Step 2 of 6

The Snakes

Fig. 1 - Nekhbet and Wadjet crowning Ptolemy VIII – Olaf Tausch – [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edfu_Tempel_42-2.jpg) — Fig. 1 - Nekhbet and Wadjet crowning Ptolemy VIII – Olaf Tausch – Wikimedia Commons

In the previous step, we saw the cartouche. Now it’s time to look at the snakes on either side of it. They are two cobras, and the signs hanging from their tails are the hieroglyphic signs that mean ‘life’.

These snakes represent Nekhbet and Wadjet, the traditional protector goddesses of the king. Nekhbet was associated with Upper Egypt and became closely connected with the person of the king. She was eventually adopted alongside the cobra goddess Wadjet, who was associated with the Delta region, as one of the two guardian deities of Egypt. Nekhbet is usually depicted as a vulture, but because of her assimilation with Wadjet, Nekhbet is occasionally depicted as a serpent and Wadjet is sometimes shown in vulture form. This is what happened in this pectoral as well.

The cobra goddess Wadjet was associated with the Nile Delta region from early on and became the deity of Lower Egypt next to her counterpart, the vulture goddess Nekhbet of Upper Egypt. Her name means ‘the green one’ which may refer to the color of a cobra or to the green Delta region that she is associated with. She is sometimes also depicted as a vulture. See: Wilkinson, Richard H., The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt (New York, 2003). In Figure 1, you can see both Nekhbet and Wadjet in their human form.

So, we have looked at the snakes, but we have not yet seen all the animals. Click on the next step to find out more about the falcons!