Domains & Iconography
Domains: Lower Egypt, protection
Iconography: cobra, uraeus
Uraeus & Fiery Defense
Wadjet, the cobra of Buto, manifests as the uraeus on the king’s brow: a living fire that spits at enemies. In scenes of audience and battle alike, the uraeus fends off chaos with heat and venom—an Egyptian image of immediate, active sovereignty. As one of the Two Ladies, Wadjet pairs with Nekhbet to bind Lower and Upper Egypt into a single, sheltered kingship.
Cult & Buto (Pe/Dep)
Her Delta home is Buto (Pe/Dep), an ancient center whose marshes and waterways nurtured a robust tutelary identity. Archaeological traces and later texts link crowns, palatial façades, and temple lintels to Wadjet’s watch; her image proclaims protection at thresholds where order meets the crowd.
Iconography
A rearing cobra encircling the sun disc, perched on the king’s forehead; on walls and pectorals she accompanies Nekhbet. Standards and scepters sometimes bear her likeness; amulets of the uraeus—coiled, hooded—circulated as personal claims on the palace’s fiery guardianship.
Legacy
Wadjet’s simple curve—a snake ready to strike—endured as Egypt’s emblem of alert, sovereign care. Museum crowns, pectorals, and façade blocks preserve the glow of her fearsome mercy.