Meanings
- the Egyptian goddesses Wadjet and Nekhbet
The Two Ladies painted on a coffin: On the left Nekhbet as a vulture wearing the White Crown; on the right Wadjyt as a cobra wearing the Red Crown.
1999, Geraldine Harris, Delia Pemberton, Illustrated Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt2 more examples
In this case, the label attests to the existence of the Two Ladies, and their close connection with the kingship, from the very beginning of the First Dynasty; but it does not prove the existence of the Two Ladies’ title at this stage, nor does it have any bearing on the identification of the semi-legendary king Menes.
2002, Toby A.H. Wilkinson, Early Dynastic EgyptThe idea of the dual kingship of Upper and Lower Egypt is shifted from Horus and Seth to the Two Ladies, written (nbty), a clear reference to the vulture goddess Nekhbet of Upper Egypt and the cobra goddess Wadjet of Lower Egypt. [...] This sets up a paradigm of complemetarity between the king, ruler of the Black Land, and the queen, who is a manifestation of the Two Ladies as the Two Lands.
2008, Christiane Ziegler, Queens of Egypt: From Hetepheres to Cleopatra, pages 154, 156
Origin
- Egyptiannbtj
- EnglishTwo Ladies
Calque of Egyptian nbtj, from the dual of nbt (“mistress, lady”).
More words from Egyptian
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Two Ladies. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Two%20Ladies
“Two Ladies.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Two%20Ladies. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Two Ladies,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Two%20Ladies.
Source: Two Ladies on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.