Goddess Uraeus - Wadjet - very huge and fine - Ancient Egypt, Late Period, 664 - 332 BC Solid Bronze 7,5 cm height, 20 cm height with metal stand. Red metal stand included. PROVENANCE: - Private collection, Swiss, before 1980. - Galería Arte y Arqueología E. Barbié, Barcelona, before 2000. CONDITION: Good condition, see photos. Intact. The uraeus, the image of an upright cobra, is one of the most powerful symbols of Ancient Egypt. Associated primarily with the goddess Wadjet, the ureo represented the fiery eye of the god Ra and functioned as the guardian of the king and divine order. Wadjet, an ancient Lower Egyptian deity, was revered as the protector of the pharaoh, to whom she bestowed legitimacy and supernatural defence. Its venomous serpent form symbolised the ability to attack enemies with fire or poison, thus representing the destructive power controlled by royalty. In royal headdresses, the ureus was placed on the forehead, as an integral part of the crown. From this position, Wadjet was believed to constantly watch over and cast magical fire on the enemies of the pharaoh. In many cases, the ureo was also combined with the figure of the vulture, symbol of the goddess Nekhbet, protector of Upper Egypt, thus uniting both lands under one divine power. In addition to Wadjet, other deities such as Sekhmet or Bastet could take the form of the ureo in its more combative aspects. Thus, the ureo was not only a visual ornament, but a living manifestation of the power of the protective gods and the sacred strength of the pharaoh. The ureo, the image of an upright cobra, is one of the most powerful symbols of Ancient Egypt. Associated primarily with the goddess Wadjet, the ureo represented divine protection and royal power. In Ancient Egypt, the ureo - the stylised representation of an upright cobra - was a symbol of divine protection and royal power. During the New Kingdom period and later, bronze ureos were produced to decorate wooden figures, especially statues of gods, kings or sacred animals. These metal ureos were applied as ornaments on the foreheads of the figures, usually on headdresses or nemes, and served a symbolic function: they conferred legitimacy, divinity and magical defence against evil. Bronze, a tough and durable alloy, made it possible to create finely detailed pieces that survived the passage of time. These wooden figures with ureo ornamentation were used in temples, tombs and religious rituals. In funerary contexts, ureo acted as a protective amulet for the deceased on their journey to the afterlife. The combination of materials - organic wood and worked metal - was not only aesthetic, but also symbolic: the perishable and the eternal united in a single image of power. The bronze uraeus on wooden figures represents the Egyptian effort to capture the divine and the eternal, fusing art, religion and technology in objects of deep symbolic significance. Wadjet, an ancient Lower Egyptian deity, was revered as the protector of the pharaoh, to whom she bestowed legitimacy and supernatural defence. Its venomous serpent form symbolised the ability to attack enemies with fire or poison, thus representing the destructive power controlled by royalty. In royal headdresses, the ureus was placed on the forehead, as an integral part of the crown. From this position, Wadjet was believed to constantly watch over and cast magical fire on the enemies of the pharaoh. In many cases, the ureo was also combined with the figure of the vulture, symbol of the goddess Nekhbet, protector of Upper Egypt, thus uniting both lands under one divine power. In addition to Wadjet, other deities such as Sekhmet or Bastet could take the form of the ureo in its more combative aspects. Thus, the ureo was not only a visual ornament, but a living manifestation of the power of the protective gods and the sacred strength of the pharaoh.