Pschent
| Double crown in hieroglyphics | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early dynasty |
Sechemti Sḫmtj The two mighty ones |
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| Greek | ψχέντ (Pschent) | ||||||||
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Pschent is the Greek name for the ancient Egyptian double crown, which combines the red crown of the north ( Lower Egypt ) with the white crown of the south ( Upper Egypt ). The double crown is first documented under King Den in the 1st dynasty in connection with his introduction of the throne name.
iconography
At the front of the Pschent there is a Uraeus snake as a symbol of the Lower Egyptian deity Wadjet next to a vulture's head as a representation of the Upper Egyptian goddess Nechbet . Both crowns embodied the royal patron goddesses.
meaning
The crown is the dualistic expression of the independent red crown of the north and the white crown of the south. There was initially no symbolic link to Lower and Upper Egypt. The Egyptian deity of creation, Atum , was depicted with the double crown. No original copy of the double crown has survived, so that its quality can only be inferred from relief representations and wood and stone sculptures.
See also
literature
- Susanne Bickel : The link between the state and the world. In: Reinhard Gregor Kratz , Hermann Spieckermann (Ed.): Images of Gods, Images of God, Images of the World. Polytheism and Monotheism in the Ancient World. Volume 1: Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine (= research on the Old Testament. Series 2, 17). Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2006, ISBN 3-16-148673-0 , pp. 79-102.
- Wolfgang Helck , Eberhard Otto : Small Lexicon of Egyptology. 4th, revised edition. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1999, ISBN 3-447-04027-0 , p. 157.
- Jochem Kahl : Upper and Lower Egypt. A dualistic construction and its beginnings. In: Rainer Albertz (Ed.): Spaces and Limits. Topological concepts in the ancient cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean (= sources and research on the ancient world. Vol. 52). Utz, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-8316-0699-3 , pp. 3-28 ( online ).
