khepresh

{{Short description|Egyptian royal headdress}}

{{distinguish|Khopesh}}

{{Infobox crown

|name=Khepresh

|color=#0042AC

|image=Blue crown.svg

|caption=Khepresh, the blue crown of Egypt

|nation=Ancient Egypt

}}

The khepresh (ḫprš) was an ancient Egyptian royal headdress. It is also known as the blue crown or war crown. New Kingdom pharaohs are often depicted wearing it in battle, but it was also frequently worn in ceremonies.e.g. Myśliwiec, Karol, Eros on the Nile, Cornell University Press 2004, p.14 While it was once called the war crown by many, modern historians refrain from characterizing it thus.Kuhrt, Amélie, The Ancient Near East: C.3000–330 B.C., Taylor & Francis 1995, p.190

No original example of a khepresh has yet been found. Based on ancient artistic representations, some Egyptologists have speculated that the khepresh was made of leather or stiffened clothMaisels, Charles Keith, Early Civilizations of the Old World, Routledge 2001, p.60 covered with a precise arrangement of hundreds of sequins, discs, bosses, or rings. Given that the deshret (red crown) and hedjet (white crown) were apparently woven of some sort of plant fiber, the circles or rings decorating ancient artistic representations of the khepresh may instead indicate the regular array of hexagonal holes in an open triaxial weave. As with many other royal crowns, a uraeus (cobra) was hooked to the front of the khepresh.

History

{{Hiero|Blue Crown
"War Crown"|S7|align=right|era=egypt}}

The Blue Crown, or War Crown, was represented in hieroglyphs.

=Second Intermediate Period=

File:Pharaoh with Blue crown.svg

The earliest known mention of the khepresh is on the stela Cairo JE 59635 [CG 20799] which dates to the reign of pharaoh Neferhotep III, during the Second Intermediate Period.Edwards, Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen; Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond, Cyril John Gadd, The Cambridge Ancient History, Cambridge University Press 1975, p.51 In this and other examples from the same era, the word is written with a determinative that represents the cap crown, a lower and less elaborate type of crown.

The earliest known depiction of the khepresh is on the stela Cairo CG 20517 which dates to the reign of Snaaib, during the Second Intermediate Period. The stela shows him wearing the Khepresh crown and adoring the god MinCairo, Egyptian Museum CG 20517{{cite journal|last=Salem|first=Leila|date=30 October 2020|title=La estela CG 20517 del rey Senaaib: un estudio de los problemas para su interpretación|trans-title=King Senaaib's CG 20517 stela: A study of the problems for its interpretation|journal=Arqueología|language=es-MX|volume=26|issue=3|pages=43–62|doi=10.34096/arqueologia.t26.n3.8451|issn=1853-8126|doi-access=free|url=http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/bitstream/handle/10915/119622/Documento_completo.pdf?sequence=1}}

=New Kingdom=

During the New Kingdom, pharaohs were shown with this crown in military circumstances. However, some scholars think that the crown was also meant to evoke the divine power of the pharaoh, and was thereby worn to religiously situate kings as manifestations of gods on earth.Bryan, Betsy. "A 'New' Statue of Amenhotep III and the Meaning of the Khepresh Crown." The Archaeology and Art of Ancient Egypt: Studies in Honor of David O'Connor, ed. Z. Hawass and J. Richards. Cairo, 2007, p. 156-8.

Images of the khepresh from the reign of Ahmose I, first king of the Eighteenth Dynasty, show a headdress that is taller than the cap crown and more angular than later forms of the khepresh. This crown continued to evolve during the early Eighteenth Dynasty, attaining its best-known form in the reigns of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III.Davies, W. V., "

The Origin of the Blue Crown", The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, volume 68 (1982), pp. 69–74 After Amenhotep III's reign – and particularly during the 18th and 19th Dynasties – it came into fashion and was even adopted by some pharaohs as a primary crown.Bard, Katheryn A., Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, Routledge 1999, p.412

=After the New Kingdom=

The crown was not seen depicted in the Kushite Dynasty (747 to 656 BCE).Shaw, Ian, The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, Oxford University Press 2003, p.348 However, depictions of the crowns returned in the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt (664 to 525 BCE). Some of the Ptolemaic and early Roman pharaohs are also depicted wearing it.

Gallery

Snaaib.jpg|Snaaib

Pharaoh Ahmose I slaying a Hyksos (axe of Ahmose I, from the Treasure of Queen Aahhotep II) Colorized per source.jpg|Ahmose I

P1200400 Louvre un roi E16277 rwk.jpg|Amenhotep I

Hatshepsut Relife.jpg|Hatshepsut

Ancient Egypt Limestone Bas-Relief (28127212370).jpg|Thutmose III

Egyptian - Statue Head of King Amenhotep II with the "Blue Crown" - Walters 22229.jpg|Amenhotep II

Thutmosis IV Head.jpg|Thutmose IV

Egypt, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep III - Head of Amenhotep III Wearing the Blue Crown - 1952.513 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif|Amenhotep III

File:Head of the statue of an Amarna king (Akhenaten?) with khepresh crown and uraeus, painted limestone - Museo Egizio Turin C 1398 p04.jpg|Akhenaten

Akhenaten with blue crown.jpg|Akhenaten with blue paint on the khepresh crown

Akenatón Berlín 05.JPG|Wooden standing statue of Akhenaten. Currently in the Egyptian Museum of Berlin.

