Ancient Art and Design

The Pschent is an important piece of headwear in all of Egyptian history. The Upper and Lower Egypt which is surrounds the upper part of the Nile River and the Lower Egypt was united in 3100 b.c.e by King Menes (2004). All of the rulers wore different crowns in the Upper and Lower Egypt (2004). In the Upper Egypt the ruler wore a white crown called a Hedjet and it was like a white helmet that was shaped like half of a football and it was stretched out and had a round end (2004). The crown had a coiled Uraeus or a sacred hooded cobra right above the forehead (2004). Now in the Lower Egypt the ruler wore a red crown and this crown was called a Dishret (2004). This red crown had a flat top and round, long down the back of the neck and has a tall section that sticks out and upward from the back side and the bottom. Also there's a thin reed curled up forward in a spiral shape (2004). When the two Egypt's combined King Menes also combine the two crowns into the Pschent also known as the Double Crown. The Pschent symbolized power of the pharaohs and who ruled over one of the greatest empires of the ancient world (2004). The Pschent bore two animal emblems and they were the Egyptian cobra and the Egyptian vulture. An Egyptian cobra also called Uraeus who's ready to strike, which symbolizes for the Lower Egyptian goddess Wadjet. The Egyptian vulture symbolizes the Upper Egyptian tutelary goddess Nekhbet and they were attached to the front of the Pschent and called the Two Ladies. The vulture head would sometimes be replaced by another cobra and the deities depicted wearing the Double Crown are Horus and Atum and both representing the pharaoh or having a special relationship to the pharaoh (Ancient Egyptian Crown/Headdresses).