What is the name of the vulture-shaped crown worn by Egyptian queens?

The vulture crown is the vulture-shaped headdress worn by Egyptian queens, high-ranking priestesses, and some female pharaohs.

The crown represented the protective vulture goddess Nekhbet, whose chief cult center was at Nekheb in Upper Egypt. A vulture’s outspread wings were shown draped around the wearer’s head, creating a distinctive form unlike the tall Atef crown or the upright cobra uraeus. The vulture’s association with motherhood also strengthened its connection with queenship.

The headdress first appeared in depictions of goddesses, but queens began wearing it regularly from the Fifth Dynasty onward. Khentkaus II is among the early royal women associated with the vulture headdress. In the New Kingdom, the vulture’s head was increasingly replaced or supplemented by a uraeus, linking the crown with Wadjet and the protection of Lower Egypt.

The crown could be combined with other royal regalia, including a sun disk, plumes, or uraei. Nefertari, wife of Ramesses II, is frequently shown wearing a vulture crown in her tomb at the Valley of the Queens.