1.
Pharaoh
–
The word pharaoh ultimately derive from the Egyptian compound pr-ˤ3 great house, written with the two biliteral hieroglyphs pr house and ˤ3 column, here meaning great or high. It was used only in larger phrases such as smr pr-ˤ3 Courtier of the High House, with specific reference to the buildings of the court or palace. From the twelfth dynasty onward, the word appears in a wish formula Great House, may it live, prosper, and be in health, but again only with reference to the royal palace and not the person. During the reign of Thutmose III in the New Kingdom, after the rule of the Hyksos during the Second Intermediate Period. During the eighteenth dynasty the title pharaoh was employed as a designation of the ruler. From the nineteenth dynasty onward pr-ˤ3 on its own was used as regularly as hm. f, the term, therefore, evolved from a word specifically referring to a building to a respectful designation for the ruler, particularly by the twenty-second dynasty and twenty-third dynasty. For instance, the first dated appearance of the pharaoh being attached to a rulers name occurs in Year 17 of Siamun on a fragment from the Karnak Priestly Annals. Here, an induction of an individual to the Amun priesthood is dated specifically to the reign of Pharaoh Siamun and this new practice was continued under his successor Psusennes II and the twenty-second dynasty kings. Shoshenq I was the successor of Siamun. Meanwhile, the old custom of referring to the sovereign simply as pr-ˤ3 continued in traditional Egyptian narratives, by this time, the Late Egyptian word is reconstructed to have been pronounced *par-ʕoʔ whence Herodotus derived the name of one of the Egyptian kings, Φερων. In the Bible, the title also occurs as פרעה, from that, Septuagint φαραώ pharaō and then Late Latin pharaō, both -n stem nouns. The Quran likewise spells it فرعون firawn with n, interestingly, the Arabic combines the original pharyngeal ayin sound from Egyptian, along with the -n ending from Greek. English at first spelt it Pharao, but the King James Bible revived Pharaoh with h from the Hebrew, meanwhile in Egypt itself, *par-ʕoʔ evolved into Sahidic Coptic ⲡⲣ̅ⲣⲟ prro and then rro. Scepters and staves were a sign of authority in ancient Egypt. One of the earliest royal scepters was discovered in the tomb of Khasekhemwy in Abydos, kings were also known to carry a staff, and Pharaoh Anedjib is shown on stone vessels carrying a so-called mks-staff. The scepter with the longest history seems to be the heqa-scepter, the earliest examples of this piece of regalia dates to pre-dynastic times. A scepter was found in a tomb at Abydos that dates to the late Naqada period, another scepter associated with the king is the was-scepter. This is a long staff mounted with an animal head, the earliest known depictions of the was-scepter date to the first dynasty
Pharaoh
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Den
Pharaoh
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Narmer Palette
Pharaoh
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Nomen and prenomen of
Ramesses III
Pharaoh
–
Royal titulary
2.
Egyptian chronology
–
The majority of Egyptologists agree on the outline and many details of the chronology of Ancient Egypt. Scholarly consensus on the outline of the conventional chronology current in Egyptology has not fluctuated much over the last 100 years. For the Old Kingdom, consensus fluctuates by as much as a few centuries and this is illustrated by comparing the chronology as given by two Egyptologists, the first writing in 1906, the second in 2000. The disparities between the two sets of result from additional discoveries and refined understanding of the still very incomplete source evidence. For example, Breasted adds a ruler in the Twentieth dynasty that further research showed did not exist, following Manetho, Breasted also believed all the dynasties were sequential, whereas it is now known that several existed at the same time. These revisions have resulted in a lowering of the chronology by up to 400 years at the beginning of Dynasty I. The backbone of Egyptian chronology are the years as recorded in Ancient Egyptian king lists. In addition, some Egyptian dynasties may have overlapped, with different pharaohs ruling in different regions at the same time, not knowing whether monarchies were simultaneous or sequential results in widely differing chronological interpretations. However, further research has shown that these censuses were taken in consecutive years. The sed festival was celebrated on the thirtieth anniversary of the Pharaohs ascension. However, once again, this may not be the practice in all cases. In the early days of Egyptology, the compilation of regnal periods may also have been hampered due to bias on the part of the Egyptologists. This was most pervasive before the mid 19th century, when Manethos figures were recognized as conflicting with biblical chronology based on Old Testament references to Egypt, in the 20th century, such biblical bias has mostly been confined to alternative chronologies outside of scholarly mainstream. A useful way to work around these gaps in knowledge is to find chronological synchronisms, over the past decades, a number of these have been found, although they are of varying degrees of usefulness and reliability. While this does not fix a person or event to a specific year, another example are blocks from the Old Kingdom bearing the names of several kings, which were reused in the construction of Middle Kingdom pyramid-temples at Lisht in the structures of Amenemhat I. The poor documentation of these finds in the Serapeum also compounds the difficulties in using these records. The best known of these is the Sothic cycle, and careful study of this led Richard A. Parker to argue that the dates of the Twelfth dynasty could be fixed with absolute precision. More recent research has eroded this confidence, questioning many of the assumptions used with the Sothic Cycle and this is useful especially for the Early Dynastic period, where Egyptological consensus has only been possible within a range of about three or four centuries
Egyptian chronology
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Astronomical ceiling from the tomb of
Seti I showing stars and constellations used in calendar calculations
Egyptian chronology
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'Diagonal star table' from the
11th Dynasty coffin lid; found at
Asyut, Egypt.
Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum Hildesheim
3.
Djer
–
Djer is considered the third pharaoh of the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt in current Egyptology. He lived around the mid-thirty-first century BC and reigned for c.40 years, a mummified forearm of Djer or his wife was discovered by Flinders Petrie, but was discarded by Emile Brugsch. The Abydos King List lists the third pharaoh as Iti, the Turin Canon lists a damaged name, beginning with It. Wilkinson notes that years 1-10 of Djers reign are preserved in register II of the Palermo Stone, Djers reign was preceded by a regency controlled by Neithhotep, possibly his mother or grandmother. An ivory tablet from Abydos mentions that Djer visited Buto and Sais in the Nile Delta, one of his regnal years on the Cairo Stone was named Year of smiting the land of Setjet, which often is speculated to be Sinai or beyond. Manetho claimed that Athothes, who is identified as Djer, had written a treatise on anatomy that still existed in his own day. Djer was a son of the pharaoh Hor-Aha and his wife Khenthap, Djer fathered Merneith, wife of Djet and mother of Den. These women are thought to be the wives of Djer and include, Nakhtneith, buried in Abydos, Herneith, possibly a wife of Djer. Seshemetka, buried in Abydos next to the king and she was said to be a wife of Den in Dodson and Hilton. Penebui, her name and title were found on a label from Saqqara. Bsu, known from a label in Saqqara and several stone vessels, similarly to his father Hor-Aha, Djer was buried in Umm el-Qaab at Abydos. Djers tomb is tomb O of Petrie and his tomb contains the remains of 318 retainers who were buried with him. Several objects were found in and around the tomb of Djer, A stela of Djer, labels mentioning the name of a palace and the name of Meritneith. Fragments of two inscribed with the name of Queen Neithhotep. Bracelets of a Queen were found in the wall of the tomb, in the subsidiary tombs excavators found, Stelae of several individuals Ivory objects with the name of Neithhotep. Manetho indicates that the First Dynasty ruled from Memphis – and indeed Herneith, one of Djers wives, was buried nearby at Saqqara
Djer
–
Djer
Djer
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Iti, cartouche name of Djer in the
Abydos king list.
Djer
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Stone vase bearing the serekh of Djer,
National Archaeological Museum (France).
Djer
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Small ivory label of Djer mentioning the name of a fortress or domain of the king "Hor-Djer-ib".
4.
Merneith
–
Merneith was a consort and a regent of Ancient Egypt during the first dynasty. Her rule occurred during the thirtieth century B. C. for an undetermined period, Merneith’s name means Beloved by Neith and her stela contains symbols of that deity. She may have been Djers daughter, and was probably Djets senior royal wife, the former meant that she would have been the great-granddaughter of unified Egypts first Pharaoh, Narmer. She was also the mother of Den, her successor, Merneith is linked in a variety of seal impressions and inscribed bowls with the kings Djer, Djet and Den. Merneith may have been the daughter of Djer, but there is no conclusive evidence, as the mother of Den, it is likely that Merneith was the wife of Djet. No information about the identity of her mother has been found, a clay seal found in the tomb of her son, Den, was engraved with Kings Mother, Merneith. It also is known that Den’s father was Djet, making it thus likely, Merneith is believed to have become ruler upon the death of Djet. The title she held, however, is debated and it is possible that her son Den was too young to rule when Djet died, so she may have ruled as regent until Den was old enough to be the king in his own right. Before her, Neithhotep is believed to have ruled in the way after her husband King Narmer died. Her name was written on a Naqada seal inside a serekh and this would mean Merneith may have actually been the second female in Egypts first dynasty to have ruled as pharaoh. The strongest evidence that Merneith was a ruler of Egypt is her tomb and this tomb in Abydos is unique among the otherwise exclusively male tombs. Merneith was buried close to Djet and Den and her tomb is of the same scale as the tombs of the kings of that period. Two grave stelae bearing her name were discovered near her tomb, Merneiths name is not included in the king lists from the New Kingdom. A seal containing a list of pharaohs of the first dynasty was found in the tomb of Qaa, however, this list does not mention the reign of Merneith. A few other pieces of evidence exist elsewhere about Merneith, Merneith’s name appears on a found in the tomb of her son. The seal includes Merneith on a list of the first dynasty kings, Merneiths name was the only name of a woman included on the list. All of the names on the list are the Horus names of the kings, however, Merneiths name is accompanied by the title Kings Mother. Merneith’s name may have included on the Palermo Stone
Merneith
–
Tomb stela of Merneith from the
Umm el-Qa'ab.
Merneith
–
Segment of King list from tomb of Den at Saqqara, Merneith is mentioned twice as King's Mother Merneith (mwt-nsw mr nt)
5.
Den (pharaoh)
–
Den, also known as Hor-Den, Dewen and Udimu, is the Horus name of a pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period who ruled during the First Dynasty of Egypt. He is the best archaeologically-attested ruler of this period, Den is said to have brought prosperity to his realm and numerous innovations are attributed to his reign. He was the first to use the title King of Lower and Upper Egypt, the floor of his tomb at Umm el-Qaab near Abydos is made of red and black granite, the first time in Egypt this hard stone was used as a building material. During his long reign he established many of the patterns of court ritual and royalty used by later rulers, egyptologists and historians generally believe that Den had a reign of 42 years, based on inscriptions on the Palermo Stone. Dens serekh name is attested on earthen seal impressions, on ivory labels and in inscriptions on vessels made of schist, diorite. The artifacts were found at Abydos, Sakkara and Abu Rawash, Dens name is also attested in later documents. For example, the Medical Papyrus of Berlin discusses several methods of treatment, some of these methods are said to originate from the reign of Den, but this statement may merely be trying to make the medical advice sound traditional and authoritative. Similarly, Den is mentioned in the Papyrus of Ani in chapter 64, Dens serekh name was Den or Dewen, most likely meaning he who brings the water. This is consistent with his name, which was “Khasty”. This is in accord with the introduction of the Nisut-Bity-title by Den and this royal title was designed to legitimise the ruler´s power over the whole of Egypt. Dens family has been the subject of significant research and his mother was queen Merneith, this conclusion is supported by contemporary seal impressions and by the inscription on the Palermo Stone. Dens wives were the queens Semat, Nakht-Neith and, possibly and he also had numerous sons and daughters, his possible successors could have been king Anedjib and king Semerkhet. Dens Royal Household is also well researched, subsidiary tombs and palatial mastabas at Sakkara belonged to high officials such as Ipka, Ankh-ka, Hemaka, Nebitka, Amka, Iny-ka and Ka-Za. In a subsidiary tomb at Dens necropolis, the stela of a dwarf named Ser-Inpu was found. The birth name of Den was misread in Ramesside times, the Abydos King List has “Sepatju” written with two symbols for “district”. This derives from the two desert symbols Den originally had used, the Turin King List refers to “Qenentj”, which is quite difficult to translate. The origin of the hieroglyphs used the Royal Canon of Turin remains unknown, the Saqqara Tablet mysteriously omits Den completely. According to archaeological records, at the beginning of his reign
Den (pharaoh)
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“MacGregor-Label” from Den's tomb in Abydos, EA 55586
Den (pharaoh)
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Sepati, cartouche name of Den in the
Abydos king list.
Den (pharaoh)
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Fragment of an ivory label showing pharaoh Den wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. Discovered in the tomb of Den, now in the
Egyptian Museum.
Den (pharaoh)
6.
Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
–
The royal titulary or royal protocol of an Egyptian pharaoh is the standard naming convention taken by the kings of Ancient Egypt. It symbolises worldly power and holy might and also acts as a sort of mission statement for the reign of a monarch. The full titulary, consisting of five names, did not come into standard usage until the Middle Kingdom, the Horus name is the oldest form of the pharaohs name, originating in the Predynastic Period. Many of the oldest-known Egyptian pharaohs were known only by this title, the Horus name was usually written in a serekh, a representation of a palace façade. The name of the pharaoh was written in hieroglyphs inside this representation of a palace, typically an image of the falcon God Horus was perched on top of or beside it. At least one Egyptian ruler, the 2nd dynasty Seth-Peribsen, used an image of the god Seth instead of Horus and he was succeeded by Khasekhemwy, who placed the symbols of both Seth and Horus above his name. Thereafter, the image of Horus always appeared alongside the name of the pharaoh, by the time of the New Kingdom the Horus name was often written without the enclosing serekh. The name is first definitively used by the First Dynasty pharaoh Semerkhet and this particular name was not typically framed by a cartouche or serekh, but always begins with the hieroglyphs of a vulture and cobra resting upon two baskets, the dual noun nebty. Also known as the Golden Horus Name, this form of the name typically featured the image of a Horus falcon perched above or beside the hieroglyph for gold. The meaning of this title has been disputed. One belief is that it represents the triumph of Horus over his uncle Seth, Gold also was strongly associated in the ancient Egyptian mind with eternity, so this may have been intended to convey the pharaohs eternal Horus name. Similar to the Nebty name, this particular name typically was not framed by a cartouche or serekh, the pharaohs throne name, the first of the two names written inside a cartouche, and usually accompanied the title nsw-bity. The term nsw-bity It has been suggested that the Berber term for strong man, the epithet neb tawy, Lord of the Two Lands, referring to valley and delta regions of Egypt, often occurs as well. This was the name given at birth and it was first introduced to the set of royal titles in the Fourth Dynasty and emphasizes the kings role as a representative of the solar god Ra. For women who became pharaoh, the title was interpreted as daughter also. Modern historians typically refer to the ancient kings of Egypt by this name, Middle Egyptian, An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs. The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Cairo, London, and New York, The American University in Cairo Press and Thames and Hudson. The Great Name, Ancient Egyptian Royal Titulary, Egyptian Grammar, Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs
Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
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Serekh containing the name of
Djet and an association with
Wadjet, on display at the
Louvre
Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
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Praenomen of the
Cartouche of
Thutmose II preceded by Sedge and Bee symbols, Temple of
Hatshepsut,
Luxor
Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
–
In the
Middle Kingdom, the full titulary was sometimes written in a single cartouche, as in this example from
Senusret I, from
Beni Hasan.
Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
–
Royal titulary
7.
Turin King List
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The Turin King List, also known as the Turin Royal Canon, is an Egyptian hieratic papyrus thought to date from the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II, now in the Museo Egizio in Turin. The papyrus is the most extensive list available of kings compiled by the Egyptians, the papyrus is believed to date from the reign of Ramesses II, during the middle of the New Kingdom, or the 19th Dynasty. The beginning and ending of the list are now lost, there is no introduction, the composition may thus have occurred at any subsequent time, from the reign of Ramesses II to as late as the 20th Dynasty. The papyrus lists the names of rulers, the lengths of reigns in years, with months, in some cases they are grouped together by family, which corresponds approximately to the dynasties of Manetho’s book. The list includes the names of rulers or those ruling small territories that may be unmentioned in other sources. The list also is believed to contain kings from the 15th Dynasty, the Hyksos who ruled Lower Egypt, the Hyksos rulers do not have cartouches, and a hieroglyphic sign is added to indicate that they were foreigners, although typically on King Lists foreign rulers are not listed. The papyrus was originally a tax roll, but on its back is written a list of rulers of Egypt – including mythical kings such as gods, demi-gods, and spirits, as well as human kings. As such, the papyrus is not supposed to be biased against certain rulers and is believed to all the kings of Egypt up through at least the 19th Dynasty. The papyrus was found by the Italian traveler Bernardino Drovetti in 1820 at Luxor, Egypt and was acquired in 1824 by the Egyptian Museum in Turin, when the box in which it had been transported to Italy was unpacked, the list had disintegrated into small fragments. Jean-Francois Champollion, examining it, could recognize only some of the larger fragments containing royal names, a reconstruction of the list was created to better understand it and to aid in research. Subsequent work on the fragments was done by the Munich Egyptologist Jens Peter Lauth, in 1997, prominent Egyptologist Kim Ryholt published a new and better interpretation of the list in his book, The Political Situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period c. After another study of the papyrus, a version from Ryholt is expected. Despite attempts at reconstruction, approximately 50% of the papyrus remains missing and this papyrus as presently constituted is 1.7 m long and 0.41 m wide, broken into over 160 fragments. In 2009, previously unpublished fragments were discovered in the room of the Egyptian Museum of Turin, in good condition. A new edition of the papyrus is expected, the papyrus is divided into eleven columns, distributed as follows. The names and positions of several kings are still being disputed, List of lists of ancient kings List of pharaohs Palermo stone Alan Gardiner, editor. “Some remarks on Helcks Anmerkungen zum Turiner Konigspapyrus‘. “ Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 81, “The Date of the End of the Old Kingdom of Egypt. ”Journal of Near Eastern Studies 21, no. “A Genealogical Chronology of the Seventeenth Dynasty. ”Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 39, george Adam Smith, Chaldean Account of Genesis p290 Contains a different translation of the Turin Papyrus in a chart about dynasty of gods
Turin King List
–
Drawing of the The Turin King list
8.
Greek language
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Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
Greek language
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Idealized portrayal of
Homer
Greek language
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regions where Greek is the official language
Greek language
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Greek language road sign, A27 Motorway, Greece
9.
Anedjib
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Anedjib, more correctly Adjib and also known as Hor-Anedjib, Hor-Adjib and Enezib, is the Horus name of an early Egyptian king who ruled during the 1st dynasty. The Egyptian historian Manetho named him Miebîdós and credited him with a reign of 26 years, egyptologists and historians now consider both records to be exaggerations and generally credit Adjib with a reign of 8–10 years. Adjib is well attested in archaeological records and his name appears in inscriptions on vessels made of schist, alabaster, breccia and marble. His name is preserved on ivory tags and earthen jar seals. Objects bearing Adjibs name and titles come from Abydos and Sakkara, Adjibs family has only partially been investigated. His parents are unknown, but it is thought that his predecessor, king Den, Adjib was possibly married to a woman named Betrest. On the Palermo Stone she is described as the mother of Adjibs successor, definite evidence for that view has not yet been found. It would be expected that Adjib had sons and daughters, a candidate for being a possible member of his family line is Semerkhet. It means The two lords and refers to the state patrons Horus and Seth. It also symbolically points to Lower- and Upper Egypt, Adjib is thought to have legitimised his role as Egyptian king with the use of this title. Clay seal impressions record the foundation of the new royal fortress Hor nebw-khet, Stone vessel inscriptions show that during Adjibs reign an unusually large number of cult statues were made for the king. At least six objects show the depicting of standing statues representing the king with his royal insignia, but recent investigations suggest that every object showing the Hebsed and Adjibs name together were removed from king Dens tomb. It would seem that Adjib had simply erased and replaced Dens name with his own and this is seen by egyptologists and historians as evidence that Adjib never celebrated a Hebsed and thus his reign was relatively short. Egyptologists such as Nicolas Grimal and Wolfgang Helck assume that Adjib, as Dens son and rightful heir to the throne, Helck additionally points to an unusual feature, All Hebsed pictures of Adjib show the notation Qesen written on the stairways of the Hebsed pavilion. Possibly the end of Adjibs reign was a violent one, Adjibs burial site was excavated at Abydos and is known as Tomb X. It measures 16.4 x 9.0 metres and is the smallest of all royal tombs in this area, Adjibs tomb has its entrance at the eastern side and a staircase leads down inside. The burial chamber is surrounded by 64 subsidiary tombs and simply divided by a wall into two rooms. Until the end of the 1st dynasty, it would seem to have been a tradition that the family and court of the king committed suicide and were then buried alongside the ruler in his necropolis
Anedjib
–
Pharaoh Anedjib on a stone bowl fragment
Anedjib
–
Cartouche name Merbiape from the
Abydos King List
Anedjib
–
Seal impression of king Anedjib
Anedjib
–
Stone vessel fragment bearing Anedjib
serekh.
10.
Palermo Stone
–
The Palermo Stone is one of seven surviving fragments of a stele known as the Royal Annals of the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. The stele contained a list of the kings of Egypt from the First Dynasty through to the part of the Fifth Dynasty. It was probably made during the Fifth dynasty, the Palermo Stone is held in the Regional Archeological Museum Antonio Salinas in the city of Palermo, Italy, from which it derives its name. The term Palermo Stone is sometimes applied to all seven surviving fragments of the Royal Annals, including held in museums in Cairo. The fragments are also sometimes described collectively as the Cairo Annals Stone, the Royal Annals stele, of which the Palermo Stone formed part, may originally have been about 60 cm high and 2. 1m wide. The fragments are composed of a hard black stone, probably a form of basalt. The Palermo Stone itself is an irregular shield-shaped fragment,43.5 cm high,25 cm wide and 6.5 cm thick, the inscription on the front of the Palermo Stone consists of 6 horizontal bands or registers of hieroglyphic text running right to left. The first register lists the names of kings of Lower Egypt. The second register on the Palermo Stone begins with the final year entries for a king of the First Dynasty whose name is not preserved, but who is generally assumed to be either Narmer or Aha. The rest of the register is taken up with the first nine annual entries for this kings successor, who is again not named on the fragment. The remainder of the inscription on this continues with royal annals down to the kings of the Fourth Dynasty. The text continues on the back of the Palermo Stone, cataloguing events during the reigns of pharaohs down to Neferirkare Kakai, from the surviving fragments it is unclear whether the Royal Annals originally continued beyond this point in time. Where a king is named, the name of his mother is also recorded, such as Betrest mother of the First Dynasty king Semerkhet and Meresankh I mother of the Fourth Dynasty king Seneferu. Information recorded in the Royal Annals includes measurements of the height of the annual Nile flood, the Inundation, details of festivals, taxation, sculpture, buildings, the original location of the stele is unknown and none of the surviving fragments have a secure archeological provenance. One fragment now in Cairo is said to have found at an archaeological site at Memphis. No find site for the Palermo Stone itself has been suggested, the Palermo Stone was purchased by a Sicilian lawyer, Ferdinand Guidano, in 1859 and it has been in Palermo since 1866. On 19 October 1877, it was presented to the Palermo Archaeological Museum by the Guidano family, there are five fragments of the Royal Annals in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, four of which were acquired between 1895 and 1914. The fifth was purchased on the market in 1963
Palermo Stone
–
The Palermo Stone, the fragment of the Egyptian Royal Annals housed in Palermo, Italy.
11.
Saqqara
–
Saqqara, also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English /səˈkɑːrə/, is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, serving as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. Saqqara features numerous pyramids, including the world-famous Step pyramid of Djoser, sometimes referred to as the Step Tomb due to its rectangular base, located some 30 km south of modern-day Cairo, Saqqara covers an area of around 7 by 1.5 km. At Saqqara, the oldest complete stone building known in history was built, Djosers step pyramid. Another 16 Egyptian kings built pyramids at Saqqara, which are now in states of preservation or dilapidation. High officials added private funeral monuments to this necropolis during the pharaonic period. It remained an important complex for non-royal burials and cult ceremonies for more than 3,000 years, well into Ptolemaic, north of the area known as Saqqara lies Abusir, south lies Dahshur. The area running from Giza to Dahshur has been used as a necropolis by the inhabitants of Memphis at different times, some scholars believe that the name Saqqara is not derived from the ancient Egyptian funerary god Sokar, but from a supposed local Berber Tribe called Beni Saqqar. The earliest burials of nobles can be traced back to the First Dynasty, during this time, the royal burial ground was at Abydos. The first royal burials at Saqqara, comprising underground galleries, date to the Second Dynasty, the last Second Dynasty king Khasekhemwy was buried in his tomb at Abydos, but also built a funerary monument at Saqqara consisting of a large rectangular enclosure, known as Gisr el-Mudir. It probably inspired the monumental enclosure wall around the Step Pyramid complex, Djosers funerary complex, built by the royal architect Imhotep, further comprises a large number of dummy buildings and a secondary mastaba. French architect and Egyptologist Jean-Philippe Lauer spent the part of his life excavating and restoring Djosers funerary complex. During the second half of the Old Kingdom, under the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties, the Fifth and Sixth Dynasty pyramids are not built of massive stone, but with a core consisting of rubble. They are consequently less well preserved than the world-famous pyramids built by the Fourth Dynasty kings at Giza, Unas, the last ruler of the Fifth Dynasty, was the first king to adorn the chambers in his pyramid with Pyramid Texts. It was custom for courtiers during the Old Kingdom to be buried in mastaba tombs close to the pyramid of their king, clusters of private tombs were thus formed in Saqqara around the pyramid complexes of Unas and Teti. Few private monuments from this period have been found at Saqqara, Pyramid of king Khendjer Pyramid of an unknown king During the New Kingdom Memphis was an important administrative and military centre, being the capital after the Amaran Period. From the Eighteenth Dynasty onwards many high officials built tombs at Saqqara, when still a general, Horemheb built a large tomb here, though he was later buried as Pharaoh in the Valley of the Kings at Thebes. Other important tombs belong to the vizier Aperel, the vizier Neferrenpet, the artist Thutmose and to Maia, many monuments from earlier periods were still standing, but dilapidated by this period. Prince Khaemweset, son of Pharaoh Ramesses II, made repairs to buildings at Saqqara, among other things, he restored the Pyramid of Unas and added an inscription to its south face to commemorate the restoration
Saqqara
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The stepped
Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara
Saqqara
–
Map of the site
Saqqara
–
View of Saqqara necropolis, including
Djoser 's
step pyramid (centre), the
Pyramid of Unas (left) and the
Pyramid of Userkaf (right).
Saqqara
–
Funerary complex of Djoser
12.
Egyptian Museum
–
The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum or Museum of Cairo, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with an amount on display. The edifice is one of the largest museums in the region, as of February 2017, the museum is open to the public. The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities contains many important pieces of ancient Egyptian history and it houses the world’s largest collection of Pharaonic antiquities. The Egyptian government established the museum, built in 1835 near the Ezbekeyah Garden, in 1855 Archduke Maximilian of Austria was given all of the artifacts by the Egyptian government, these are now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. A new museum was established at Boulaq in 1858 in a former warehouse, the building lay on the bank of the Nile River, and in 1878 it suffered significant damage in a flood of the Nile River. In 1891, the collections were moved to a royal palace. They remained there until 1902 when they were moved, for the last time, during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, the museum was broken into, and two mummies were destroyed. Several artifacts were shown to have been damaged. Since then 25 objects have been found and those that were restored were put on display in September 2013 in an exhibition entitled Damaged and Restored. There are two floors in the museum, the ground floor and the first floor. On the ground there is an extensive collection of papyrus. The numerous pieces of papyrus are generally small fragments, due to their decay over the past two millennia, several languages are found on these pieces, including Greek, Latin, Arabic, and ancient Egyptian. The coins found on floor are made of many different metals, including gold, silver. The coins are not only Egyptian, but also Greek, Roman and this has helped historians research the history of Ancient Egyptian trade. Also on the floor are artifacts from the New Kingdom. These artifacts are generally larger than items created in earlier centuries, two special rooms contain a number of mummies of kings and other royal family members of the New Kingdom. In the garden adjacent to the building of the museum a memorial to famous egyptologists of the world is located, the Murder of Tutankhamen, A True Story
Egyptian Museum
–
المتحف المصري
Egyptian Museum
–
Aerial view 1904 from a balloon where the Egyptian Museum appears to the right side.
Egyptian Museum
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The Gold Mask of Tutankhamun, composed of 11 kg of solid gold
Egyptian Museum
–
The Grave Mask of king
Amenemope of the 21st dynasty
13.
