Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The figure of the sacred serpent, an emblem of sovereignty depicted on the headdress of ancient Egyptian rulers and deities.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The sacred serpent, either the head and neck, or sometimes the entire form, of a serpent, represented by the ancient Egyptians upon the head-dresses of divinities and royal personages, as an emblem of supreme power.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Egypt. Archæol.) A serpent, or serpent's head and neck, represented on the front of the headdresses of divinities and sovereigns as an emblem of supreme power.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A representation of the
sacred asp , symbolising supreme power in ancientEgypt .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Teta hath seen his body in the Semketet boat, he knoweth the uraeus which is in the M [= a] ntchet boat, and God hath called him in his name ... and hath taken him in to R [= a]. "
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His colleagues did not care for his despondent company, which made him suffer more, which perpetuated their distance, and his disdain: his uraeus, the snake biting its own tail, the self-perpetuating, unbroken circle.
The Art Thief Noah Charney 2007
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Her chariot is drawn by three cobras, a symbol of magical transformation and sovereignty; appropriately, the uraeus, a crown worn in ancient Egypt, takes its form from the cobra.
2007 June | the blog of author, illustrator and designer Kris Waldherr - Part 2 2007
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Her chariot is drawn by three cobras, a symbol of magical transformation and sovereignty; appropriately, the uraeus, a crown worn in ancient Egypt, takes its form from the cobra.
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Most striking is a seated granite figure -- one of two female depictions from her innovative, monumental mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri in Thebes -- in a shapely sheath, with only headdress and uraeus (serpent emblem) revealing her royal identity.
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Between and behind these sit lion-headed statues closely ranged, and on either side of the gateway looks down the solemn majesty of the great lion-headed Sekhet, with her uraeus crown, and the pleasant face of the Egyptian king whom envy has robbed of his name.
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‘May you make these names complete and may they guide you along the path to victory,’ proclaimed the queen, placing the White Crown with its uraeus upon the head of her son.
The War of the Crowns Christian Jacq 2002
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This group, five statues and a glass intaglio from a ring, show her wearing a triple uraeus -- three rearing cobras, perhaps representing Upper and Lower Egypt and her Asian and Cypriot foreign possessions.
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Heseret rode beside Naja, glittering with jewels and wearing the golden uraeus on her high-piled curls.
Warlock Smith, Wilbur 2001
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On top of them he wore the uraeus, the circlet of gold depicting Nekhbet, the vulture goddess, and Naja, the cobra.
Warlock Smith, Wilbur 2001
treeseed commented on the word uraeus
(n): a representation of the sacred asp (Naja haje) appearing in ancient Egyptian art and especially on the headdress of rulers and serving as a symbol of sovereignty
Typically shown along with a solar disk on the headdress of the half lioness, half-human goddess Sekhmet
January 21, 2008