Narmer Palette
The Narmer Palette, known as the Great Hierakonpolis Palette or the Palette of Narmer, is a significant Egyptian archeological find, dating from about the 31st century BC. It contains some of the earliest hieroglyphic inscriptions ever found, the tablet is thought by some to depict the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the king Narmer. On one side, the king is depicted with the bulbed White Crown of Upper Egypt, and the other side depicts the king wearing the level Red Crown of Lower Egypt. Along with the Scorpion Macehead and the Narmer Maceheads, together in the Main Deposit at Nekhen. The Palette shows many of the conventions of Ancient Egyptian art. The Egyptologist Bob Brier has referred to the Narmer Palette as the first historical document in the world, found at this dig were the Narmer Macehead and the Scorpion Macehead. The exact place and circumstances of these finds were not recorded very clearly by Quibell and Green. In fact, Greens report placed the Palette in a different layer one or two away from the deposit, which is considered to be more accurate on the basis of the original excavation notes.
It has been suggested that these objects were royal donations made to the temple, Nekhen, or Hierakonpolis, was the ancient capital of Upper Egypt during the pre-dynastic Naqada III phase of Egyptian history. One theory is that it was used to grind cosmetics to adorn the statues of the gods, the Narmer Palette is part of the permanent collection of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. It is one of the exhibits which visitors have been able to see when entering the museum. It has the Journal dEntrée number JE32169 and the Catalogue Général number CG14716, the Narmer Palette is a 63-centimetre tall, shield-shaped, ceremonial palette, carved from a single piece of flat, soft dark gray-green siltstone. The stone has often been identified, in the past. Slate is layered and prone to flaking, and schist is a rock containing large. Both are unlike the finely grained, flake-resistant siltstone and this material was used extensively during the pre-dynastic period for creating such palettes and was used as a source for Old Kingdom statuary.
A statue of the 2nd dynasty pharaoh Khasekhemwy, found in the complex as the Narmer Palette at Hierakonpolis. Both sides of the Palette are decorated, carved in raised relief, at the top of both sides are the central serekhs bearing the rebus symbols nr and mr inside, being the phonetic representation of Narmers name. The serekh on each side are flanked by a pair of heads with highly curved horns
Abydos, Egypt
Abydos /əˈbaɪdɒs/ is one of the oldest cities of ancient Egypt, and of the eighth nome in Upper Egypt, of which it was the capital city. It is located about 11 kilometres west of the Nile at latitude 26°10 N, in the ancient Egyptian language, the city was called Abdju. The English name Abydos comes from the Greek Ἄβυδος, a name borrowed by Greek geographers from the city of Abydos on the Hellespont. These tombs began to be seen as extremely significant burials and in times it became desirable to be buried in the area. Today, Abydos is notable for the temple of Seti I. It is a chronological list showing cartouches of most dynastic pharaohs of Egypt from Menes until Seti Is father, the Great Temple and most of the ancient town are buried under the modern buildings to the north of the Seti temple. Many of the structures and the artifacts within them are considered irretrievable and lost. Abydos was occupied by the rulers of the Predynastic period, whose town, the temple and town continued to be rebuilt at intervals down to the times of the thirtieth dynasty, and the cemetery was used continuously.
The pharaohs of the first dynasty were buried in Abydos, including Narmer, who is regarded as founder of the first dynasty and it was in this time period that the Abydos boats were constructed. Some pharaohs of the dynasty were buried in Abydos. The temple was renewed and enlarged by these pharaohs as well, funerary enclosures, misinterpreted in modern times as great forts, were built on the desert behind the town by three kings of the second dynasty, the most complete is that of Khasekhemwy. From the fifth dynasty, the deity Khentiamentiu, foremost of the Westerners, Pepi I constructed a funerary chapel which evolved over the years into the Great Temple of Osiris, the ruins of which still exist within the town enclosure. Abydos became the centre of the worship of the Isis and Osiris cult, during the First Intermediate Period, the principal deity of the area, began to be seen as an aspect of Osiris, and the deities gradually merged and came to be regarded as one. Khentiamentius name became an epithet of Osiris, King Mentuhotep II was the first one building a royal chapel.
