| Pschent | |
|---|---|
 Pschent, the double crown of Egypt | |
| Details | |
| Country | Ancient Egypt |
| Predecessors | Deshret Hedjet |
Thepschent (/pskʰént/;Greekψχέντ) was the doublecrown worn by rulers inancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians generally referred to it asPa-sekhemty (pꜣ-sḫm.ty), the Two Powerful Ones, from which the Greek term is derived.[1] It combined theWhite Hedjet Crown ofUpper Egypt and theRed Deshret Crown ofLower Egypt.
The Pschent represented thepharaoh's power over all of unified Egypt.[2] It bore two animal emblems: anEgyptian cobra, known as theuraeus, ready to strike, which symbolized the Lower EgyptiangoddessWadjet; and avulture representing the Upper Egyptian tutelary goddessNekhbet. These were fastened to the front of the Pschent and referred to as theTwo Ladies.
| |||||
| Pschent "Double Crown" inhieroglyphs | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The invention of the Pschent is generally attributed to theFirst Dynasty pharaohMenes, but the first one known to wear a Double Crown was the First Dynasty pharaohDjet: a rock inscription shows hisHorus wearing it.[3]
The king list on thePalermo Stone, which begins with the names ofLower Egyptian pharaohs (nowadays thought to have been mythological demigods), shown wearing the Red Crown, marks the unification of the country by giving the Pschent to all First Dynasty and later pharaohs.[4] The Cairo fragment, on the other hand, shows these prehistoric rulers wearing the Pschent.[5]
As is the case with the Deshret and the Hedjet Crowns, no Pschent is currently known to have survived. It is known only from statuary, depictions, inscriptions, and ancient tales.
Among the deities sometimes depicted wearing the Double Crown are Horus[6] andAtum or Ra both representing the pharaoh or having a special relationship to the pharaoh.[7]
_-_20080315.jpg)
