The Atef Crown- Ancient Egypt-Photos

The earliest depiction of the Atef Crown dates to the reign of Sahure (5th Dynasty). It consists of a central element, similar in shape to the White Crown, which is woven from plant stems and flanked by two ostrich feathers. Generally worn on top of a wig adorned with the simple circlet and horns, it may, from the New Kingdom onward, also have disks and uraei. The meaning of the word atef, which occurs from the Coffin Texts on, is disputed. It may mean "his might" or "his terror", but scholars are not sure of even this. The crown is associated particularly with the gods Osiris and Heryshef, the latter embodying the united gods Re and Osiris, the rulers of the sky and netherworld, day and night. According to chapter 175 of the Book of Going Forth by Day (the Book of the Dead), it is bestowed by the sun god. The atef can also be worn by Horus and Re in their various forms. From the time of Tuthmosis III on, the ished-fruit, from the mythic tree that stands on the horizon at sunrise, can replace the solar disk normally surmounting the atef. This symbolism of solar renewal, and related fertility, appears to complement that of the nemes headdress. The triple atef, Egyptian hmhm (The Roaring One), occurs first under Akhenaten and may have replaced the traditional atef during the Amarna period. Common in representations of the solar child emerging from the lotus flower in the morning, it may identify the king with the sun god at sunrise.