Stele
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A stele is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected in ancient Western culture as a monument. Grave steles were often used for funerary or commemorative purposes, Stelae as slabs of stone would also be used as ancient Greek and Roman government notices or as boundary markers to mark borders or property lines. The surface of the stele usually has text, ornamentation, or both, the ornamentation may be inscribed, carved in relief, or painted. Traditional Western gravestones may technically be considered the equivalent of ancient stelae. The most famous example of an inscribed stela leading to increased understanding is the Rosetta Stone, an informative stele of Tiglath-Pileser III is preserved in the British Museum. Two steles built into the walls of a church are major documents relating to the Etruscan language, unfinished standing stones, set up without inscriptions from Libya in North Africa to Scotland were monuments of pre-literate Megalithic cultures in the Late Stone Age. The Pictish stones of Scotland, often carved, date from between the 6th and 9th centuries. An obelisk is a kind of stele. The Insular high crosses of Ireland and Britain are specialized steles, totem poles of North and South America that are made out of stone may also be considered a specialized type of stele. Gravestones, typically with inscribed name and often with inscribed epitaph, are among the most common types of stele seen in Western culture. Most recently, in the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, the memorial is meant to be read not only as the field, but also as an erasure of data that refer to memory of the Holocaust. Steles have been the medium of stone inscription in China since the Tang dynasty. Chinese steles are generally rectangular stone tablets upon which Chinese characters are carved intaglio with a funerary, commemorative and they can commemorate talented writers and officials, inscribe poems, portraits, or maps, and frequently contain the calligraphy of famous historical figures. During the Han dynasty, tomb inscriptions containing biographical information on deceased people began to be written on stone tablets rather than wooden ones, erecting steles at tombs or temples eventually became a widespread social and religious phenomenon. Emperors found it necessary to promulgate laws, regulating the use of funerary steles by the population, Steles are found at nearly every significant mountain and historical site in China. The First Emperor made five tours of his domain in the 3rd century BC and had Li Si make seven stone inscriptions commemorating and praising his work, of which fragments of two survive. One of the most famous mountain steles is the 13 m high stele at Mount Tai with the calligraphy of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang commemorating his imperial sacrifices there in 725. A number of stone monuments have preserved the origin and history of Chinas minority religious communities
Stele
–
Stele N from
Copán,
Honduras, depicting King K'ac Yipyaj Chan K'awiil ("Smoke Shell"), as drawn by
Frederick Catherwood in 1839
Stele
–
The
funerary stele of Thrasea and Euandria, c. 365 BC
Stele
–
Chinese ink rubbings of the 1489 (left) and 1512 (right) steles left by the
Kaifeng Jews.
Stele
–
Grave Stela of Nehemes-Ra-tawy, ca. 760-656 B.C.E.,37.588E,
Brooklyn Museum
14.
Fivefold Titulary
–
The royal titulary or royal protocol of an Egyptian pharaoh is the standard naming convention taken by the kings of Ancient Egypt. It symbolises worldly power and holy might and also acts as a sort of mission statement for the reign of a monarch. The full titulary, consisting of five names, did not come into standard usage until the Middle Kingdom, the Horus name is the oldest form of the pharaohs name, originating in the Predynastic Period. Many of the oldest-known Egyptian pharaohs were known only by this title, the Horus name was usually written in a serekh, a representation of a palace façade. The name of the pharaoh was written in hieroglyphs inside this representation of a palace, typically an image of the falcon God Horus was perched on top of or beside it. At least one Egyptian ruler, the 2nd dynasty Seth-Peribsen, used an image of the god Seth instead of Horus and he was succeeded by Khasekhemwy, who placed the symbols of both Seth and Horus above his name. Thereafter, the image of Horus always appeared alongside the name of the pharaoh, by the time of the New Kingdom the Horus name was often written without the enclosing serekh. The name is first definitively used by the First Dynasty pharaoh Semerkhet and this particular name was not typically framed by a cartouche or serekh, but always begins with the hieroglyphs of a vulture and cobra resting upon two baskets, the dual noun nebty. Also known as the Golden Horus Name, this form of the name typically featured the image of a Horus falcon perched above or beside the hieroglyph for gold. The meaning of this title has been disputed. One belief is that it represents the triumph of Horus over his uncle Seth, Gold also was strongly associated in the ancient Egyptian mind with eternity, so this may have been intended to convey the pharaohs eternal Horus name. Similar to the Nebty name, this particular name typically was not framed by a cartouche or serekh, the pharaohs throne name, the first of the two names written inside a cartouche, and usually accompanied the title nsw-bity. The term nsw-bity It has been suggested that the Berber term for strong man, the epithet neb tawy, Lord of the Two Lands, referring to valley and delta regions of Egypt, often occurs as well. This was the name given at birth and it was first introduced to the set of royal titles in the Fourth Dynasty and emphasizes the kings role as a representative of the solar god Ra. For women who became pharaoh, the title was interpreted as daughter also. Modern historians typically refer to the ancient kings of Egypt by this name, Middle Egyptian, An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs. The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Cairo, London, and New York, The American University in Cairo Press and Thames and Hudson. The Great Name, Ancient Egyptian Royal Titulary, Egyptian Grammar, Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs
Fivefold Titulary
–
Serekh containing the name of
Djet and an association with
Wadjet, on display at the
Louvre
Fivefold Titulary
–
Praenomen of the
Cartouche of
Thutmose II preceded by Sedge and Bee symbols, Temple of
Hatshepsut,
Luxor
Fivefold Titulary
–
In the
Middle Kingdom, the full titulary was sometimes written in a single cartouche, as in this example from
Senusret I, from
Beni Hasan.
Fivefold Titulary
–
Royal titulary
15.
Art of Ancient Egypt
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Ancient Egyptian art is the painting, sculpture, architecture and other arts produced by the civilization of ancient Egypt in the lower Nile Valley from about 3000 BC to 30 AD. Ancient Egyptian art reached a level in painting and sculpture. It was famously conservative, and Egyptian styles changed remarkably little over more than three thousand years, much of the surviving art comes from tombs and monuments and thus there is an emphasis on life after death and the preservation of knowledge of the past. Ancient Egyptian art included paintings, sculpture in wood, stone and ceramics, drawings on papyrus, faience, jewelry, ivories and it displays an extraordinarily vivid representation of the ancient Egyptians socioeconomic status and belief systems. This appears as early as the Narmer Palette from Dynasty I, other conventions make statues of males darker than females ones. Egyptian art uses hierarchical proportion, where the size of figures indicates their relative importance, symbolism can be observed throughout Egyptian art and played an important role in establishing a sense of order. The pharaohs regalia, for example, represented his power to maintain order, animals were also highly symbolic figures in Egyptian art. Not all Egyptian reliefs were painted, and less prestigious works in tombs, Stone surfaces were prepared by whitewash, or if rough, a layer of coarse mud plaster, with a smoother gesso layer above, some finer limestones could take paint directly. Pigments were mostly mineral, chosen to withstand sunlight without fading. The binding medium used in painting remains unclear, egg tempera and various gums and it is clear that true fresco, painted into a thin layer of wet plaster, was not used. Instead the paint was applied to dried plaster, in what is called fresco a secco in Italian, small objects including wooden statuettes were often painted using similar techniques. Many ancient Egyptian paintings have survived in tombs, and sometimes temples, the paintings were often made with the intent of making a pleasant afterlife for the deceased. The themes included journey through the afterworld or protective deities introducing the deceased to the gods of the underworld, some tomb paintings show activities that the deceased were involved in when they were alive and wished to carry on doing for eternity. In the New Kingdom and later, the Book of the Dead was buried with the entombed person and it was considered important for an introduction to the afterlife. Egyptian paintings are painted in such a way to show a profile view, for example, the painting to the right shows the head from a profile view and the body from a frontal view. Their main colors were red, blue, green, gold, black, the monumental sculpture of ancient Egypts temples and tombs is world-famous, but refined and delicate small works exist in much greater numbers. The Egyptians used the technique of sunk relief, which is well suited to very bright sunlight. The distinctive pose of standing statues facing forward with one foot in front of the other was helpful for the balance and it was adopted very early and remained unchanged until the arrival of the Greeks
Art of Ancient Egypt
–
Thutmose,
Bust of Nefertiti, 1345 BC,
Egyptian Museum of Berlin
Art of Ancient Egypt
–
Sunk relief of the crocodile god
Sobek
Art of Ancient Egypt
–
Tomb of Sarenput II.
Art of Ancient Egypt
–
Wall painting of
Nefertari
16.
List of Pharaohs
–
Note that the dates given are approximate. Modern lists of pharaohs are based on records, Ancient Egyptian king lists and later histories, such as Manethos Aegyptiaca. An additional problem is that ancient king lists are often damaged, the following ancient king lists are known, Den seal impressions, found on a cylinder seal in Dens tomb. It lists all 1st dynasty kings from Narmer to Den by their Horus names, palermo stone, carved on an olivin-basalt slab. Broken into pieces and thus today incomplete, giza King List, painted with red, green and black ink on gypsum and cedar wood. South Saqqara Stone, carved on a black basalt slab, karnak King List, carved on limestone. Abydos King List of Seti I, carved on limestone, very detailed, but omitting the First Intermediate Period. Abydos King List of Ramses II, carved on limestone, Saqqara King List, carved on limestone. Very detailed, but omitting most kings of the 1st dynasty for unknown reasons, Turin King List, written with red and black ink on papyrus. Most possibly the most complete king list in history, today damaged, Manethos Aegyptiaca, possibly written on papyrus. The original writings are lost today and many anecdotes assigned to certain kings seem fictitious, Lower Egypt geographically consisted of the northern Nile and the Nile delta. The following list may not be complete, Regrouped here are predynastic rulers of Upper Egypt belonging to the late Naqada III period, the following list of predynastic rulers may be incomplete. Since these kings precede the First Dynasty, they have been grouped as Dynasty 0. The Fifth Dynasty ruled from 2498 to 2345 BC, the Sixth Dynasty ruled from 2345 to 2181 BC. The First Intermediate Period is a period of disarray and chaos between the end of the Old Kingdom and the advent of the Middle Kingdom, the Old Kingdom rapidly collapsed after the death of Pepi II. He had reigned for more than 64 and likely up to 94 years, the latter years of his reign were marked by inefficiency because of his advanced age. The union of the Two Kingdoms fell apart and regional leaders had to cope with the resulting famine. The kings of the 7th and 8th Dynasties, who represented the successors of the 6th Dynasty, tried to hold some power in Memphis
List of Pharaohs
–
Iry-Hor
List of Pharaohs
–
The
Pschent combined the
Red Crown of
Lower Egypt and the
White Crown of
Upper Egypt.
List of Pharaohs
–
Ka
List of Pharaohs
–
Scorpion II
17.
International Standard Book Number
–
The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
International Standard Book Number
–
A 13-digit ISBN, 978-3-16-148410-0, as represented by an
EAN-13 bar code
18.
Naqada III
–
Naqada III is the last phase of the Naqada culture of ancient Egyptian prehistory, dating approximately from 3200 to 3000 BC. It is the period during which the process of state formation and they would more probably have been completely unrelated and very possibly in competition with each other. In this period, those names were inscribed in the form of serekhs on a variety of surfaces including pottery. The Protodynastic Period in ancient Egypt was characterised by a process of political unification. Furthermore, it is during this time that the Egyptian language was first recorded in hieroglyphs, there is also strong archaeological evidence of Egyptian settlements in southern Canaan during the Protodynastic Period, which are regarded as colonies or trading entrepôts. State formation began during this era and perhaps even earlier, various small city-states arose along the Nile. Centuries of conquest then reduced Upper Egypt to three states, Thinis, Naqada, and Nekhen. Sandwiched between Thinis and Nekhen, Naqada was the first to fall, nekhens relationship with Thinis is uncertain, but these two states may have merged peacefully, with the Thinite royal family ruling all of Egypt. The Thinite kings were buried at Abydos in the Umm el-Qaab cemetery, most Egyptologists consider Narmer to be both the last king of this period and the first king of the First Dynasty. Southern Canaan as an Egyptian Protodynastic Colony, the Emergence of the Egyptian State. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, Oxford and New York, Oxford University Press. The Prehistory of Egypt, From the First Egyptians to the First Pharaohs, the Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Contacts Between Egypt and Syro-Palestine During the Protodynastic Period, biblical Archeologist, Perspectives on the Ancient World from Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean. Http, //www. touregypt. net/featurestories/hdyn00. htm Unification Theories, Digital Egypt, UK, UCL
Naqada III
–
The
Narmer Palette, thought to mark the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt; note the images of the goddess
Bat at the top, as well as the
serpopards that form the central intertwined image.
19.
Double Falcon
–
Double Falcon was a ruler of Lower Egypt from Naqada III. He may have reigned during the 32nd century BCE, the length of his reign is unknown. It was in 1910 that Egyptologist M. J. Clédat discovered the first evidence for Double Falcon, investigating the site, Clédat soon discovered four serekhs of Double Falcon. The next attestation of Double Falcon was discovered in 1912 during excavations by Hermann Junker on the site of Tura, the concentration of Double Falcons serekhs in Lower Egypt and the north-western Sinai indicates that his rule may have been limited to these regions. The serekh of Double Falcon is unique in its layout and composition, firstly, it is the only serekh topped by two Horus falcons, facing each other. Secondly, the serekh does not have a compartment, being filled by the vertical lines which usually represent the niched facade of a palace. The serekh also lacks the line that delimits the palace facade from the name of the ruler above. Finally, each falcon stands on its own peak, egyptologists M. J. Cledat, Günter Dreyer and Edwin van den Brink suspect that a deeper symbolism explains these peculiarities. The two falcons could represent Lower Egypt and the Sinai, as it seems that Double Falcon reigned over both regions. In contrast, van den Brink reads the name as Nebwy, the two lords, and sees a similarity with a much earlier palette on display in the Barbier-Mueller Museum of Geneva
Double Falcon
–
Serekh of Double Falcon. Redrawing of an inscription on a vessel found in El-Beda.
20.
