela called the Royal Annals of the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. It contains the clearest inscriptions of the records of the pharaohs of the first dynasty through the fifth dynasty....
, which begins with the names of Lower Egyptian pharaohs (nowadays thought to have been mythological demi-gods), shown wearing the Red Crown, marks the unification of the country by giving the Pschent to all First Dynasty and later pharaohs. The Cairo fragment, on the other hand, shows these prehistoric rulers wearing the Pschent.

Archaeology

As is the case with the Deshret and the Hedjet Crowns, no Pschent has survived. It is known only from statuary, depictions, and inscriptions.

Mythology

Among the deities sometimes depicted wearing the Double Crown are Horus
Horus

Horus is a god of the Ancient Egyptian religion, most commonly known by the Greek language version Horus, of the Egyptian language Heru/Har....
 and Atum
Atum

Atum is an important deity in Egyptian mythology, whose cult centred on the city of Heliopolis . His name is thought to be derived from the word 'tem' which means to complete or finish....
, both representing the pharaoh or having a special relationship to the pharaoh.

See also

  • Deshret
    Deshret

    Deshret, from ancient Egyptian, was the formal name for the Red Crown of Lower Egypt and for the desert Red Land on either side of Kemet, the fertile Nile river basin....
  • Hedjet
    Hedjet

    Hedjet is the formal name for the White Crown of Pharaoh Upper Egypt. The crown was white and, after the unification of Ancient Egypt, it was combined with the Deshret of Lower Egypt, with the Nile Delta to form the Pschent, the Double Crown of Egypt....
  • Khepresh
    Khepresh

    The Khepresh was an ancient Egyptian royal headdress. It is also known as the War Crown. New Kingdom pharaohs are often shown wearing it in battle, but it was also frequently worn in ceremonies....