Egypte louvre 173.jpg|Akhenaten and Nefertiti statuette

Head of Tutankhamun MET DT546.jpg|Tutankhamun

Tutanhkamun Shabti.jpg|Tutankhamun ushabti

Opening of the Mouth - Tutankhamun and Aja-2.jpg|Ay.

-1316-1302 Haremhab Opfer anagoria.JPG|Horemheb

Luxor temple9 c.jpg|Horemheb relief

Tut-tuxure 407.jpg|This relief shows Tutankhamun (usurped by Horemheb) wearing the khepresh crown. Luxor Temple.

Nuovo regno, xix dinastia, testa di sethi I, 1290-1279 ac ca, forse da grottaferrata.jpg|Seti I

Abydos Sethi et Ramses.jpg|Relief of the Abydos King List showing Seti I and his son Ramesses II on the way to make an offering. Seti is seen wearing the Khepresh while Ramesses is depicted as a prince holding censers.

Statue of Ramses II from Karnak, granodiorite - C 1380 Museo Egizio (Turin) 09.jpg|Ramesses II

Abydos Tempelrelief Ramses II. 15.JPG|Fragment of a painted relief of Ramesses II wearing the Khepresh while being accompanied by Horus

Egyptian - The Head of a Statue of Amenhotep III, Re-Carved for Ramesses II - Walters 22107 - Three Quarter Right.jpg|This statue shows Amenhotep III (recarved as Ramesses II) wearing the khepresh crown. Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.

Merneptah Stele 2022 09.jpg|Merneptah

Seti-II-StatueHead MetropolitanMuseum.png|Amenmesse

Weihrauchopfer RamsesIII aus KV11.jpg|Ramesses III

Artist's Sketch of Ramesses IV MET 30.8.234 front.jpg|Ramesses IV

Egypte louvre 129 ramses6.jpg|Ramesses VI

Satirical papyrus with the god Thoth and some baboons on the verso and religious text with the cartouches of Ramesses VII on the recto - Museo Egizio Turin C 2059 65 2059 64 p02.jpg|Ramesses VII (left)

Ramses IX Karnak.jpg|Ramesses IX

RamsesXCrop.jpg|Ramesses X

Ostracon03-RamessidePeriod MetropolitanMuseum.png|Ramesses XI

Relief Siamun Petrie.jpg|Siamun

Xxvi dinastia, testa reale di forse di psammetrico I.jpg|Psamtik I

Tête du pharaon Psammetique II.jpg|Psamtik II

Apries.jpg|Apries

Achoris or Nectanebo I statuette, Egype, Late Period, 29th to 30th Dynasty, 393-362 BCE - Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art - DSC08142.JPG|Hakor

Nectanebo I with khepresh crown.jpg|Nectanebo I

NectaneboII-StatueHead MuseumOfFineArtsBoston.png|Nectanebo II

Flickr - schmuela - IMG 7349.jpg|Alexander the Great (left)

Roemer-Pelizaeus-Museum 2018-09-20zo.jpg|Ptolemy I (right)

Head of a royal statue (Ptolemy II ?), quartzite - Museo Egizio Turin C 1396 p01.jpg|Ptolemy II

Head of Ptolemy II or III MET EG66.99.134.jpeg|Ptolemy III

Ptolemaic Temple Reliefs at Deir el-Medina (XI).jpg|Ptolemy IV

Temple of Philae - Aswan - Egypt (4058080403).jpg|Ptolemy VI

Agilkia Hathortempel 10.JPG|Ptolemy VIII (far right)

Ptolemy XII Dionisos.jpg|Ptolemy XII

Cesarion waving sistrums-MBA Lyon E501-IMG 0062-IMG 0065.jpg|Ptolemy XV (Caesarion)

Augustus-in-Kalabsha.jpg|Augustus

KomOmbo 2004-12.jpg|Tiberius

DenderaHathorTempleComplexQenaEgypt548-2007feb10 CsorfolyDaniel c.jpg|Nero (right)

DeirHagarLeftDoorPost.jpg|Titus (left)

Dendera Römisches Mammisi 23.JPG|Trajan (right)

See also

{{Commons category|Khepresh}}

  • Atef – Crown with feathers identified with Osiris
  • Deshret – Red Crown of Lower Egypt
  • Hedjet – White Crown of Upper Egypt
  • Nemes - striped head-dress of pharaohs
  • Pschent – Double Crown of Lower & Upper Egypt

References