Post by johnCan anyone suggest when we first start finding a uraeus
in the form of a rearing cobra on the head of a deity or
royal figure (or anyone else) in Egyptian art? It seems
definitely to be found New Kingdom art, but what about any
earlier?
The uraeus corbra is in use in royal iconography as early as Dynasty 1
(ca 2915-2865 BCE),when the pharaoh Den is showing in an ivory plaqutte
smiting an enemy while wearing the _nemes_ headdress ) (Johnson 1990:
22; Type III A (Fig. 24)). The use of the uraeus by queens doesn't
occur until Dynasty 5, when it is used the supplement the Nekhebet
(vulture) headdress of one of the queens of Neuserre (ca 2445 - 2415
BCE) (Robins 2000: 106).
Post by johnI'm interested in the possibility that Egyptian religious
ideas were transmitted to India and eventually became the
source or a contributing source for what we now call kundalini
yoga. I know there has been some vague New Age and
Theosophical speculation along these lines, but now I'm
beginning to wonder if it might just possibly be an actual
historical fact.
The associations would be between (1) the forehead uraeus
and the brow (ajna) chakra, and (2) the Egyptian solar disk
above a figure's head and the crown (Sahasrara) chakra.
It's my understanding that kundalini yoga came into existence during
the 8th and 12th centuries in Northern India, Nepal and Tibet, during
the reign of the Indian Mahasiddhas. As such, I would doubt there was
an direct ancient Egyptian connection, as by that time the ability to
determine the hieroglyph texts which refer to the uraeus and its
meaning in the ancient Egyptian context had been lost for over four
centuries by that time.
Post by johnConcerning the solar disk above the head, I've found Egyptian
images from at least 2500 BC that show this.
Correct, which leads to the origin of the uraeus about the same time.
In Egyptian Helipolitan mythology, the Eye of Atum (aka Ra) was his
protector. When he could not find his two children, Shu and Tefnut
(representing air and mositure, respectively), Atum-Ra sent out his Eye
to find them. While the Eye sought them out, Atum replaced his Eye with
the sun as his dominant protector and feature. Upon returning with the
errant deities, the Eye found itself replaced, and in anger transformed
itself into a spitting cobra. To appease the Eye, Atum placed the
cobra upon his brow, thus make the uraeus cobra the protector of
Kingship.
As such, many goddesses are identified with this "Eye of Ra," which
differs in mythic function from the "Eye of Horus." These goddesses
are called /ir.t/ goddesses, which means they protect and do the
bidding of Ra. Hathor is the most well-known of such goddesses, for in
the "Myth of the Destruction of Mankind," she is the Eye sent out by Ra
to destroy mankind, when humans grieved him so. She carried out Ra's
command, and only when he realised that she was about the destroy _all_
of mankind was Ra determined to stop her. When he told her to ceased
her killing of men, she replied, but I will not, for I prevail over
them." It is from this phrase, that Hathor took on a new personal as
"Sekhmet," which means "she who prevails" /sxm.t/.
Other /ir.t/ "Eye" goddesses include Isis, Mut, Neith, Maat, Bast,
Mafdet, and Wadjet, among others. In each case, these "Eye" goddesses
are called upon in supplications to provide protection to the king,
which is based upon their mythic protection of the sun-god, Ra, who was
king of all the Egyptian gods.
Reference:
Bresciani, E. 1993. Éléments de rituel et d'offrande dans le texte
démotique de l'"Oeil du soleil." In J. Quaegebeur, ed., _Ritual and
Sacrifice in the Ancient Near East. Proceedings of the International
Conference organized by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven from the
17th to the 20th of April 1991_: 45-49. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta
55. Leuven: Peeters.
Brunner-Traut, E. 1977. Der Sehgott und der Horgott in Literatur und
Theologie. In J. Assmann, E. Feucht, and E. Grieshammer, eds., _Fragen
an die altägyptische Literatur_: 125-145. . Studien zum Gedenken an
Eberhard Otto. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag.
Darnell, J. C. 1997. The Apotropaic Goddess in the Eye. SAK 24: 35-48.
Johnson, S. B. 1990. _The Cobra Goddess of Ancient Egypt: Predynastic,
Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom Periods_. Studies in Egyptology. A. B.
Lloyd. London: Kegan Paul International.
Roberts, A. 1995. _Hathor Rising: The Serpent Power of Ancient Egypt_.
Devon: Northgate Publishers.
Robins, G. 2000. Queens. In D. B. Redford, ed., _The Oxford
Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt_, 3: 105-109. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Scandone Matthiae, G. 1993. L'Occhio del Sole; le divinità feline
femminile dell 'Egitto faraonico. Studi epigrafici e linguistici sul
Vicino Oriente antico [Verona[ 10: 10-19. (On feline deities (Bast,
Mut, Sekhmet) as example of Eye goddesses.)
te Velde, H. 1990. Mut, the Eye of Re. In S. Schoske, Ed., _Akten des
vierten Internationalen Ägyptologen-Kongresses München 1985_, 3
(Linguistik - Philologie - Religion): 395-403. Studien zur
Altägyptischen Kultur Beihefte 1-4. Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag
Troy, L. 1989. The Ennead: The Collective as Goddess. In G. Englund,
Ed., The Religion of the Ancient Egyptians: Cognitive Structures and
Popular Expressions.: 59-69. BOREAS 20. Uppsala: ACTA Universitatis
Upsaliensis. (On the importance of the Egyptian goddess as the assister
of the sun-god, as his daughter, and thus, his "Eye.)
Westendorf, W. 1968. Die Pantherkatze Mafdet. Zeitschrift der
Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 118:248-256.
_____________. 1966. Ursprung und Wesen der Maât, der altägyptischen
Göttin des Rechts, der Gerechtigkeit und der Weltordnung. In
_Festgabe für Dr. Walter Will, Ehrensenator der Universität München,
zum 70. Geburtstag am 12. November 1966_: 201-225. Köln: Carl Heymans
Verlag. (Where Maat is referred to as /s.t irt/ 'seat of the Eye', a
title normally held by Isis, in refered to her protection of Osiris,
lord of the underworld).
HTH.
Regards --
---
Katherine Griffis-Greenberg, MA (Lon)
Member, International Association of Egyptologists
American Research Center in Egypt, SSEA, ASOR
Oriental Institute
Oriental Studies Doctoral Program [Egyptology]
University of Oxford
Oxford, United Kingdom
http://www.griffis-consulting.com