Hemhem crown facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hemhem |
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The hemhem crown, based on pictures from ancient times
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| Country | Ancient Egypt, Nubia, Ancient Persia |
The Hemhem crown was a special and fancy headdress worn in Ancient Egypt for important ceremonies. It was a very complex crown, made of three smaller crowns called atefs. It was also decorated with two ram's horns, two cobra snakes called uraei, and several shiny sun disks.
This crown was worn by pharaohs to show their power. It first appeared around the 14th century BC, during the time of Pharaoh Akhenaten. It was also shown on powerful gods like Heka, Isis, and Osiris. The style of the crown became so popular that rulers in other lands, like Nubia and Ancient Persia, also wore it.
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The Meaning Behind the Name
The name of the crown comes from the ancient Egyptian word hemhem, which means "to shout" or "cry out". This might mean the crown was a symbol of a war cry, showing the pharaoh's strength in battle. However, it was also worn during happy celebrations and festivals.
A Crown Through History
Worn by Famous Pharaohs
The hemhem crown first showed up in the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. Pharaohs wore it for very important events to show off their great power.
One of the first times we see it is in a carving from the tomb of Pharaoh Akhenaten. The famous boy-king, Tutankhamun, was also shown wearing a hemhem crown on a beautiful throne found in his tomb. Much later, kings from the Ptolemaic Dynasty were also often pictured wearing it.
A Style That Traveled
The hemhem crown's cool design became popular outside of Egypt. Rulers in nearby lands like Nubia started to wear it too. Kings like Natakamani and Arnekhamani were shown with this crown.
Even farther away, in a place called Pasargadae in modern-day Iran, there is a famous stone carving of a winged figure wearing a hemhem crown. This shows that the Egyptian style had traveled a long way. Art experts think the style probably spread through trade with places like Syria and Phoenicia. For a long time, people thought the winged figure might be the famous king Cyrus the Great. Today, most experts think it is more likely a god or a special spiritual being.
What Did the Crown Look Like?
The hemhem crown was very detailed and had many parts.
- Horns: At the base, there was a pair of curly ram's horns.
- Cobras: Often, a cobra snake, called a uraeus, was placed on each side of the crown as a symbol of protection.
- Materials: The main part of the crown was made from reeds (like tall grass) and decorated with ostrich feathers and feathers from other birds.
- How it was worn: Interestingly, the hemhem crown was usually worn tilted toward the back of the head, not straight on top like most crowns.
The design of the hemhem crown changed over time. Sometimes, instead of three sun disks, it had three falcon birds. The falcon was a symbol of power over all of Egypt. The more decorations a crown had, the more recent it was likely to be.
As time went on, new symbols were added. For example, falcons and horns became more common in the later Ptolemaic period. The crown was often worn on top of the famous striped headcloth called the nemes.
Gallery
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A modern drawing of a pharaoh wearing a Nemes with a Hemhem crown on top
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A carving of Mandulis, a god shown with a hemhem crown
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A statue of a god wearing a hemhem crown, possibly Harpocrates
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A carving from the temple of Kalabsha. The god in the center-right is wearing a hemhem crown.
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A carving from the temple of Esna. Heka, the god on the far right, is wearing a hemhem crown.
See also
