Name: The Uraeus Symbol of the Cobra Goddess


Classification: Sacred Symbol

Associated: Royalty
Culture: Kemet/ Egyptian
Classification: Matron Deity

The Uraeus is a symbol for the goddess Wadjet. She was one of the earliest Egyptian deities and was often depicted as a cobra, as she is the serpent goddess. The center of her cult was in Per-Wadjet,

She became the matron of the Nile Delta and the protector of all of Lower Egypt.

The pharaohs wore the uraeus as a head ornament: either with the body of Wadjet atop the head, or as a crown encircling the head; This sacred serpent symbol reiterated the connection between the Gods and the Pharaohs and wearing the Uraeus conveyed legitimacy to the royal personage.

The rearing cobra indicated that the ruler enjoyed the protection and patronage of Goddess Wadjet, the Lower Egypt deity. After the unification of Egypt, the Uraeus was depicted together with the Vulture, which was the symbol of Nekhbet, the patroness of Upper Egypt. The merged symbol was called ‘The Two Ladies’, the joint protectors of the country.



Later, the pharaohs were seen as a manifestation of the sun god Ra, and so it also was believed that the Uraeus protected them by spitting fire on their enemies from the fiery eye of the goddess.


As the Uraeus was seen as a royal symbol, the deities Heru and Set were also depicted wearing the symbol on their crowns.



Some mythology tells that Auset created the Wadjet from dust of a dying star and the black soil of the Land (Kemet)

And she is thus a central part of the Wadjet itself. And it was her key to gaining the throne.

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