Upper Egypt
–
Upper Egypt is the strip of land on both sides of the Nile that extends between Nubia and downriver to Lower Egypt. Upper Egypt is between the Cataracts of the Nile above modern-day Aswan, downriver to the area between Dahshur and El-Ayait, which is south of modern-day Cairo, the northern part of Upper Egypt, between Sohag and El-Ayait, is also known as Middle Egypt. In Arabic, inhabitants of Upper Egypt are known as Saidis, in ancient Egypt, Upper Egypt was known as tꜣ šmꜣw, literally the Land of Reeds or the Sedgeland It was divided into twenty-two districts called nomes. The first nome was roughly where modern-day Aswan is and the twenty-second was at modern Atfih just to the south of Cairo, the main city of prehistoric Upper Egypt was Nekhen, whose patron deity was the vulture goddess Nekhbet. By about 3600 BC, Neolithic Egyptian societies along the Nile had based their culture on the raising of crops, shortly after 3600 BC, Egyptian society began to grow and increase in complexity. A new and distinctive pottery, which was related to the Levantine ceramics, extensive use of copper became common during this time. The Mesopotamian process of sun-drying adobe and architectural principles—including the use of the arch, concurrent with these cultural advances, a process of unification of the societies and towns of the upper Nile River, or Upper Egypt, occurred. At the same time the societies of the Nile Delta, or Lower Egypt also underwent a unification process, warfare between Upper and Lower Egypt occurred often. During his reign in Upper Egypt, King Narmer defeated his enemies on the Delta, for most of pharaonic Egypts history, Thebes was the administrative center of Upper Egypt. After its devastation by the Assyrians, its importance declined, under the Ptolemies, Ptolemais Hermiou took over the role of Upper Egypts capital city. Upper Egypt was represented by the tall White Crown Hedjet, and its symbols were the flowering lotus, in the 11th century, large numbers of pastoralists, known as Hilalians, fled Upper Egypt and moved westward into Libya and as far as Tunis. It is believed that degraded grazing conditions in Upper Egypt, associated with the beginning of the Medieval Warm Period, were the cause of the migration. In the 20th-century Egypt, the title Prince of the Said was used by the apparent to the Egyptian throne. Although the Kingdom of Egypt was abolished after the Egyptian revolution of 1952, media related to Upper Egypt at Wikimedia Commons
Upper Egypt
–
Iry-Hor
Upper Egypt
–
Ka
Upper Egypt
–
King Scorpion
21.
Iry-Hor
–
Iry-Hor or Ro was a predynastic pharaoh of Upper Egypt during the 32nd century BC. Until recently, Iry-Hors existence was debated, with the Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson contesting the reading, however, continuing excavations at Abydos in the 1980s and 1990s and the discovery in 2012 of an inscription of Iry-Hor in the Sinai confirmed his existence. Iry-Hor is the earliest ruler of Egypt known by name and possibly the earliest historical person known by name, Iry-Hors name is written with the Horus falcon hieroglyph above a mouth hieroglyph. Given the archaic nature of the name, the translation proved difficult and, in the absence of better alternative, in the 1990s, Werner Kaiser and Günter Dreyer translate Iry-Hors name as Companion of Horus. Toby Wilkinson, who contested that Iry-Hor was a king, translated the signs as Property of the king. e, reading the bird above the mouth-sign as the swallow hieroglyph G36 rather than the Horus falcon. They translated the name as Spokesman or Chief and this was consequently accepted by von Beckerath and Iry-Hor is now the first entry in the latest edition of von Beckeraths Handbook of Egyptian Pharaohs. Until 2012, the name of Iry-Hor had not been found in or next to a serekh, Egyptologists Flinders Petrie, Laurel Bestock and Jochem Kahl nonetheless believed that he was indeed a real ruler. They pointed to the spelling of Iry-Hors name, the Horus falcon holds the mouth hieroglyph in its claws. On several clay seals, this group of characters is accompanied by a second. This notation is reminiscent of numerous anonymous serekhs held by a Horus falcon with individual hieroglyphs placed close to it rather than within the serekh, finally, the serekh could have been a convention that started with Ka, whose name has been found both with and without a serekh. Therefore, they concluded that the argument that Iry-Hor was not a king because his name was never found in a serekh was insufficient, supporters of the identification of Iry-Hor as a king, such as egyptologist Darell Baker, also pointed to the size and location of his tomb. It is a tomb, as big as those of Ka and Narmer. Furthermore, Iry-Hors name is inscribed on a large jar exhibiting the royal Horus falcon and is similar to found in the tombs of other kings of this period. In contrast, some Egyptologists doubted Iry-Hor even existed, precisely because his name never appeared in a serekh, Ludwig D. Morenz and Kurt Heinrich Sethe doubted the reading of Iry-Hors name and thus that he was a king. Morenz, for example, suspected that the sign may simply have been a phonetic complement to the Horus falcon. Sethe understood the group of characters forming Iry-Hors name as an indication of origin, Toby Wilkinson dismissed the tomb attributed to Iry-Hor as a storage pit and the name as a treasury mark. Indeed, r-Ḥr may simply mean property of the king, dreyers excavations of the necropolis of Abydos revealed that Iry-Hor was in fact well attested there with over 27 objects bearing his name and that his tomb was of royal proportions. Furthermore, in 2012 an inscription mentioning Iry-Hor was discovered in the Sinai, the inscription mentions the city of Memphis, pushing back its foundation to before Narmer and establishing that Iry-Hor was already reigning over it
Iry-Hor
–
Signs r-Ḥr inscribed on a large vessel from the tomb of Iry-Hor,
Ashmolean Museum.
Iry-Hor
–
Name of Iry-Hor as found in Abydos.
Iry-Hor
–
Iry-Hor's tomb at the
Umm el-Qa'ab comprises two separate chambers B1 and B2, shown in inset. Iry-Hor's tomb is located close to Ka's (B7, B8, B9) and Narmer's tombs (B17, B18).
22.
Ka (pharaoh)
–
Ka, also Sekhen, was a Predynastic pharaoh of Upper Egypt belonging to Dynasty 0. He probably reigned during the first half of the 32nd century BC, the length of his reign is unknown. The correct reading of Kas name remains uncertain, the second form of that writing indicates a reading as Sekhen rather than Ka. It was also thought to be the name of Narmer. Because the reading of the name is so uncertain, Egyptologists, Ka ruled over Thinis in the first half of 32nd century BC and was buried at Umm el-Qaab. He most likely was the successor to Iry-Hor and was succeeded either by Narmer or by Scorpion II. He is the earliest known Egyptian king with a serekh inscribed on a number of artifacts and this may thus be an innovation of his reign. Ka is one of the best attested predynastic kings with Narmer, the number of artifacts bearing Kas serekh found outside Abydos is much greater than that of his predecessor. This may be the sign of an influence and perhaps conquest of larger portions of Egypt by the Thinite kings. Two underground chambers, B7 and B9, in the Umm el-Qaab necropolis of Abydos are believed to be part of the tomb of King Ka. Each chamber is 1.90 m deep, B.7 is 6.0 ×3.2 m while B.9 is slightly smaller at 5.9 x 3.1 m, Kas tomb was first excavated by Petrie in 1902. The excavations yielded fragments of flint knife and pottery, in the southernmost chamber B7, more than forty inscriptions have been found on tall jars and cylinder vessels as well as a seal impression. The tomb of Ka is close to that of Iry-Hor and Narmer, furthermore, it is located within a sequential order linking the older U cemetery with the First Dynasty tombs, thus suggesting that Ka succeeded Iry-Hor and preceded Narmer on the throne. Wilkinson, Toby AH, Early Dynastic Egypt, London/New York, Routledge, ISBN 0-415-18633-1
Ka (pharaoh)
–
Vessel found at
Tarkhan bearing the
serekh of king Ka.
Petrie Museum, London
Ka (pharaoh)
–
Seal impression with Ka's serekh. Note the absence of the Horus falcon.
British Museum.
Ka (pharaoh)
–
Ka's tomb in the
Umm el-Qa'ab
23.
Scorpion II
–
Scorpion II, also known as King Scorpion, refers to the second of two kings or chieftains of that name during the Protodynastic Period of Upper Egypt. King Scorpions name and title are of great dispute in modern Egyptology and his name is often introduced by a six- or seven-leafed, golden rosette or flower-sign. Its precise meaning has been discussed, the most common interpretation is that of an emblem meaning nomarch or high lord. Thus, the golden rosette became an emblem of Seshat. The reading of the sign is also disputed. Most linguists and Egyptologists read it Neb or Nesw, and they are convinced that the rosette was some kind of forerunner to the later serekh. The scorpion fetish, which underlies the name of Scorpion II, is linked to the later-introduced goddess Selket. But Egyptologists and linguists such as L. D, morenz, H. Beinlich, Toby Wilkinson and Jan Assmann have pointed out that the goddess was introduced no earlier than the late Old Kingdom period. In this view, the fetish of the protodynastic period should not be associated with Selket. Morenz points out that, in cases where an animal is included in a rulers name. The scorpion animal commonly stood for dangerous things, such as poison and illness, since it is unclear what actual meaning was reserved for the serekh animal of Scorpion II, scholars usually refer to him as King Scorpion II. There are several theories regarding his identity and chronological position and they also argue that the artistic style seen on the macehead of Scorpion II shows conspicuous similarities to that on the famous Narmer macehead. Wilkinson, Renée Friedman and Bruce Trigger, have identified king Scorpion II as the Gegenkönig of Narmer, at the time of Scorpion II, Egypt was divided into several minor kingdoms that were fighting each other. It is likewise conjectured that Narmer simply conquered the realms of Ka and Scorpion II and it is currently on display at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. The stratigraphy of this macehead was lost due to the methods of its excavators, the Scorpion Macehead depicts a single, large figure wearing the White Crown of Upper Egypt. He holds a hoe, which has interpreted as a ritual either involving the pharaoh ceremonially cutting the first furrow in the fields. The use and placement of the iconography is similar to the depiction of the pharaoh Narmer on the side of the Narmer Palette. The king is preceded by servants, the first in row seems to throw seeds from a basket into the freshly hacked ground
Scorpion II
–
Head of king Scorpion on his mace head
Scorpion II
–
The
Scorpion Macehead,
Ashmolean Museum.
24.
Narmer
–
Narmer was an ancient Egyptian king of the Early Dynastic Period. Probably the successor to the Protodynastic kings Scorpion and/or Ka, some consider him the unifier of Egypt and founder of the First Dynasty, and in turn the first king of a unified Egypt. This conclusion is based on the Narmer Palette and the two seals from the necropolis of Abydos that show him as the first king of the First Dynasty. The date commonly given for the beginning of his reign is c.3100 BC, other mainstream estimates using both the historical method and Radiocarbon dating are in the range 3273–2987 BC. Although highly inter-related, the question of “who was Menes. ”, while Menes is traditionally considered the first king of Ancient Egypt, Narmer has been identified by the majority of Egyptologists as the same person as Menes. Although vigorously debated, the predominant opinion is that Narmer was Menes, the issue is confusing because “Narmer” is a Horus Name, while “Menes” is a personal name. The difficulty is aligning the contemporary archaeological evidence which lists Horus Names with the King Lists that list personal names, two documents have been put forward as proof either that Narmer was Menes or alternatively Hor-Aha was Menes. The first is the “Naqada Label” which shows a serekh of Hor-Aha next to an enclosure inside of which are symbols that have been interpreted by scholars as the name “Menes”. The second is the impression from Abydos that alternates between a serekh of Narmer and the chessboard symbol, “mn”, which is interpreted as an abbreviation of Menes. Arguments have been made with regard to each of these documents in favour of Narmer or Hor-Aha being Menes, but in neither case, are the arguments conclusive. Two necropolis sealings, found in 1985 and 1991 in Abydos, in or near the tombs of Den and Qa’a, show Narmer as the founder of the First Dynasty, followed by Hor-Aha. The Qa’a sealing lists all eight of the kings of the First Dynasty in the correct order starting with Narmer and these necropolis sealings are strong evidence that Narmer was the first king of the First Dynasty – hence is the same person as Menes. The famous Narmer Palette, discovered by James E, since its discovery, however, it has been debated whether the Narmer Palette represents an actual historic event or is purely symbolic. Of course, the Narmer Palette could represent an historical event while at the same time having a symbolic significance. In 1993, Günter Dreyer discovered in Abydos, a “year label” of Narmer depicting the event that is depicted on the Narmer Palette. This year label shows that the Narmer Palette depicts an historical event. Archaeological evidence suggests that Egypt was at least partially unified during the reigns of Ka and Iry-Hor, but there is a substantial difference in the quantity and distribution of inscriptions with the names of those earlier kings in Lower Egypt and Canaan, compared to the inscriptions of Narmer. The archaeological evidence suggest that the unification began before Narmer, but was completed by him through the conquest of a polity in the North-West Delta as depicted on the Narmer Palette
Narmer
–
Close-up view of Narmer on the
Narmer Palette
Narmer
–
Chambers B17 and B18 in the
Umm el-Qa'ab constitute the tomb of Narmer.
Narmer
–
Narmer wearing the
Deshret crown of
Lower Egypt on the
Narmer Palette.
Narmer
–
Incised inscription on a vessel found at Tarkhan (tomb 414), naming king Narmer; Petrie Museum UC 16083.
25.
Menes
–
Menes was a pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period of ancient Egypt credited by classical tradition with having united Upper and Lower Egypt and as the founder of the First Dynasty. The identity of Menes is the subject of ongoing debate, although mainstream Egyptological consensus identifies Menes with the Naqada III ruler Narmer or First Dynasty pharaoh Hor-Aha, both pharaohs are credited with the unification of Egypt to different degrees by various authorities. The Egyptian form, mnj, is taken from the Turin and Abydos King Lists, by the early New Kingdom, changes in the Egyptian language meant his name was already pronounced */maˈneʔ/. The name mnj means He who endures, which, I. E. S, edwards suggests, may have been coined as a mere descriptive epithet denoting a semi-legendary hero whose name had been lost. Rather than a person, the name may conceal collectively the Naqada III rulers, Ka, Scorpion II. The commonly-used name Menes derives from Manetho, an Egyptian historian, Manetho noted the name in Greek as Μήνης. From this, various theories on the nature of the building, the meaning of the word mn and the relationship between Hor-Aha and Menes have arisen. Flinders Petrie first attempted this task, associating Iti with Djer as the pharaoh of Dynasty I, Teti with Hor-Aha as second pharaoh. Lloyd finds this succession extremely probable, and Cervelló-Autuori categorically states that Menes is Narmer, however, Seidlmayer states that it is a fairly safe inference that Menes was Hor-Aha. 3100–3050 BC, some academic literature uses c.3000 BC, by 500 BC, mythical and exaggerated claims had made Menes a culture hero, and most of what is known of him comes from a much later time. Ancient tradition ascribed to Menes the honor of having united Upper and Lower Egypt into a single kingdom, however, his name does not appear on extant pieces of the Royal Annals, which is a now-fragmentary kings list that was carved onto a stela during the Fifth Dynasty. He typically appears in sources as the first human ruler of Egypt. He also appears in other, much later, kings lists, Menes also appears in demotic novels of the Hellenistic period, demonstrating that, even that late, he was regarded as important figure. Menes was seen as a figure for much of the history of ancient Egypt. Manetho records that Menes led the army across the frontier and won great glory, Manetho associates the city of Thinis with the Early Dynastic Period and, in particular, Menes, a Thinite or native of Thinis. Herodotus contradicts Manetho in stating that Menes founded the city of Memphis as his capital after diverting the course of the Nile through the construction of a levee, Manetho ascribes the building of Memphis to Menes son, Athothis, and calls no pharaohs earlier than Third Dynasty Memphite. Diodorus Siculus stated that Menes had introduced the worship of the gods, in Plinys account, Menes was credited with being the inventor of writing in Egypt. George Stanley Faber, taking the word campsa to mean either crocodile or ark and preferring the latter, identifies Menes with Noah, according to Manetho, Menes reigned for 62 years and was killed by a hippopotamus
Menes
–
The cartouche of Menes on the
Abydos King List
26.