In the twelfth dynasty a gigantic tomb was cut into the rock by Senusret III, associated with this tomb was a cenotaph, a cult temple and a small town known as Wah-Sut, that was used by the workers for these structures. Next to that cenotaph were buried kings of the Thirteenth Dynasty, the building during the eighteenth dynasty began with a large chapel of Ahmose I. The Pyramid of Ahmose I was constructed at Abydos—the only pyramid in the area, thutmose III built a far larger temple, about 130 ft ×200 ft. He made a way leading past the side of the temple to the cemetery beyond
Faience
Faience or faïence is the conventional name in English for fine tin-glazed pottery on a delicate pale buff earthenware body. It is originally associated by French speakers with wares exported from Faenza in northern Italy. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, the invention seems to have been made in Iran or the Middle East before the ninth century. A kiln capable of producing temperatures exceeding 1,000 °C was required to achieve this result, the result of millennia of refined pottery-making traditions. The term is now used for a variety of pottery from several parts of the world, including many types of European painted wares. Technically, lead-glazed earthenware, such as the French sixteenth-century Saint-Porchaire ware, does not properly qualify as faience, semi-vitreous stoneware may be glazed like faience. However, this material is not pottery at all, containing no clay, the Metropolitan Museum of Art displays a faience hippopotamus from Meir, dated to Dynasty 12, ca.
Examples of ancient faience are found in Minoan Crete, which was influenced by Egyptian culture. Faience material, for instance, has recovered from the Knossos archaeological site. The Moors brought the technique of tin-glazed earthenware to Al-Andalus, where the art of lustreware with metallic glazes was perfected, from Málaga in Andalusia and Valencia these Hispano-Moresque wares were exported, either directly or via the Balearic Islands to Italy and the rest of Europe. This type of Spanish pottery owed much to its Moorish inheritance, in Italy, locally produced tin-glazed earthenwares, initiated in the fourteenth century, reached a peak in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. The first northerners to imitate the tin-glazed earthenwares being imported from Italy were the Dutch, English Delftware produced in Lambeth, and at other centers, from the late sixteenth century, provided apothecaries with jars for wet and dry drugs. Many of the potters in London were Flemish. By about 1600, blue-and-white wares were being produced, labelling the contents within decorative borders, the production was slowly superseded in the second half of the eighteenth century with the introduction of cheap creamware.
Dutch potters in northern Germany established German centres of faience, the first manufactories in Germany were opened at Hanau and Heusenstamm, in Switzerland, Zunfthaus zur Meisen near Fraumünster church houses the porcelain and faience collection of the Swiss National Museum in Zurich. Faïence parlante bears mottoes often on decorative labels or banners, wares for apothecaries, including albarello, can bear the names of their intended contents, generally in Latin and often so abbreviated to be unrecognizable to the untutored eye. Mottoes of fellowships and associations became popular in the 18th century, at the low end of the market, local manufactories continued to supply regional markets with coarse and simple wares. These so-called majolica wares were made by Wedgwood and numerous smaller Staffordshire potteries round Burslem
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, 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, 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 occurs as פרעה, from that, Septuagint φαραώ pharaō and Late Latin pharaō, both -n stem nouns. The Quran likewise spells it فرعون firawn with n, 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 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 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
Flinders Petrie
Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie, FRS, FBA, commonly known as Flinders Petrie, was an English Egyptologist and a pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology and preservation of artefacts. He held the first chair of Egyptology in the United Kingdom, some consider his most famous discovery to be that of the Merneptah Stele, an opinion with which Petrie himself concurred. Petrie developed the system of dating based on pottery and ceramic findings. William Matthew Flinders Petrie was born in Maryon Road, Kent, Anne was the daughter of Captain Matthew Flinders, surveyor of the Australian coastline, spoke six languages and was an Egyptologist. His father taught his son how to survey accurately, laying the foundation for his archaeological career, at the age of eight, he was tutored in French and Greek, until he had a collapse and was taught at home. He ventured his first archaeological opinion aged eight, when visiting the Petrie family were describing the unearthing of the Brading Roman Villa in the Isle of Wight.
