Editing Wadjet (section)

== Appearance ==
[[File:Tomb_of_Nefertari_2022_57.jpg|thumb|Wadjet in the form of a winged cobra, depicted in the [[Tomb of Nefertari]], above Anubis (Jackal-like).]]The Egyptian word ''wꜣḏ'' signifies blue and green. It is also the name for the well-known "Eye of the Moon".<ref>''Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache'' 1, 268.13</ref> Wadjet was usually depicted as an [[Egyptian cobra]], a venomous snake common to the region. In later times, she was often depicted simply as a woman with a snake's head, a woman wearing the uraeus, or a lion headed goddess often wearing the uraeus. The uraeus originally had been her body alone, which wrapped around or was coiled upon the head of the [[pharaoh]] or another deity.<ref name="Bianchi-2022" /> In her snake form, she was depicted as striking and biting those who try to harm the King, which is why she is featured as a protective symbol on crown emblems and amulets.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ODYSSEY/Egypt/Mythology |url=https://carlos.emory.edu/htdocs/ODYSSEY/EGYPT/Wadjet.html#:~:text=3500%20B.C.%20Wadjet's%20job%20was,animal,%20symbolizing%20royalty%20and%20sovereignty. |access-date=2024-02-29 |website=carlos.emory.edu}}</ref> Wadjet is also depicted as an Egyptian cobra with large, colorful wings. She is shown in her signature green and blue colors on the snake hood and wing feathers, but she is also shown with vibrant red and gold colors that scale down to the snake's tail.  Gold commonly represented the gods and goddesses eternal flesh, while red represented danger and fire to signify something as a threat.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Constantinescu |first=Florin-Eugen |date=2022 |title=https://www.stomaeduj.com/wp-content/uploads/BR-2-3.pdf |journal=Stomatology Edu Journal |volume=9 |issue=3–4 |pages=130 |doi=10.25241/stomaeduj.2022.9(3-4).bookreview.2 |issn=2360-2406|doi-access=free }}</ref> A decorative panel depicting Wadjet's cobras was found in the [[Maru-Aten]] Temple in a darker colored granite.  This darkened material helps historians infer that a yellow quartzite color was present, representing the color of the sun and the eternal flesh.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cobra Head from Decorative Panel (Uraeus) |url=https://carnegiemnh.org/cobra-head-from-decorative-panel-uraeus/ |access-date=2024-02-29 |website=carnegiemnh.org}}</ref>

Later Wadjet often was shown coiled upon the head of [[Ra]]; in order to act as his protector, this image of her became the uraeus symbol used on the royal crowns as well.<ref name="Bianchi-2022" />[[File:Wadjet Geneva 21102014.jpg|thumb|Wadjet, depicted as a lioness, with a rearing cobra on her crown.]]Another early depiction of Wadjet is as a cobra entwined around a papyrus stem,<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica" /> beginning in the Predynastic era (prior to 3100 B.C.) and it is thought to be the first image that shows a [[Serpent (symbolism)|snake]] entwined around a staff symbol. This is a sacred image that appeared repeatedly in the later images and myths of cultures surrounding the [[Mediterranean Sea]], called the [[caduceus]], which may have had separate origins. Her image also rears up from the staff of the "flagpoles" that are used to indicate deities, as seen in the [[hieroglyph]] for "uraeus" and for "goddess" in other places.

Similar to her sister, Nekhbet, Wadjet can also be found in the form of a vulture.<ref name="www.memphis.edu">{{Cite web |title=Structure of Ritual Scenes |url=https://www.memphis.edu/hypostyle/reliefs_inscriptions/structure-ritual-scenes.php |access-date=2024-03-17 |website=www.memphis.edu |language=en}}</ref>  It is less common to find her in this form as her cobra form is more popular in order to represent protection.  However some reliefs do depict Wadjet in her avian form hovering over the heads of kings and pharaohs.<ref name="www.memphis.edu" />

Wadjet is occasionally depicted as other animal headed beings or depicted as other animals such as a lion, mongoose, [[Ichneumonidae]]. Notably the depiction of the mongoose serves as an antithesis to that of the cobra as it is a natural predator. While the Icheumon probably serves as a depiction of Wedjat's role in seeing for Horus. Many bronze statues of Wadjet are argued to contain Icheumon remains however confirmation on this being forensic or a visual observation is unknown.<ref name="Bianchi-2022" />

When Wadjet is depicted as a lion, she is usually seated in the bronze statues that represent her.  She is in a relaxed position with her mouth closed and her arms at her side, which is very different from her other depictions as a snake rearing at enemies.  An explanation for her depiction as a lion headed goddess may stem from the goddess [[Sekhmet]] through association as a powerful or dangerous goddess.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=James |first=T.G.H. |date=1982 |title=A Wooden Figure of Wadjet with Two Painted Representations of Amasis. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3821635 |journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology |volume=68 |pages=156–165 |doi=10.2307/3821635 |jstor=3821635 }}</ref> Some historians are not sure that these bronze statues are of Wadjet, but instead of the goddess Sekhmet.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brooklyn Museum |url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/46593 |access-date=2024-02-29 |website=www.brooklynmuseum.org}}</ref>

At times she was depicted wearing the Red Crown of Lower Egypt. Wadjet was depicted many times in her cobra form alongside her Upper Egyptian counterpart Nekhbet, in her vulture form wearing the Red Crown on wall paintings or on the pharaoh's headdress.<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 July 2011 |title=Nekhbet and Wadjet |url=https://oritkaye.wordpress.com/2011/07/07/nekhbet-and-wadjet/ |access-date=2018-04-19 |website=www.touregypt.net |language=ru}}</ref>

In the relief shown in the gallery, which is on the wall of the [[Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut]] at [[Luxor]], there are two images of Wadjet: one of her as the Uraeus with her head through an [[ankh]] and another where she precedes a Horus hawk wearing the [[pschent]], representing the pharaoh whom she protects.[[File:Eye of Horus bw.svg|thumb|Eye of Horus on the left side.]]