Early Dynastic Period (Egypt)
–
The Archaic or Early Dynastic Period of Egypt is the era immediately following the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt c.3100 BC. It is generally taken to include the First and Second Dynasties, lasting from the end of the Naqada III archaeological period until about 2686 BC, with the First Dynasty, the capital moved from Thinis to Memphis with a unified Egypt ruled by an Egyptian god-king. Abydos remained the holy land in the south. The hallmarks of ancient Egyptian civilization, such as art, architecture and many aspects of religion, before the unification of Egypt, the land was settled with autonomous villages. With the early dynasties, and for much of Egypts history thereafter, the pharaohs established a national administration and appointed royal governors. The buildings of the government were typically open-air temples constructed of wood or sandstone. The earliest Egyptian hieroglyphs appear just before this period, though little is known of the language they represent. By about 3600 BC, neolithic Egyptian societies along the Nile had based their culture on the raising of crops, shortly after 3600 BC Egyptian society began to grow and advance rapidly toward refined civilization. A new and distinctive pottery, which was related to the pottery in the Southern Levant, extensive use of copper became common during this time. The Mesopotamian process of sun-dried bricks, and architectural building principles—including the use of the arch, concurrent with these cultural advances, a process of unification of the societies and towns of the upper Nile River, or Upper Egypt, occurred. At the same time the societies of the Nile Delta, or Lower Egypt also underwent a unification process, warfare between Upper and Lower Egypt occurred often. During his reign in Upper Egypt, King Narmer defeated his enemies on the Delta, in mythology, the unification of Egypt is portrayed as the falcon-god, called Horus and identified with Lower Egypt, as conquering and subduing the god Set, who was identified with Upper Egypt. Divine kingship, which would persist in Egypt for the next three millennia, was established as the basis of Egypts government. The unification of societies along the Nile has also linked to the drying of the Sahara. Funeral practices for the peasants would have been the same as in predynastic times, thus, the Egyptians began construction of the mastabas which became models for the later Old Kingdom constructions such as the Step pyramid. Cereal agriculture and centralization contributed to the success of the state for the next 800 years and this would last for many centuries. It was also during this period that the Egyptian writing system was further developed, initially Egyptian writing had been composed primarily of a few symbols denoting amounts of various substances. By the end of the 3rd dynasty it had expanded to include more than 200 symbols
Early Dynastic Period (Egypt)
–
A plate created during the Early Dynastic period of Ancient Egypt. It depicts a man on a boat alongside a
Hippopotamus and a
Crocodile
Early Dynastic Period (Egypt)
–
Flag
27.
Hor-Aha
–
Hor-Aha is considered the second pharaoh of the First Dynasty of Egypt by some egyptologists, others consider him the first one and corresponding to Menes. He lived around the 31st century BC and is thought to have had a long reign, the Greek historian Manethos record Aegyptiaca lists his Greek name as Athothis, or Athotís. The different titular elements of a name were often used in isolation, for brevitys sake, although the choice varied according to circumstance. Mainstream Egyptological consensus follows the findings of Petrie in reconciling the two records and connects Hor-Aha with the nebty-name Ity, the same process has led to the identification of the historical Menes with Narmer evidenced in the archaeological record as the predecessor of Hor-Aha. There has been controversy about Hor-Aha. Some believe him to be the individual as the legendary Menes. Others claim he was the son of Narmer, the pharaoh who unified Egypt, Narmer and Menes may have been one pharaoh, referred to with more than one name. Regardless, considerable evidence from the period points to Narmer as the pharaoh who first unified Egypt and to Hor-Aha as his son. Seal impressions discovered by G. Dreyer in the Umm el-Qaab from Merneith and his predecessor Narmer had united Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt into a single kingdom. Hor-Aha probably ascended the throne in the late 32nd or early 31st century, Hor-Aha seems to have conducted many religious activities. A visit to a shrine of the goddess Neith is recorded on tablets from his reign. The sanctuary of Neith he visited was located in the north-east of the Nile Delta at Sais, furthermore, the first known representation of the sacred Henu-bark of the god Seker was found engraved on a year tablet dating from his reign. Vessel inscriptions, labels and sealings from the graves of Hor-Aha and he arranged for her burial in a magnificent mastaba excavated by Jacques de Morgan. Queen Neithhotep is plausibly Ahas mother The selection of the cemetery of Naqada as the place of Neithhotep is a strong indication that she came from this province. This, in turn, supports the view that Narmer married a member of the ancient royal line of Naqada to strengthen the domination of the Thinite kings over the region. However, in January 2016, an inscription has demonstrated that Neithhotep was actually a queen regent early during the reign of Djer. Therefore, the evidence above only proves that Neithhotep did live during the reign of Hor-Aha. Most importantly, the oldest mastaba at the North Saqqara necropolis of Memphis dates to his reign, the mastaba belongs to an elite member of the administration who may have been a relative of Hor-Aha, as was customary at the time
Hor-Aha
–
Faience vessel fragment inscribed with the
Horus-name Aha, on display at the
British Museum.
Hor-Aha
–
Mastaba attributed to
Neithhotep which is believed to have been built by Hor-Aha.
Hor-Aha
–
Hor-Aha's tomb comprises three chambers B10, B15 and B19, shown in inset. B14 could be the tomb of Hor-Aha's wife
Benerib.
Hor-Aha
–
Cylinder vessel of Hor-Aha from Saqqara, 1st dynasty;
Kestner-Museum.
28.
Semerkhet
–
Semerkhet is the Horus name of an early Egyptian king who ruled during the 1st dynasty. This ruler became known through a legend handed down by ancient Greek historian Manetho. Manetho named Semerkhet Semêmpsés and credited him with a reign of 18 years, Egyptologists and historians now consider both statements as exaggerations and credit Semerkhet with a reign of 8½ years. This evaluation is based on the Cairo Stone inscription, where the complete reign of Semerkhet has been recorded, additionally, they point to the archaeological records, which strengthen the view that Semerkhet had a relatively short reign. Semerkhet is well attested in archaeological records and his name appears in inscriptions on vessels made of schist, alabaster, breccia and marble. His name is preserved on ivory tags and earthen jar seals. Objects bearing Semerkhets name and titles come from Abydos and Sakkara, Semerkhets serekh name is commonly translated as companion of the divine community or thoughtful friend. The latter translation is questioned by scholars, since the hieroglyph khet normally was the symbol for body or divine community. Semerkhets birth name is more problematic, the reading and meaning of this special sign is disputed, since it doesnt appear in this form before king Semerkhet. Indeed, the hieroglyph of the man is extremely rare. It appears only twice in relief inscriptions depicting ceremonial processions of priests, Egyptologists such as Toby Wilkinson, Bernhard Grdseloff and Jochem Kahl read Iry-Netjer, meaning divine guardian. During the Old Kingdom period, this word is written with uniliteral signs of a netjer flag, some contemporary ivory tags show the Nebty name written with the single eye symbol only. Thus, the scholars also read Semerkhets throne name as Iry and this reconstruction is strengthened by the observation that Semerkhet was the first king using the Nebty title in its ultimate form. For unknown reason Semerkhet did not use the Nebuy title of his predecessor and it seems that he felt connected with the Two Ladies, a title referring to the goddesses Nekhbet and Wadjet, both the female equivalents of Horus and Seth. The Nebty title in turn was thought to function as an addition to the Nisut-Bity title. Scribes and priests of the Ramesside era were also confused, because the archaic ideogram that was used during Semerkhets lifetime was very similar to the sign of an old man with a walking stick and this had been read as Semsu or Sem and means the eldest. It was used as a title identifying someone as the head of the house, the Royal Table of Sakkara omits Semerkhets throne name. The reason for that is unknown, but all kings from Narmer up to king Den are also missing their throne names, virtually nothing is known about Semerkhets family
Semerkhet
–
Alabaster vase of Semerkhet, the inscription reads King Iry-Nebty visits the house-of-the-pleased-king, oil jars for it,
National Archaeological Museum (France).
Semerkhet
–
Semsu, cartouche name of Semerkhet in the
Abydos king list.
Semerkhet
–
Pottery sherd inscribed with Semerkhet's serekh name, originally from his tomb, now in the
Petrie Museum, UC 36756.
Semerkhet
29.
Sneferka
–
Sneferka is the serekh-name of an early Egyptian king who may have ruled at the end of 1st dynasty. The exact length of his reign is unknown, but thought to have very short. Sneferka´s serekh-name is the object of current investigations, because of the unusual typographical order of the signs within the serekh. This led to several different readings, his name is read as Seneferka, Sneferka, Neferseka, the serekh-name Sneferka appears on several schist- and alabaster vessels. A fourth artifact with Sneferkas name is found in the private Georges-Michailidis-Collection but its authenticity is questioned by Archaeologists and Egyptologists, additionally, the inscription on the Michailidis-object is a serekh with no Horus-falcon, which is highly unusual for any Egyptian artifact of that time period. Beside Sneferkas serekh, the inscriptions mention several institutions and places already known thanks to finds dating to Qaas reign and they are called Qau-Netjeru and Ah-Netjer and appear in several stone vessel inscriptions from Qaas tomb at Abydos. Egyptologists such as Peter Kaplony conclude that the inscriptions prove a chronological adjacency to king Qaa or that the name Sneferka was a name that Qaa bore for a short time. Two artifacts of different origins show the serekh of a king, whose name is highly disputed, since at least the depiction of a bird was recognised, the king in question is called Horus Bird. Egyptologists such as Wolfgang Helck and Peter Kaplony believe that Sneferka, the struggles peaked in the plundering of the royal cemetery of Abydos, which was therefore abandoned. The struggle for the throne was possibly brought to an end by the founder of the 2nd dynasty, king Hotepsekhemwy. An evidence supporting this theory is the Horus name of Hotepsekhemwy which means The two powers are reconciled, and could relate to a re-unification of the Egyptian realm after a period of discord. In contrast, Egyptologist Kim Ryholt believes that Sneferka ruled during the midst of 2nd dynasty and was to be identified with Neferkara I, attested in Ramesside sources. To support his view, Ryholt points to cartouche names such as Neferkara II and Nebkara I, Egyptologist Aidan Dodson thinks alike and points to the fact, that nearly all serekhs of Sneferka are made on erasures, thus leading to the conclusion that Sneferka usurped Qaas vessels. This behavior was typical for kings that ruled somewhat later than the owner of the re-used artefacts. Francesco Raffaele, Horus SNEFERKA - Horus Bird - Horus SEKHET - Horus BA
Sneferka
–
Slate fragment bearing Sneferka's serekh from
Saqqara
30.
Horus Bird (Pharaoh)
–
Horus Bird, also known as Horus-Ba, is the serekh-name of a pharaoh who may have had a very short reign between the 1st dynasty and 2nd dynasty of Egypt. There are very few reliable sources for Horus-Bird. The first known attestation of this king may be a serekh with a bird found by F. Petrie in the tomb of Qaa at Abydos. Another more legible inscription showing a serekh with a bird was found on a vessel fragment PD IV n.108 in Djosers pyramid complex at Saqqara. An inscription on shist vase P. D, IV n97 from Djosers pyramid complex could also refer to Horus-Bird. Since the hieroglyphic sign is written in such an erratic way, whilst Egyptologists such as Wolfgang Helck and Peter Kaplony see a depiction of a goose, they read the name as Sa or as Geb. Egyptologist Nabil Swelim instead sees an depicting of a sattle-billed stork, very little is known about King Horus-Bird. The few archaeological evidences point to the existence of one or more ephemeral rulers following Qaas death, Egyptologists such as Černý and Peter Kaplony think that Horus-Bird could be identical to the likewise sparsely attested King Horus-Ba. Indeed, this ruler wrote his name with the leg sign or the leg and ram signs, Černý and Kaplony think that the bird in the serekh of Horus-Bird is the goose sign with the same transcription, Ba. In this case Horus-Ba and Horus Bird could be the historical figure. Černý and Kaplonys theory is not commonly accepted, the presence of Horus-Bird serekh in the tomb of Qaa pointing rather to an interregnum with Horus-Bird between the first and second dynasties, francesco Raffaele, Horus SNEFERKA - Horus Bird - Horus SEKHET - Horus BA
Horus Bird (Pharaoh)
–
Horus name of "Horus-Bird" inscribed on fragment P.D.IV n.108 found in
Djoser 's pyramid complex at
Saqqara.
31.
Second Dynasty of Egypt
–
The Second Dynasty of ancient Egypt is the latter of the two dynasties of the Egyptian Archaic Period, when the seat of government was centred at Thinis. Save for the time of its last ruler Khasekhemwy, it one of the most obscure periods in ancient Egyptian history. Though archaeological evidence of the time is very scant, contrasting data from the First and Third Dynasties indicates important institutional, the names of the actual rulers of the Second Dynasty are in dispute. For the first five pharaohs, the sources are fairly close in agreement, known rulers, in the History of Egypt, for this dynasty are as follows, However, the identity of the next two or three rulers is unclear. We may have the Horus name or Nebty name and their names for these rulers, yet they may be entirely different individuals or they may be legendary names. Beyond this, little can be said about the events during this period as the records on the Palermo stone only survive to the end of the reign of Nebra. One important event possibly happened during the reign of Khasekhemwy, many Egyptologists read his name, Khasekhemwy, as the Two Powers arise, possibly commemorating the union of the Upper and Lower Egypts
Second Dynasty of Egypt
–
Dynasties of Ancient Egypt
32.
