Henu crown

Henu crown in hieroglyphics
	Henu Crown Statue ( Abu Simbel Temple )

The Henu crown (also ostrich feather crown ) was an ancient Egyptian insignia often used since the New Kingdom . The Henu crown consisted of two central Maat - ostrich feathers , which were attached to a ram's horn equipped with a sun disk . On both sides of the ram's horn outside the ostrich feathers, there were also two urea with a sun disk.

Mythological connections

In ancient Egypt, the Henu crown was the emblem of various kings ( pharaohs ), including Hatshepsut , Ramses II and Sethos I , who can be seen on a relief on the western wall of the second hypostyle hall in the Abydenean mortuary temple where he is kneels with the Henu crown during the coronation before Amun-Re to be appointed by Amun-Re as the rightful king of Egypt.

Deities also wore the Henu crown, for example Hor-Behdeti , Wadj-tep and Osiris , who was depicted in the New Kingdom as a mummy with a crook and scourge in his arms; instead of a head, Osiris carried a Djed pillar on which the Henu crown was attached.

The meaning of the Henu crown is not clearly understood. Since it is mentioned in numerous documents together with the morning house, the Henu crown could have been the symbol of daily rebirth in connection with sunrise . Another possibility is the Henu crown as a symbol of the royal cleansing ritual before the ruler or the priest representing him entered the front room of a temple to make contact with the gods.

literature

Christian Leitz among others: Lexicon of Egyptian gods and names of gods . LGG. Volume 2: ʾ - b (= Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta 111). Peeters, Leuven 2002, ISBN 90-429-1147-6 , pp. 261-262, 529.
Karin Stephan: The decoration of the "Chapelle Rouge" in Karnak. Structure and function . Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2008, ISBN 978-3-8370-4840-7 , pp. 58-59.

Web links

Henu crown of Hatshepsut

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Rainer Hannig: Large Concise Dictionary Egyptian-German: (2800-950 BC) . von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-8053-1771-9 , p. 575; the corresponding hieroglyph of the Henu crown is missing in the hieroglyphic representation because it is currently not included in the Wikipedia font.
↑ Farid Atiya: Pocket Book of Ancient Egypt . Amer University, Cairo 2008, ISBN 9-7717-4439-9 , p. 202.

[H-1] Rainer Hannig: Large Concise Dictionary Egyptian-German: (2800-950 BC) . von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-8053-1771-9 , p. 575; the corresponding hieroglyph of the Henu crown is missing in the hieroglyphic representation because it is currently not included in the Wikipedia font.

[2] Farid Atiya: Pocket Book of Ancient Egypt . Amer University, Cairo 2008, ISBN 9-7717-4439-9 , p. 202.