The boy was horrified to hear the rough shovelling out of the contents, and protested that the earth should be pared away, inch by inch, to see all that was in it and how it lay. All that I have done since, he wrote when he was in his seventies, was there to begin with. I was already in archaeology by nature, on 26 November 1896, Petrie married Hilda Urlin in London. They had two children and Ann and they originally lived in Hampstead, where an English Heritage blue plaque now stands on the building they lived in,5 Cannon Place. Their son was John Flinders Petrie, the mathematician, who gave his name to the Petrie polygon, when he died in 1942, Petrie donated his head to the Royal College of Surgeons of London while his body was interred in the Protestant Cemetery on Mt. Zion. World War II was at its height, and the head was delayed in transit, after being stored in a jar in the college basement, its label fell off and no one knew who the head belonged to. It was identified however, and is now stored, but not displayed, the chair of Edwards Professor of Egyptian Archaeology and Philology at University College London was set up and funded in 1892 by a bequest of Amelia Edwards following her sudden death in that year.
Petries supporter since 1880, Edwards had instructed that he should be its first incumbent and he continued to excavate in Egypt after taking up the professorship, training many of the best archaeologists of the day. In 1913 Petrie sold his collection of Egyptian antiquities to University College, London. One of his students was Howard Carter who went on to discover the tomb of Tutankhamun, in his teenage years, Petrie surveyed British prehistoric monuments in attempts to understand their geometry. On that visit, he was appalled by the rate of destruction of monuments, impressed by his scientific approach, they offered him work as the successor to Édouard Naville. Petrie accepted the position and was given the sum of £250 per month to cover the excavations expenses, in November 1884, Petrie arrived in Egypt to begin his excavations
Memphis, Egypt
Memphis was the ancient capital of Aneb-Hetch, the first nome of Lower Egypt. Its ruins are located near the town of Mit Rahina,20 km south of Giza, according to legend related by Manetho, the city was founded by the pharaoh Menes. Capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom, it remained an important city throughout ancient Mediterranean history and it occupied a strategic position at the mouth of the Nile delta, and was home to feverish activity. Its principal port, Peru-nefer, harboured a high density of workshops, during its golden age, Memphis thrived as a regional centre for commerce and religion. Memphis was believed to be under the protection of the god Ptah and its great temple, Hut-ka-Ptah, was one of the most prominent structures in the city. The name of temple, rendered in Greek as Aί γυ πτoς by the historian Manetho, is believed to be the etymological origin of the modern English name Egypt. The history of Memphis is closely linked to that of the country itself and its eventual downfall is believed to be due to the loss of its economic significance in late antiquity, following the rise of coastal Alexandria.
Its religious significance diminished after the abandonment of the ancient religion following the Edict of Thessalonica, the ruins of the former capital today offer fragmented evidence of its past. They have been preserved, along with the complex at Giza. The site is open to the public as an open-air museum, Memphis has had several names during its history of almost four millennia. Its Ancient Egyptian name was Inbu-Hedj, because of its size, the city came to be known by various other names that were actually the names of neighbourhoods or districts that enjoyed considerable prominence at one time or another. For example, according to a text of the First Intermediate Period, it was known as Djed-Sut, the city was at one point referred to as Ankh-Tawy, stressing the strategic position of the city between Upper and Lower Egypt. This name appears to date from the Middle Kingdom, and is found in ancient Egyptian texts. At the beginning of the New Kingdom, the city known as Men-nefer. The name Memphis is the Greek adaptation of this name, which was originally the name of the pyramid of Pepi I, in the Bible, Memphis is called Moph or Noph.