Hotepsekhemwy
–
Hotepsekhemwy is the Horus name of an early Egyptian king who was the founder of the 2nd dynasty. The exact length of his reign is not known, the Turin canon suggests an improbable 95 years while the Ancient Egyptian historian Manetho reports that the reign of Boëthôs lasted for 38 years, Egyptologists consider both statements to be misinterpretations or exaggerations. They credit Hotepsekhemwy with either a 25- or a 29-year rule, Hotepsekhemwys name has been identified by archaeologists at Sakkara, Giza, Badari and Abydos from clay seal impressions, stone vessels and bone cylinders. Several stone vessel inscriptions mention Hotepsekhemwy along with the name of his successor Raneb, the Horus name of Hotepsekhemwy is the subject of particular interest to Egyptologists and historians, as it may hint at the turbulent politics of the time. The Egyptian word Hotep means peaceful and to be pleased though it can also mean conciliation or to be reconciled, so Hotepsekhemwys full name may be read as the two powers are reconciled or pleasing in powers, which suggests a significant political meaning. In this sense, the two powers could be a reference to Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt as well as to the major deities Horus, from the reign of Hotepsekhemwy onward it became a tradition to write the Horus name and the nebty name in the same way. It is thought that some kind of philosophic background affected that choice, since the Horus name reveals a clearly defined, horus- and nebty names being the same might also indicate, that the Horus name was adopted after ascending the throne. The name of Hotepsekhemwys wife is unknown, egyptologist Wolfgang Helck points to the similar name Bedjatau, which appears in a short king list found on a writing board from the mastaba tomb G1001 of the high official Mesdjeru. The signs of two Sekhem sceptres were misread as a leg and a drill, a similar phenomenon might have occurred in the case of King Khasekhemwy, where the two sceptres in the Horus name were misread as two leg-symbols or two drill-signs. The Abydos king list imitates this Old Kingdom name form of “Bedjatau”, the names Netjerbau and Bau-hetepju are problematic, since Egyptologists cant find any name source from Hotepsekhemwys time that could have been used to form them. Little is known about Hotepsekhemwys reign, contemporary sources show that he may have gained the throne after a period of political strife, including ephemeral rulers such as Horus Bird and Sneferka. The plundering of the cemetery and the unusually conciliatory meaning of the name Hotepsekhemwy may be clues of a dynastic struggle, seal impressions provide evidence of a new royal residence called Horus the shining star that was constructed by Hotepsekhemwy. He also built a temple near Buto for the little-known deity Netjer-Achty, the white crown is a symbol of Upper Egypt. This is thought to be another clue to the origin of Hotepsekhemwys dynasty, Egyptologists such as Nabil Swelim point out that there is no inscription from Hotepsekhemwys reign mentioning a Sed festival, indicating the ruler cannot have ruled longer than 30 years. The ancient Egyptian historian Manetho called Hotepsekhemwy Boëthôs and reported that during this rulers reign a chasm opened near Bubastis, the location of Hotepsekhemwys tomb is unknown. Egyptologists such as Flinders Petrie, Alessandro Barsanti and Toby Wilkinson believe it could be the giant underground Gallery Tomb B beneath the funeral passage of the Unas-necropolis at Saqqara, many seal impressions of king Hotepsekhemwy have been found in these galleries
Hotepsekhemwy
–
Stone vase bearing Hotepsekhemwy's serekh,
National Archaeological Museum (France).
Hotepsekhemwy
–
Cartouche name of Hotepsekhemwy in the Abydos King List (cartouche no. 9).
Hotepsekhemwy
–
Bone cylinder inscribed with the serekh of Hotepsekhemwy.
Hotepsekhemwy
–
Entrance to the gallery tomb beneath the Unas passway.
33.
Nebra (Pharaoh)
–
Nebra or Raneb is the Horus name of the second early Egyptian king of the 2nd dynasty. The exact length of his reign is unknown since the Turin canon is damaged and they credit Nebra with either a 10- or 14-year rule. According to different authors, Nebra ruled Egypt c.2850 BC, Nerbas name appears on several stone vessels, mostly made of schist, alabaster and marble. Most of the bowls were found at Abydos, Giza and Saqqara, the inscriptions contain depictions of cultic buildings such as the Ka-house, depictions of deities such as Bastet, Neith and Seth and also the mentionings of cultic feasts. Interestingly, all objects present Nebras name either together with that of his predecessor Hotepsekhemwy or with his successor Nynetjer. Clay seal impressions with Nebras name were found beneath the causeway of the Pyramid of Unas at Saqqara and inside a gallery tomb. This tomb also yielded several seal impressions with Hotepsekhemwys name and for this reason it is debated whether the tomb belongs to Nebra or his predecessor Hotepsekhemwy, in 2012, Pierre Tallet and Damien Leisnay reported three rock inscriptions with Nebras horus name found in the south of Sinai peninsula. Each rock inscription can be found in a different wadi, Wadi Abu Madawi, Wadi Abu Koua and Wadi Ameyra. The places where Nerbas name is displayed lie along an old route used for expeditions from the western shore of the Sinai to its inland. Along the wadis the names of predynastic kings up to pharaohs of the 4th Dynasty are located at the same places. Nebras serekh name is of great interest to Egyptologists, since it is written with the sign of the sun. At the time of king Nebra, the most important religious cults were concentrated on the preservation of the equal status of the state patrons Horus. Nothing was more important than keeping that divine balance, the kings themselves were seen as the living representation of that godlike pair. The sun was seen as a celestial object controlled either by Horus or, as in the case of king Seth-Peribsen, therefore, the sun was no independent deity yet. The first definite proof of the existence of the sun-deity Ra occurs at the beginning of the 3rd dynasty during the reign of king Djoser in the names of officials such as Hesyre. And the first definitive detectable proof for an established royal sun cult occurs under king Radjedef. He was the first king who connected his name with the name of Ra, starting the great religious belief that Egyptian kings were the living representation of the sun alongside Horus. Therefore, Nebras Horus name is problematic regarding its translation and meaning, the typical translation of Nebras name as Ra is my lord, which would be read Raneb, is questionable, as this would assume that the Sun was already being worshiped as an independent deity
Nebra (Pharaoh)
–
Cartouche name of Nebra in the Abydos King List (cartouche no. 10)
Nebra (Pharaoh)
–
Statue of Hotepdief, priest of the mortuary cults of the first 3 rulers of the dynasty,
Hotepsekhemwy, Nebra and
Nynetjer. The serekh of Nebra is the middle one on the shoulder of the priest.
34.
Nynetjer
–
Nynetjer is the Horus name of the third early Egyptian king during the 2nd dynasty. The exact length of his reign is unknown, the Turin Canon suggests an improbable reign of 96 years and Egyptian historian Manetho suggested that Nynetjers reign lasted 47 years. Egyptologists question both statements as misinterpretations or exaggerations and they generally credit Nynetjer with a reign of either 43 years or 45 years. Their estimation is based on the reconstructions of the well known Palermo Stone inscription reporting the years 7–21, according to different authors, Nynetjer ruled Egypt from c.2850 BC to 2760 BC or later from c.2760 BC to 2715 BC. Nynetjer is one of the best archaeologically attested kings of 2nd dynasty and his name appears in inscriptions on stone vessels and clay sealings in large numbers from his tomb at Sakkara. A large number of bearing his name were also found in the tomb of king Peribsen at Abydos. However, the datings of some inscriptions, especially those made of black ink, writing experts and archaeologists such as Ilona Regulski point out that the ink inscriptions are of a somewhat later date than the stone and seal inscriptions. She dates the ink markings to the reigns of kings such as Khasekhemwy and Djoser, in fact, alabaster vessels and earthen jars with black ink inscriptions with very similar font design showing Nynetjers name were found in Peribsens tomb. Nynetjers name also appears on an inscription near Abu Handal in Lower Nubia. This might represent a clue that Nynetjer sent an expedition into this region. Nynetjer is commonly identified with the Ramesside cartouche names Banetjer from the Abydos King List, Banetjeru from the Sakkara table, the Palermo Stone inscription presents an unusual goldname of Nynetjer, Ren-nebu, meaning golden offspring or golden calf. Most of the information known about Nynetjers reign are found on the fragments of the Annal Stone of the 5th dynasty. The Palermo Stone lists the events, 7th year, Escort of Horus. 8th year, Appearance of the king, stretching the cords for Hor-Ren, Flood level,1.09 metres 10th year, Appearance of the king of Lower- and Upper Egypt, Race of the Apis bull. 12th year, Appearance of the king of Lower Egypt, second celebration of the Sokar feast, 14th year, First celebration of Hor-seba-pet, Destruction/Foundation of the cities of Schem-Re and Ha Flood level,2.15 metres. 16th year, Appearance of the king of Lower Egypt, second Race of the Apis bull, 18th year, Appearance of the king of Lower Egypt, third celebration of the Sokar feast. 20th year, Appearance of the king of Lower Egypt, offering for the kings mother, the Cairo Stone gives the years 36–44. The surface of the slab is damaged
Nynetjer
–
Fragment of a vase of Nynetjer discovered in the tomb of
Seth-Peribsen which may have been part of the equipment of a boat of the king, depicted below his name.
Nynetjer
–
Cartouche of Nynetjer in the Abydos King List (no. 11).
35.
Ba (pharaoh)
–
Ba, also known as Horus Ba, is the serekh-name of an early Egyptian or ancient Egyptian king who may have ruled at the end of the 1st dynasty, the latter part of 2nd dynasty or during the 3rd dynasty. Neither the exact length of his reign nor his position is known. Very little is known about king Ba, the few archaeological evidences only assure the existence of such a ruler, but they give no further information. In 1899 scientist Alessandro Ricci published a drawing of a serekh with a leg as hieroglyph inside. The picture was seen in Volume No.35 of the Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde series, according to Ricci the serekh was found in a rock inscription at Wadi Maghareh, Sinai. The egyptologists Jaroslav Černý and Michel Baude found out, that Ricci were referring to the inscription of king Sanakht. Ricci simply had misinterpreted the signs used for Sanakhts name -an upright sign of a loop, the zig-zag shaped sign for water. Egyptologists such as Černý and Peter Kaplony think that king Ba might be identical to the likewise sparsely attested king Horus Bird, Černý and Kaplony think that both kings names have the same transcription, Ba. In this case Horus Ba and Horus Bird would be the historical figure. Černý and Kaplonys theory is not commonly accepted, in contrast, Egyptologists such as Nabil Swelim think that Horus Ba was an immediate successor of 2nd dynasty king Nynetjer. He points to the form of Nynetjer in the Abydos kinglist. Swelim therefore believes that the Horus name of Ba was erroneously intermingled with the name of Nynetjer. Francesco Raffaele, Horus SNEFERKA - Horus Bird - Horus SEKHET - Horus BA
Ba (pharaoh)
–
Serekh of Horus Ba.
36.
Nubnefer
–
Nubnefer is the birth name of a king who may have ruled during the 2nd dynasty of Ancient Egypt. The exact length of his reign is unknown and his position is unclear. Therefore, Egyptologists such as Peter Kaplony, Jochem Kahl and Francesco Tiradritti believe that Nubnefers reign should be chronologically set close to that of Nynetjer, Nubnefers name does not appear in any further contemporary or posthumous document. Egyptologists such as Battiscombe Gunn and Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen Edwards believe that the name Nubnefer could be the name of king Raneb. In contrast egyptologists such as Wolfgang Helck and Toby Wilkinson think that Nubnefer was the successor of Nynetjer. Peter Kaplony identifies Nubnefer as a king who have ruled between the kings Wadjenes and Senedj, Francesco Raffaele, Nwbnefer, Neferkara and Neferkaseker
Nubnefer
–
Fragment of black
schist presenting Nubnefer´s name beside the building ″Menti Ankh″ (left).
37.
Horus Sa
–
Horus Sa was a possible early Egyptian pharaoh who may have reigned during the 2nd or 3rd dynasty of Egypt. His existence is disputed, as is the meaning of the artifacts that have been interpreted as confirming his existence, Horus Sa is known from vessel fragments with black ink inscriptions showing his name. These vessels were found in the east galleries beneath Djosers pyramid at Saqqara, the inscriptions are short and written in cursive handwritings. In all cases the name Horus Sa does not appear within a serekh, the name Horus Sa always appears within the inscription Ḥwt-k3 Ḥrw-z3, regularly found together with the names of Inykhnum and Maa-aper-Min, two high-ranking officials who served in the Ka-house. During the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt, the House of the Ka was a forerunner of the mortuary temple, a further inscription Ḥwt-k3 Ḥrw-z3 was found in the 1980s at Saqqara in the area of the tomb of Maya and very close to that of Meryra-Meryneith. Maya and Meryra-Meryneith were both late 18th dynasty court officials who reused 2nd dynasty tombs for themselves, some 1500 years after the death of their original owners, jürgen von Beckerath, Dietrich Wildung and Peter Kaplony proposed that Sa is a short form of the Horus-name Sanakht. Thus, Helck proposed that Horus Sa is the Horus-name of another ruler of the 2nd dynasty, Weneg. The Egyptologist Jochem Kahl recently challenged this hypothesis, identifying Weneg with Raneb, alternatively, Kaplony reconstructed the Horus-name of Weneg from the Cairo fragment of the Palermo stone as Wenegsekhemwy. In both cases, Horus Sa cannot be the Horus-name of Weneg and the two would not designate the same king, however, Kaplonys hypothesis has been undermined by the discovery of clay seals of Djoser in Khasekhemwys tomb, indicating that the former immediately succeeded and buried the latter. Horus Sa could instead be the Horus-name of Senedj or another 2nd dynasty king, ruling in Memphis during the period following the reign of Nynetjer. However, Egyptologists such as Jean-Philippe Lauer, Pierre Lacau and Ilona Regulski call for caution of the reading of the inscriptions. Especially the bird-sign at the top of the Ka-house might also depict a swallow, Ilona Regulski prefers the reading as a Horus-bird, though she doesnt explicitly see it as the name of a king. She dates the inscriptions to the end of Khasekhemwys reign, the burial place of Horus Sa is unknown. Nabil Swelim associated Horus Sa with the enclosure of Gisr el-Mudir in west Saqqara. This hypothesis has not gained acceptance and the Gisr el-Mudir has been attributed to various second dynasty kings. Friedman, Barbara Adams & K. M. Cialowicz, Egypt at its origins, studies in memory of Barbara Adams. Proceedings of the international Conference „Origin of the State, Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt“, Kraków, peeters Publishers, Leuven 2004, ISBN 90-429-1469-6
Horus Sa
–
Vessel fragment bearing the inscription Ḥwt-k3 Ḥrw-z3.
38.
