Werethekau
Egyptian · deity · new kingdom · deity
Werethekau is the reason a crown works. Egyptian kingship is not merely symbolised by the regalia; the regalia are charged, and the charge is a goddess — 'great of magic', the cobra at the brow who is both an ornament and a weapon. She turns up at coronations, nursing the king, and on funerary equipment. Her name is also used as an epithet of several other goddesses, which is the usual Egyptian ambiguity: a quality strong enough to be a god in its own right can also be predicated of any god who has enough of it.
Domains
- magic
- kingship
Relations
- counterpart of: Heka
Sources
- Reference treatments of Werethekau, her name, her crown-magic and her royal role.