The city of Memphis is 20 km south of Cairo, on the west bank of the Nile. The modern cities and towns of Mit Rahina, Abusir, Abu Gorab, the city was the place that marked the boundary between Upper and Lower Egypt. The island of the city is today uninhabited, the closest settlement is the town of Mit Rahina
Umm El Qa'ab
Umm El Qaāb is the necropolis of the Early Dynastic kings at Abydos, in Egypt. Its modern name means Mother of Pots, as the area is littered with the broken pot shards of offerings made in earlier times. The cultic ancient name of the area was pkr or pkr District of the poker-tree or Opening of the poker-tree, the tombs of this area were first excavated by Émile Amélineau in the 1890s and more systematically by William Matthew Flinders Petrie between 1899-1901. P – Peribsen A seal found in this tomb contains the first full sentence written in hieroglyphs, V – Khasekhemwy This tomb was on a massive scale, with several interconnecting mud-brick chambers, and the actual burial chamber being constructed of dressed limestone blocks. When excavated by Petrie in 1901 it contained a scepter made from sard and banded with gold, limestone vases with golden covers, human sacrifice was practiced as part of the funerary rituals associated with the first dynasty. The tomb of Djer is associated with the burials of 338 individuals thought to have been sacrificed, the people and animals sacrificed, such as asses, were expected to assist the pharaoh in the afterlife.
It appears that Djers courtiers were strangled and their tombs all closed at the same time. For unknown reasons, this ended with the conclusion of the dynasty. Media related to Umm El Qaab at Wikimedia Commons
Neithhotep
Neithhotep or Neith-hotep was an Ancient Egyptian queen consort living and ruling during the early 1st dynasty. More recent discoveries suggest that Neithhotep might have instead been a spouse of Hor-Aha, archeological evidence indicates that she may have ruled as pharaoh in her own right, and as such would have been the earliest female monarch in history. Neithhoteps name is connected to Neith, the goddess of war and this followed a tradition notably practiced during the first dynasty, many queens and princesses had names referencing the deity. At the time Neithhotep ruled, many titles for kings. At this early state of development, the early Egyptians may not have known yet how to express certain titles. Alternatively, the believe in the roles of queens was still a different one as it was at Meritneiths time. Neithhoteps name was found at Helwan and Naqada and it appears on clay seal impressions, on ivory tags and as inscriptions on stone bowls. Most of the objects were found in her complex and in the tombs of Aha.
On several clay seals, Neithhoteps name was written inside a double serekh, one unusual seal impression gives the name diction Hetepjw. A new discovery site of Neithhoteps name lies in the Wadi Ameyra at Sinai, at the site, several rock carvings date back to the times of the kings Iry-Hor, Narmer and Raneb. King Djers inscription depicts at its left a procession of royal festive boats, the horus-falcon atop of the serekh holds a war mace, clubbing a kneeling foe to death. Neith-hoteps name appears at the left site diagonally above the serekh, however, as the understanding of early Egyptian writings developed, scholars learned that Neithhotep was in fact a female noble of extraordinary rank. Along with this realization, scholars viewed her now as the wife of king Narmer and mother of Hor-Aha and this view was promoted by clay seal impressions found in her tomb showing the serekhs of Narmer and Aha. Neithhoteps name appears on clay seal impressions inside a serekh - a fashion that was commonly reserved for male rulers only.
Secondly, her tomb is of size and it has its own cultic enclosure. Such a case is known only from queen Meritneith. A third evidence are the Wadi Ameyra inscriptions themselves, these reveal that Neithhotep arranged and ordered an expedition through the Wadi in attempt to mine ore and harvest feedstocks. But such an act commonly required royal powers that a queen consort didnt have - not until she was in fact an independent
Den (pharaoh)
Den, known as Hor-Den 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 rulers 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 and Abu Rawash, Dens name is attested in 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 had numerous sons and daughters, his possible successors could have been king Anedjib and king Semerkhet. Dens Royal Household is well researched, subsidiary tombs and palatial mastabas at Sakkara belonged to high officials such as Ipka, Ankh-ka, Nebitka, 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
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 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 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 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
Southern Levant
The Southern Levant is a geographical region encompassing the southern half of the Levant. It corresponds approximately to modern-day Israel and Jordan, some include southern Lebanon. As a strictly geographical description, it is used by archaeologists and historians to avoid the religious. Like much of Southwestern Asia, the Southern Levant is a region consisting mostly of desert and dry steppe, with a thin strip of wetter. The Southern Levant has a history and is one of the areas of the world most intensively investigated by archaeologists. It is considered likely to be the first place that both early hominins and modern humans colonised outside of Africa, consequently, it has a rich Stone Age archaeology, stretching back as early as 1.5 million years ago. In the field of archaeology, the southern Levant is the region identified as Syria-Palestine. Dissertations using the terms ‘Israel’ and ‘Canaan’, the term Southern Levant has been criticized as imprecise and an awkward name. The Southern Levant lies on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, in the region known variously as the Near East.