Weneg (pharaoh)
–
Weneg, also known as Weneg-Nebty, is the throne name of an early Egyptian king, who ruled during the second dynasty. Although his chronological position is clear to Egyptologists, it is unclear for how long King Weneg ruled and it is also unclear as to which of the archaeologically identified Horus-kings corresponds to Weneg. The name ‘Weneg’ is generally accepted to be a nebti- or throne name, introduced by the crest of the Two Ladies, Wenegs name appears in black ink inscriptions on alabaster fragments and in inscriptions on schist-vessels. Seventeen vessels bearing his name have been preserved, eleven of them were found in the galleries beneath the step pyramid of king Djoser at Sakkara. The symbol that was used to write Wenegs name is the object of significant dispute between egyptologists to this day, the so-called weneg flower is rarely used in Egyptian writing. Mysteriously, the flower is often guided by six vertical strokes. The meaning of these strokes is unknown, so it seems that the weneg flower was somehow connected with the Egyptian sun and death cult. But the true meaning of the flower as a kings name remains unknown, since Wenegs name first became known to Egyptologists, scholars have been trying to match the nebti name of Weneg to contemporary Horus-kings. The following sections discuss some of the theories, egyptologist Jochem Kahl argues that Weneg was the same person as king Raneb, the second ruler of the 2nd dynasty. He points to a vessel fragment made from an igneous material and he believed he had found on the pot sherd weak, but clear, traces of the weneg-flower beneath the inscribed name of king Ninetjer. On the right side of Ninetjers name the depiction of the Ka house of king Raneb is partially preserved, the complete arrangement led Kahl to the conclusion that the weneg flower and Ranebs name were connected to each other and king Ninetjer later replaced the inscription. Kahl also points out that king Ninetjer wrote his name mirrored, kahls theory is the subject of continuing debate since the vessel inscription is badly damaged and thus leaves plenty of room for varying interpretations. Egyptologists such as Nicolas Grimal, Wolfgang Helck and Walter Bryan Emery identify Weneg with king Sekhemib-Perenmaat and their theory is based on the assumption that Sekhemib and Seth-Peribsen were different rulers and that both were the immediate successors of king Ninetjer. But this theory is not commonly accepted, because clay seals of Sekhemib were found in the tomb of king Khasekhemwy, the clay seals set Sekhemibs reign close to Khasekhemwys, whilst the Ramesside name Wadjenes is placed near the beginning of 2nd dynasty. Egyptologists such as Peter Kaplony and Richard Weill argue that Weneg was a king from other kings of the period. They suggest that Weneg succeeded Ninetjer and his name is preserved in Ramesside kinglists under the name Wadjenes and their assumption is firstly based on the widely accepted theory that Ramesside scribes interchanged the weneg-flower with the papyrus haulm, changing it into the name Wadjenes. Secondly, Kaplony and Weills theory is based on the inscription on the Cairo stone and they believe that the name Wenegsekhemwy is preserved over the third line of year events. This theory is not widely accepted, as the Cairo stone is badly damaged
Weneg (pharaoh)
–
BM EA 35556, the stone vessel used by Jochem Kahl to equate Weneg with Raneb.
39.
Wadjenes
–
Wadjenes, also known as Wadjlas, Ougotlas and Tlas, is the name of an early Egyptian king who may have ruled during the 2nd dynasty. The kings name Wadjenes is attested only in the Ramesside kinglists, the same goes for the Royal Canon of Turin, where the entry for his name is damaged so only the years of rulership are preserved. Whilst all kinglists match each other regarding the position of Wadjenes. It is possible that ramesside scribes interchanged the Weneg flower with the papyrus haulm, besides the artefacts with the name Weneg-Nebti, further objects made of alabaster show the personal name Wadj-sen in connection with the Sed festival. However, egyptologists such as Peter Kaplony and Jürgen von Beckerath believe that Weneg-Nebti and Wadjenes are identical, the ancient Greek historian Manetho called Wadjenes Tlas. This name distortion may be based on the Coptic rewriting of the name Wadjenes as Ougotlas, very little is known about Wadjeness reign. The Turin Canon lists Wadjenes as ruling for 54 years, whilst Manetho assigns 17 years to him, Egyptologists evaluate both lists as misinterpretations by Ramesside scribes or as an exaggeration. If Wadjenes was an independent ruler he was evidently the last to rule over a unified realm and it is largely accepted by Egyptologists that the immediate successor of king Ninetjer left a divided Egypt, which was headed by two kings who ruled at the same time. The theory is based on the unusual name of a king called Peribsen, who succeeded Ninetjer. Since the deity Seth was of Ombite origin, king Peribsen was probably of Ombite origin, too and his name is missing from the Ramesside Memphite kinglists, because they were all written by Memphite priests and they did not accept any non-Memphite ruler as a rightful ancestor
Wadjenes
–
Cartouche name of Wadjenes in the Abydos King List (cartouche no. 12)
40.
Senedj
–
Senedj is the name of an early Egyptian king, who may have ruled during the 2nd dynasty. It is unknown how long Senedj ruled over Egypt, the Royal Canon of Turin credits him with 70 years of rulership, the ancient Greek historian Manetho states that Séthenes ruled for 41 years. The possibly only known inscription from Senedjs reign was found in 1909 by Egyptologist Uvo Hölscher. Hölscher found a small, thin-walled and polished diorite shard, which belonged to a flat bowl. At the left brakeline an incised inscription gives the reading, The king of Upper- and Lower Egypt, the inscription goes from the right to the left and exceeds the breakline, but the kings name remains reconstructable. The precious artifact was published in 1912 and it was also examined by George Andrew Reisner, who mentioned it shortly in his book Mycerinus, the Temples of the Third Pyramid at Giza. The next source referring to king Senedj dates back to the beginning or middle of the 4th dynasty, the name, written in a cartouche, appears in the inscription on a false door belonging to the mastaba tomb of the high priest Shery at Sakkara. Shery held the title “overseer of all wab-priests of king Peribsen in the necropolis of king Senedj”, “overseer of the ka-priests of king Senedj” and “god´s servant of Senedj”. Senedjs name is written in form and set in a cartouche. Egyptologist Dietrich Wildung points to two priests and possible relatives of Shery, who both also participated the funerary cult of Senedj, Inkef and Siy. Senedj is also mentioned in papyrus P, berlin 3038, which contains medical prescriptions and therapies for numerous diseases. One of these instructions for treating foot cramps, and closes with the claim that the recipe for the ointment originates from a book of vessels. This book is claimed to originate from the time of king Usáphais, King Senedj allegedly received the book as an inheritance gift. The latest mention of Senedjs name appears on a bronze statuette in the shape of a kneeling king wearing the White Crown of Upper Egypt. Additionally, the figurine wears a belt which has Senedjs name carved at the back, Egyptologist Peter Munro has written a report about the existence of a mud seal inscription showing the cartouche name Nefer-senedj-Ra, which he thinks to be a version of “Senedj”. But since the finding was never photographed nor drawn and the alleged object meanwhile got lost, the horus name of Senedj remains unknown. Other Egyptologists, such as Wolfgang Helck and Dietrich Wildung, are not so sure and believe that Senedj and they point out that the false door inscription has the names of both strictly separated from each other. Additionally, Wildung thinks that Senedj donated a chapel to Peribsen in his necropolis
Senedj
–
Cartouche name of Senedj in the Abydos King List (cartouche no. 13)
41.
Seth-Peribsen
–
Seth-Peribsen is the serekh name of an early Egyptian monarch, who ruled during the Second Dynasty of Egypt. His chronological position within this dynasty is unknown and it is disputed who ruled both before and after him, the duration of his reign is also unknown. Peribsens royal name is a subject of curiosity for Egyptologists because it is connected to the deity Seth rather than Horus, the debate continues over why Peribsen chose this name. However, newer evidence and evaluations tend to show that the Egyptian kingdom was unified, seal impressions from tombs of this era reveal great changes in the titles held by high officials, pointing to a reduction of their power. Thus, Peribsens reign was in fact a time of cultural, existing negative views about Peribsens existence are based on Ramesside king lists, such as the Abydos King List, the Saqqara King List and the Royal Canon of Turin, which all omit Peribsens name. These, however, are known to have been redacted nearly 1500 years after his death and these tombs report Peribsens name correctly and their existence demonstrate that Peribsen was seen as a legitimate pharaoh, not subject to damnatio memoriae as Akhenaten later would be. Historians and Egyptologists therefore consider the possibility that Peribsens name was forgotten in time or that his name was preserved in a distorted, misspelled form. Peribsens Tomb was discovered in 1898 at Abydos and it was well preserved and showed traces of restoration undertaken during later dynastic periods. The serekh for Peribsen was found pressed in earthen jar seals made of clay and mud and in inscriptions on alabaster, sandstone, porphyry and these seals and vessels were excavated from Peribsens tomb and at an excavation site in Elephantine. One clay seal with Peribsens name was found inside the mastaba tomb K1 at Beit Khallaf, two large tomb stelae made of granite were found at his burial site. Their shape is unusual and they appear unfinished and rough, Egyptologists suspect that this was done deliberately, but the reasons are unknown. A cylinder seal of unknown provenance shows Peribsens name inside a cartouche, another seal of the same material shows Peribsens name without a cartouche, but with the royal title Nisut-Bity instead. Peribsens name is unusual, in that Seth, not Horus, was his patron deity and this goes against the Egyptian tradition of a king choosing the falcon-shaped deity Horus as his royal patron. Traditionally, the Horus name of the king was written within a serekh, instead, Peribsen chose to have the Set animal, representing Seth, on his serekh. Like Horus, Seth was a popular deity during the dynastic period. He became the god of darkness and chaos afterward, during the much later Late Period of Ancient Egypt, although Peribsen is the only known pharaoh to have the Set animal preside alone over his serekh, he is not the only king to associate himself with Seth. Examples include the 13th dynasty pharaoh Seth Meribre, the 19th dynasty rulers Seti I and Seti II, the following sections discuss some of the theories that they put forth. Peribsens actions were thought to be similar to those of the much later 18th dynasty pharaoh Akhenaten, Newberry proposed that the priests of Horus and Seth fought each other in the Manner of a war of the roses during the second half of the Second dynasty
Seth-Peribsen
–
Stone vase of Seth-Peribsen with the inscription "tribute of the people of Sethroë",
National Archaeological Museum (France).
Seth-Peribsen
–
Granodiorite tomb stela of Peribsen, now on display at the
British Museum
Seth-Peribsen
–
Vessel from the tomb of king Peribsen,
Ashmolean Museum.
Seth-Peribsen
–
Seal impression of king Sekhemib from Abydos
42.
Sekhemib-Perenmaat
–
Sekhemib-Perenma´at, is the horus name of an early Egyptian king who ruled during the 2nd dynasty. Similar to his predecessor, successor or co-ruler Seth-Peribsen, Sekhemib is contemporarily well attested in archaeological records, the exact length of his reign is unknown and his burial site has yet to be found. Sekhemib´s name is known from seal impressions and from inscriptions on vessels made of alabaster and they were found in the entrance of Peribsen´s tomb at Abydos, in the underground galleries beneath the step pyramid of king Djoser at Sakkara and on one excavation site at Elephantine. Sekhemib´s serekh name is unusual, because it is the first in Egyptian history that was extended by an epithet, beside the first name, Sekhem-ib, several seal impressions and stone vessel inscriptions show the epithet Perenma´at inside the serekh. Sekhemib used both forms, the single horus name and the double name, at the same time. Egyptologists such as Herman te Velde and Wolfgang Helck think that the name of Sekhemib came in use when the Egyptian state was split into two independent realms. It seems that Sekhemib tried to stress the peaceful political situation prevailing in Egypt at the time, an increased form of such a double name was created and used by a successor of Sekhemib, king Khasekhemwy. This king also used a name and even placed Horus. Khasekhemwy had tried to express peace and reconciliation between Upper- and Lower Egypt with his unusual serekh, too, the historical figure of Sekhemib is the subject of investigation and discussions by Egyptologists and historians to this day. The contradictory findings allow room for plenty of interpretations and theories, emery, Bard and Petrie point to several clay seals that were found in the tomb entrance of Peribsens necropolis. Sekhemibs tomb has not yet been found, in contrast, Egyptologists such as Hermann Alexander Schlögl, Wolfgang Helck, Peter Kaplony and Jochem Kahl believe that Sekhemib was a different ruler to Peribsen. They point out that the seals were only found at the entrance area of Peribsens tomb. They compare the findings with the tablets of king Hotepsekhemwy found at the entrance of king Qaas tomb. Therefore, Schlögl, Helck, Kaplony and Kahl are convinced that Sekhemibs seals are merely proof that Sekhemib buried Peribsen, Egyptologists such as Toby Wilkinson and Helck believe that Sekhemib and Peribsen could have been related. Their theory is based on the stone inscriptions and seal impressions that show strong similarities in their typographical and grammatical writing styles. The vessels of Peribsen for example show the notation ini-setjet, whilst Sekhemibs inscriptions note ini-chasut, a further indication for a relationship between Peribsen and Sekhemib is the serekh-name of both, as they both use the syllables per and ib in their names. Egyptologists such as Helck identify Sekhemib with the cartouche name “Wadjenes”. Egyptologist Dietrich Wildung thinks alike and identifies Sekhemib with the nebty name Weneg-Nebty, there seems to be archaeological evidence that Sekhemib ruled only in Upper Egypt
Sekhemib-Perenmaat
–
Alabaster vessel showing the (damaged) double name of Sekhemib
Sekhemib-Perenmaat
–
Vase of Sekhemib bearing the inscription reproduced on the right. At its right, it reads The king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Sekhemib-Perenmaat, at its left it reads administrator of the house of copper, god servant of
Kherty,
National Archaeological Museum (France).
Sekhemib-Perenmaat
–
Clay seal of Sekhemib
Sekhemib-Perenmaat
–
Fragment of a diorite vase inscribed with part of the name of pharaoh Sekhemib Perenmaat from the
Pyramid of Djoser and now in the
Egyptian Museum. The inscription reads (from right to left): "King of Lower- and Upper Egypt, Sekhemib-Per(enma'at), tribute of the foreigners, provisions to...".
43.
