Crowns of Egypt

The Egyptian civilization used a number of different crowns throughout its existence. Some were used to show authority, while others were used for religious ceremonies. Each crown was worn by different pharaohs or deities, and each crown had its own significance and symbolic meaning. The crowns include the Atef, the Deshret, the Hedjet, the Pschent, and the Hemhem.

Atef, the crown of Osiris, is a combination of Upper Egypt’s white crown, the hedjet, and ostrich feathers on either side. It also often has a golden disc at its tip. The ostrich feathers, similar to those representing ma’at, symbolize truth, justice, morality, and balance. They represent the cult center of Orisis as well, which is located in Busiris. Atef is typically worn atop a pair of ram or bull horns as a circlet.

The Atef crown is seen as far back as the 5th dynasty. According to Egyptian beliefs, this crown represents Osiris as the god of fertility, ruler of the Afterlife, and a representative of the cycle of death and rebirth. Later on, though, it came to be worn by other pharaohs because of the belief that they’d become a form of Osiris after their death. In their tombs, the pharaohs would have themselves depicted as Osiris by wearing his crown. During Middle Kingdom Egypt, even regular citizens could have Osiris’s crown because Osiris had become the judge of the deceased. It was also worn during religious rituals.

The Crown of Lower Egypt, also known as Deshret, is a red bowl shaped crown with a small protruding wire. It is typically associated with the rulers and pharaohs of Lower Egypt. The word Deshret is also the name for the arid land surrounding the Nile River area.

The red color of the crown is symbolic of the “red land”, arid desert land that surrounded the fertile “black land” of Kemet. The small protruding wire of the crown is symbolic of the proboscis, or stinger, of the honey bee. The crown was likely made out of organic materials like cloth or reeds, and was passed down from king to king instead of being buried with each king. This explains why we have found no existing physical Deshret.

Representations of Deshret can be seen as early as the late Naqada I period, around 3500 BCE. In these early predynastic times, it is believed that the crown was worn in association with the god Seth, and it wasn't until the formation of the first dynasties, around 3000 BCE, that it became symbolic of rule over Lower Egypt.

...
Wikipedia