It is bordered to the east and southwest by the Syrian and Sinai deserts, some definitions include parts of these deserts in the region. The Litani River is commonly considered the line between the Southern Levant and the Northern Levant, or sometimes the Orontes River, in central Lebanon. For the most part, the climate of the Southern Levant is arid or semi-arid, however a narrow strip along the coast experiences a temperate, Mediterranean climate due to its proximity to the sea. Across the region, precipitation is both highly seasonal―most rain falls between October and May, and hardly any in the subject to large, unpredictable interannual variation. Temperature is variable, with cool winters and hot summers. The Jordan River bisects much of the region into the Cisjordan and Transjordan, the Jordan River terminates at the Dead Sea, whose banks, at 400 metres below sea level, are the worlds lowest point on dry land. Later phases are generally associated with periods and are named accordingly.
The names given to them, derived from the Greek, are used widely for other regions. The different ages in turn are divided up into sequential or sometimes parallel chrono-cultural facies, sometimes called “cultures” or “periods”
Qa'a
Qaa was the last king of the First Dynasty of Egypt. He reigned for 33 years at the end of the 30th century BC, Manetho calls Qaa Biénechês and gives him a reign of 26 years. Other versions of copies of Manetho´s epithomes give Óubiênthis and Víbenthis as hellenized names, the parents of Qaa are unknown, but it is thought that either his predecessor Anedjib or Semerkhet was his father, since it was tradition to leave the throne to the eldest son. If Manetho suggested correctly, Semerkhet was the father, there is not much information left about Qaas reign, but it seems that he reigned for a long time. Several stone vessel inscriptions mention a second Sed festival for Qaa, the first festival was usually not celebrated before 30 years of reign, and subsequent festivals could be repeated every third year. The Palermo Stone only mentions the year of coronation and some usual cultic events that were celebrated under every king, the numerous ivory tags dating to his reign mention only typical arrangements, such as depicting and counting burial offerings and personal possessions of the king.
Several mastaba tombs of high officials date into Qaas reign, Henuka, despite Qaa´s long and prosperous reign, evidence shows that after his death, a dynastic war between different royal houses began over the newly empty throne. In the tomb of the high official Merka, a vessel with the name of a king Sneferka was found. It is unclear whether Sneferka was a name of Qaa or if he was a separate. Egyptologists such as Wolfgang Helck and Toby Wilkinson point to a mysterious ruler named Horus Bird. It is postulated that Sneferka and Horus Bird fought for power, strong clues to that theory are traces of grave robberies and arsons found in the royal tombs of Abydos. Clay seals of Hotepsekhemwy found in Qaas tomb suggest that he restored the tomb or buried Qaa, Qaa had a fairly large tomb in Abydos which measures 98.5 X75.5 feet or 30 X23 meters. A long reign is supported by the size of this rulers burial site at Abydos. This tomb was excavated by German archaeologists in 1993 and proved to contain 26 satellite burials, a seal impression bearing Hotepsekhemwys name was found near the entrance of the tomb of Qaa by the German Archaeological Institute in the mid-1990s.
The discovery of the seal impression has been interpreted as evidence that Qaa was buried, and therefore succeeded, by Hotepsekhemwy, the beautiful tomb stela of Qaa is now on display at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The tomb of one of Qaas state officials at Saqqara—a certain nobleman named Merka—contained a stele with many titles, there is a second Sed festival attested. This fact plus the quality of a number of royal steles depicting the king implies that Qaas reign was a fairly stable. A number of year labels have discovered dating to his reign at the First Dynasty burial site of Umm el-Qaab in Abydos
