Wadjet

(Udjat; G/R Edjo, Buto) - “She Who is Green” Cobra-Netjer associated with both the land of Lower Kemet itself and its protection, and the protection and symbolism of the Red Crown (Nit), Wadjet is often depicted as a full cobra, or as the head of the cobra, rearing up in protection on the forehead of Netjeru and rulers. On depictions of the Udjat, She is often accompanied by Nekhbet, the vulture-Netjer of the South, and symbolizes one half of the Two Lands which make up Kemet politically. Her head was mounted on the nemes-headdress of rulers alongside Nekhbet’s vulture-head (witness the beautiful cobra on the forehead of King Tutankhamen’s funerary mask, called a Uraeus), and a crown surmounted by many tiny uraeii was worn by many chief queens or consorts. Nubian kings and queens would continue the use of the Uraeus as a royal symbol, planting two cobra-heads on the brows of their crowns and royal headbands. Very infrequently, and probably related to Her role as the “Eye of Ra” (divine vengeance), Wadjet, like Sekhmet, is depicted with the head of a lioness.

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