Neferkara I
–
Neferkara I is the cartouche name of a king who is said to have ruled during the 2nd dynasty of Ancient Egypt. The exact length of his reign is unknown since the Turin canon lacks the years of rulership, Egyptologists evaluate his statement as misinterpretation or exaggeration. The name “Neferkara I” appears only in the Abydos King list, the royal canon of Turin lists a king´s name which is disputed for its uncertain reading. Egyptologists such as Alan H. Gardiner read “Aaka”, whilst other Egyptologists, such as Jürgen von Beckerath, both kinglists describe Neferkara I as the immediate successor of king Senedj and as the predecessor of king Neferkasokar. There´s no contemporary source for this king and no Horus name could be connected to Neferkare I up to this day. For a comparison he points to cartouche names such as Neferkara II from the kinglist of Abydos, the ancient Greek historian Manetho called Neferkara I “Népherchêres” and reported, that during this kings rulership “the Nile was flowing with honey for eleven days”. Egyptologists think that this collocation was meant to show up that the realm was flourishing under king Nephercheres, in contrast, Egyptologists such as Barbara Bell believe that an economic catastrophe like a famine or a long lasting drought affected Egypt. Therefore, to address the problem of feeding the Egyptian population, Ninetjer split the realm, Bell points to the inscriptions of the Palermo stone, where, in her opinion, the records of the annual Nile floods show constantly low levels during this period. Bell´s theory is refuted today by Egyptologists such as Stephan Seidlmayer, Seidlmayer has shown that the annual Nile floods were at usual levels at Ninetjer´s time up to the period of the Old Kingdom. Bell had overlooked, that the heights of the Nile floods in the Palermo stone inscription only takes the measurements of the nilometers around Memphis into account, any long-lasting drought can therefore be excluded. It is a commonly accepted theory, that Neferkara I had to share his throne with another ruler and it is just unclear yet, with whom. Later kinglists such as the Sakkara list and the Turin canon list the kings Neferkasokar, the Abydos list skips all these three rulers and name a king Djadjay. If Egypt was already divided when Neferkara I gained the throne, kings like Sekhemib and Peribsen would have ruled Upper Egypt, whilst Neferkara I, the division of Egypt was brought to an end by king Khasekhemwy. Francesco Raffaele, Nwbnefer, Neferkara and Neferkaseker
Neferkara I
–
Cartouche name of Neferkara I in the Abydos King List (cartouche no. 19)
44.
Neferkasokar
–
Neferkasokar is the name of an Ancient Egyptian king who may have ruled in Egypt during the 2nd dynasty. Very little is known about him, since no records about him have been found. Rather his name has found in later sources. Neferkasokar appears in the Saqqara king list from the tomb of the high priest Tjuneroy and he also appears in the Royal Canon of Turin as the successor of a king Neferka and as the predecessor of king Hudjefa I. His cartouche can be found in column III, line 1, the Turin papyrus records him having a reign of 8 years and 3 months. Furthermore, Neferkasokars name appears on a cylinder seal of unknown provenance. The inscription bears the name twice within royal cartouches. Interestingly, the first cartouche shows the name of the god Sokar on top, a guiding inscription says Meri-netjeru, which means beloved one of the gods. This titulary was common from the Middle Kingdom onwards, thus the cylinder seal is not likely to originate from the 2nd dynasty, most Egyptologists date the object to the 13th dynasty. Some Egyptologists also question the authenticity of the seal, Neferkasokar also plays an important role in a papyrus originating from Middle Kingdom. The text was translated around 237 BC into demotic language and is preserved in papyrus pWien D6319, the papyrus gives instructions on how to build temples and how the temple priests should perform their tasks. The papyrus also includes a story that royal scribes under the supervision of prince Djedefhor had discovered an old document in a chamber which was sealed by king Neferkasokar. The discovered papyrus contained a report of a famine that affected Egypt for seven years, when the king finished his mission successfully, the Nile started flowing normally again. As a result, Neferkasokar issues a decree which is rediscovered by prince Djedefhor, egyptologist and linguist Joachim Friedrich Quack later gave this treatise the name “Book of the Temple”. Very little is known about Neferkasokars reign, Neferkasokar is also thought to have ruled in Lower Egypt around the same time that kings such as Peribsen and Sekhemib-Perenmaat ruled in Upper Egypt. This assumption would be consistent with the view of a number of Egyptologists that at that time Egypt was divided into two parts, Peribsen himself is contemporaneously documented in materials found in the Thinite region, but was excluded from documentation associated with the Memphites. His case is therefore corresponding to Neferkasokar´s case, but for Lower Egypt, Neferkasokar´s predecessors may have been king Senedj and king Neferkara I, his successor may have been king Hudjefa I. Francesco Raffaele, Nwbnefer, Neferkara and Neferkaseker
Neferkasokar
–
Seal impression showing the cartouche name of king Neferkasokar
45.
Khasekhemwy
–
Khasekhemwy was the final king of the Second dynasty of Egypt. Little is known of Khasekhemwy, other than that he led several significant military campaigns and built monuments, still extant. His name means The Two Powerful Ones Appear, according to Toby Wilkinsons study of the Palermo Stone in Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt, this near contemporary 5th dynasty document assigns Khasekhemwy a reign of 17.5 or nearly 18 full years. Since the cattle count is shown to be regularly biennial during the dynasty from the Palermo Stone. Khasekhemwy is normally placed as the successor of Seth-Peribsen, though some Egyptologists believe that another Pharaoh, Khasekhem, most scholars, however, believe Khasekhem and Khasekhemwy are, in fact, the same person. Khasekhem may have changed his name to Khasekhemwy after he reunited Upper and Lower Egypt after a war between the followers of the gods Horus and Set. Others believe he defeated the king, Seth-Peribsen, after returning to Egypt from putting down a revolt in Nubia. Either way he ended the infighting of the Second dynasty and reunited Egypt, Khasekhemwy is unique in Egyptian history as having both the symbols of Horus and Set on his serekh. Some Egyptologists believe that this was an attempt to unify the two factions, but after his death, Set was dropped from the serekh permanently and he was the earliest Egyptian king known to have built statues of himself. Khasekhemwy apparently undertook considerable building projects upon the reunification of Egypt and he built in stone at el-Kab, Hierakonpolis, and Abydos. He apparently built a unique, as well as huge, tomb at Abydos, the trapezoidal tomb measures some 70 meters in length and is 17 meters wide at its northern end, and 10 meters wide at its southern end. This area was divided into 58 rooms, prior to some recent discoveries from the 1st dynasty, its central burial chamber was considered the oldest masonry structure in the world, being built of quarried limestone. Here, the excavators discovered the kings scepter of gold and sard, as well as beautifully made small stone pots with gold leaf lid coverings. In fact, Petrie detailed a number of items removed during the excavations of Amélineau, other items included flint tools, as well as a variety of copper tools and vessels, stone vessels and pottery vessels filled with grain and fruit. There were also small, glazed objects, carnelian beads, model tools, basketwork, Khasekhemwy built a fort at Nekhen, and at Abydos and was buried there in the necropolis at Umm el-Qaab. He may also have built the Gisr el-Mudir at Saqqara, Khasekhemwys wife was Queen Nimaethap, mother of the Kings Children. They were the parents of Djoser and Djosers wife Hetephernebti and its also possible that Khasekhemwys son was Sanakhte. Toby Wilkinson, Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt, The Palermo Stone, Egypt, Khasekhem/Khasekhemwy of Egypts 2nd dynasty
Khasekhemwy
–
Statue of Khasekhemwy,
Ashmolean Museum
Khasekhemwy
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Limestone vessel with gold cover from Khasekhemwy's tomb
Khasekhemwy
Khasekhemwy
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The surviving remains of Khasekhemwy's tomb at
Umm el-Qa'ab
46.
Old Kingdom of Egypt
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The term itself was coined by eighteenth-century historians and the distinction between the Old Kingdom and the Early Dynastic Period is not one which would have been recognized by Ancient Egyptians. The Old Kingdom is most commonly regarded as the period from the Third Dynasty through to the Sixth Dynasty, many Egyptologists also include the Memphite Seventh and Eighth Dynasties in the Old Kingdom as a continuation of the administration centralized at Memphis. During the Old Kingdom, the king of Egypt became a god who ruled absolutely and could demand the services. Under King Djoser, the first king of the Third Dynasty of the Old Kingdom, the capital of Egypt was moved to Memphis. A new era of building was initiated at Saqqara under his reign, King Djosers architect, Imhotep is credited with the development of building with stone and with the conception of the new architectural form—the Step Pyramid. Indeed, the Old Kingdom is perhaps best known for the number of pyramids constructed at this time as burial places for Egypts kings. For this reason, the Old Kingdom is frequently referred to as the Age of the Pyramids, the first king of the Old Kingdom was Djoser of the third dynasty, who ordered the construction of a pyramid in Memphis necropolis, Saqqara. An important person during the reign of Djoser was his vizier and it was in this era that formerly independent ancient Egyptian states became known as nomes, under the rule of the king. The former rulers were forced to assume the role of governors or otherwise work in tax collection, Egyptians in this era worshipped their king as a god, believing that he ensured the annual flooding of the Nile that was necessary for their crops. Egyptian views on the nature of time during this period held that the worked in cycles. They also perceived themselves as a specially selected people, the Old Kingdom and its royal power reached a zenith under the Fourth Dynasty, which began with Sneferu. Using more stones than any king, he built three pyramids, a now collapsed pyramid in Meidum, the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur. However, the development of the pyramid style of building was reached not at Saqqara. Sneferu was succeeded by his son, Khufu who built the Great Pyramid of Giza, after Khufus death, his sons Djedefra and Khafra may have quarrelled. The latter built the pyramid and the Sphinx in Giza. Recent reexamination of evidence has led Egyptologist Vassil Dobrev to propose that the Sphinx had been built by Djedefra as a monument to his father Khufu, alternatively, the Sphinx has been proposed to be the work of Khafra and Khufu himself. There were military expeditions into Canaan and Nubia, with Egyptian influence reaching up the Nile into what is today the Sudan, the later kings of the Fourth Dynasty were king Menkaure, who built the smallest pyramid in Giza, Shepseskaf and, perhaps, Djedefptah. The Fifth Dynasty began with Userkaf and was marked by the importance of the cult of sun god Ra
Old Kingdom of Egypt
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The
Pyramid of Djoser at
Saqqara.
Old Kingdom of Egypt
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Temple of Djoser at
Saqqara
Old Kingdom of Egypt
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Head of a King, ca. 2650-2600 B.C.E,
Brooklyn Museum; The earliest representations of Egyptian Kings are on a small scale. Not until Dynasty III were statues made which show the ruler life-size; this forceful head wearing the tall crown of Upper Egypt even surpasses human scale, both in measurements and in its aim to depict the godlike power and strength of the Pharaoh.
47.
Third Dynasty of Egypt
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For the Sumerian Renaissance, see Third Dynasty of Ur The Third Dynasty of ancient Egypt is the first dynasty of the Old Kingdom. Other dynasties of the Old Kingdom include the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth, the capital during the period of the Old Kingdom was at Memphis. After the turbulent last years of the Second Dynasty which might have included civil war, Egypt came under the rule of Djoser, both the Turin King List and the Abydos King List record five kings, while the Saqqara Tablet only records four. Djoser’s successor was Sekhemkhet who had the nebty name Djeserty, the last king of the dynasty is Huni. There are three remaining Horus names of known 3rd dynasty kings, Sanakht, Khaba and perhaps Qahedjet, one of these three went by the nebty name Nebka. Dating the Third Dynasty is similarly challenging, shaw gives the dates as being approximately from 2686 to 2613 BC. The Turin King List suggests a total of 75 years for the third dynasty, baines and Malek have placed the third dynasty as spanning the years 2650 –2575 BC, while Dodson and Hilton date the dynasty to 2584 –2520 BC. It is not uncommon for these estimates to differ by more than a century, a radiocarbon study done of the period in 2010 gives a reign for Djoser between roughly 2691 to 2625 BC. The pharaohs of the Third Dynasty ruled for approximately seventy-five years, the order of the kings is based on Wilkinson. The number of years as king, the years, is based on Dodson and Hilton. They have the dynasty lasting only 64 years, more importantly, seals naming Djoser were found at the entrance to Khasekhemwys tomb at Abydos, which demonstrates that it was Djoser, rather than Sanakht, who buried and succeeded this king. The Turin King List scribe wrote Djosers name in red ink, in any case, Djoser is the best known king of this dynasty, for commissioning his vizier Imhotep to build the earliest surviving pyramids, the Step Pyramid. Some authorities believe that Imhotep lived into the reign of the Pharaoh Huni, little is known for certain of Sekhemkhet. However, it is believed that Khaba possibly built the Layer Pyramid at Zawyet elAryan
Third Dynasty of Egypt
–
Funerary temple of
Djoser at
Saqqara
48.
Nebka
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Nebka is the birth name of an Ancient Egyptian king who ruled during the 3rd dynasty of the Old Kingdom. He is thought to be identical with the Hellenized name form Necherophes, Nebka is one of the most disputed kings of the Old Kingdom, since his name is handed down as cartouche name only, but is preserved always in the same typographical way. And because the sources for the name “Nebka” are that numerous, the earliest source for Nebka´s name is the mastaba tomb of a high official named Aakhty, who lived and worked at the end of 3rd dynasty. The chronologically next source is the famous Westcar Papyrus of 13th dynasty, in which a king “Nebka” appears within a known as “Nebka. The next sources are all from 19th dynasty, the Royal Table of Saqqara though lists no “Nebka”, but instead a king “Nebkarâ” and places that name close to the end of 3rd dynasty, as the direct predecessor of Huni. Even today, egyptologists are disputing the identity and chronological position of Nebka, some scholars, such as Toby Wilkinson, Kenneth Anderson Kitchen, Stephan Seidlmayer and Rainer Stadelmann are convinced, that Nebka was identical with a king Hor-Sanakht. Their assumption is based on a clay seal fragment, which shows traces of a sign which the egyptologists believe to be the rest of a cartouche with the sign Ka from “Nebka”. Egyptologists such as John D. Degreef, Nabil Swelim and Wolfgang Helck contradict the identification of Nebka with Sanakht and they point out that the remains of the inscriptions on the clay seal in question is that damaged, that the alleged cartouche can be hardly identified as such. Instead, it could also be the rest of an oval shaped crest of a fortress with one or several boats in it. The clay seal as a proof was not convincing enough. They also point out, that the mother of king Djoser, queen Nimaethap, was entitled as a “Mother of a king”, therefore, she should have had only one son, who ascended the throne - no place for a “Sanakht” or “Nebka”. Additionally, in the tomb of her husband, king Khasekhemwy, only clay seals of Djoser were found, Kitchen points out, that the Turin Canon inexplicably gives the same length of reign for Nebka as it does for Djoser - a circumstance that shouldn´t be. For this reason many believe that the name “Nebka” was simply misplaced by mistake
Nebka
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Cartouche name of Nebka as shown in the
Abydos King List.
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