Uraeus (Rearing Cobra) (1307–1196 BCE): Art, History and Details

Uraeus (Rearing Cobra) (1307–1196 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Made from a silver-copper alloy, this rearing cobra likely served as a uraeus, symbolizing royal or divine power in ancient Egypt. Its lowermost portion likely fit into the top of the head of a large sculpture, while its body and tail seem cut short, perhaps making room for a solar disk to rise up behind. The eyes are inlaid, and six cavities for additional inlay remain on the expanded hood, the lowermost still intact, the others likely once filled with brightly colored blue and red stone. Much of the remaining surface may once have been gilded, to judge from remaining traces of gold on the back.

Object facts

• Title: Uraeus (Rearing Cobra)
• Date: 1307–1196 BCE
• Culture: Egypt, New Kingdom (1540–1069 BCE), Dynasty 19
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: Silver-copper alloy with inlays (copper, feldspar, turquoise, obsidian?) and gilding
• Dimensions: height: 14.9 cm (5 7/8 in.)
• Collection: Egypt - New Kingdom
• Department: Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art
• Accession number: 2023.102

A detail from the museum

The word uraeus comes from an Egyptian term for “rising/rearing up,” describing the cobra’s position.

Collection credit

Gift of Barbara S. Robinson and Family

Further reading listed by the museum

• Kozloff, Arielle P. Animals in Ancient Art from the Leo Mildenberg Collection. 1981.
• Page-Gasser, Madeleine, and André Wiese. Égypte: moments d'éternité : art égyptien dans les collections privées, Suisse. 1997.
• Page-Gasser, Madeleine, and André Wiese. Ägypten: Augenblicke der Ewigkeit : unbekannte Schätze aus schweizer Privatbesitz. Mainz: P. von Zabern, 1997.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.