1.
Egyptian Museum
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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
2.
Pharaoh
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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
3.
Egyptian chronology
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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
4.
Sixth Dynasty of Egypt
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The Sixth Dynasty of ancient Egypt along with Dynasties III, IV and V constitute the Old Kingdom of Dynastic Egypt. Known pharaohs of the Sixth Dynasty are as follows The pharaohs of this dynasty ruled for approximately 164 years, the Horus names and names of the Queens are taken from Dodson and Hilton. Dynasty VI is considered by authorities as the last dynasty of the Old Kingdom. Manetho writes that these kings ruled from Memphis, since their pyramids were built at Saqqara, Dynasty VI was founded by Teti, who had married Iput, commonly believed to be the daughter of the Dynasty V pharaoh Unas. Manetho claimed that Teti was eventually murdered by his own bodyguard, during this dynasty, expeditions were sent to Wadi Maghara in the Sinai Peninsula to mine for turquoise and copper, as well as to the mines at Hatnub and Wadi Hammamat. The pharaoh Djedkara sent trade expeditions south to Punt and north to Byblos, and Pepi I sent expeditions not only to these locations, but also as far as Ebla in modern-day Syria. The most notable member of dynasty was Pepi II, who is credited with a reign of 94 years. With the growing number of inscriptions in non-royal tombs, our knowledge of the contemporary history broadens. For example, we hear of a plot against Pepi I. We also read a written by the young king Pepi II, excited that one of his expeditions will return with a dancing pygmy from the land of Yam. These non-royal tomb inscriptions are but one example of the power of the nobility
5.
Userkare
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Userkare was the second pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty, reigning briefly,1 to 5 years, in the late 24th to early 23rd century BC. Userkares relation to his predecessor Teti and successor Pepi I is unknown, although he is attested in historical sources, Userkare is completely absent from the tomb of the Egyptian officials who lived during his reign. In addition, the Egyptian priest Manetho reports that Userkares predecessor Teti was murdered, alternatively, he may have been a regent who ruled during Tetis sons childhood who later ascended the throne as Pepi I. Userkare is present on the Abydos King List, a list of kings written during the reign of Seti I over 1000 years after the early Sixth Dynasty. Userkares cartouche occupies the 35th entry of the list, between those of Teti and Pepi I, making him the second pharaoh of the dynasty, Userkare was possibly also listed on the Turin canon, a king list composed during the reign of Ramesses II. Unfortunately, a lacuna affects the second line of the fourth column of the papyrus on which the list was written. The mallet bears an inscription giving the name of a crew of workmen Beloved ones of Userkare who hailed from Wadjet. Possible attestations The French Egyptologists Michel Baud and Vassil Dobrev have also proposed that an axe head discovered in Syria could belong to Userkare. The axe bears the name of another crew of workmen called the Beloved ones of the Two Golden Falcons and it is thus tempting to conclude that Userkares was Two Golden Falcons and that the axe belongs to him. The English Egyptologist Flinders Petrie has tentatively identified Userkare with a king named Ity attested by a rock inscription found in the Wadi Hammamat. This identification is nowadays deemed conjectural and several First Intermediate Period dates have been proposed for Ity, although the text reporting Userkares activities is lost, its length suggests that Userkare ruled Egypt for four or less likely two years. The Egyptologists William Stevenson Smith, William C. Hayes and Nicolas Grimal believe that Userkare briefly ruled Egypt either as a legitimate ruler or as a regent with queen Iput I. Indeed, Tetis son Pepi I reigned for circa 50 years, indicating that he was very young at the death of his father. In support of the hypothesis that Userkare was a legitimate ruler, Grimal stresses that he is well attested by historical and contemporaneous sources. This seems in contradiction with the idea that, being illegitimate, in addition, there is no direct evidence of difficulties associated with Pepi Is rise on throne in the archeological record, which one could expect had Userkare been an usurper. Based on this statement, Egyptologists have found it plausible that Userkare participated in or at least benefited from Tetis assassination, Userkares name is theophoric and incorporates the name of the sun god Ra, a naming fashion common during the preceding Fifth Dynasty. The Egyptian-Australian Egyptologist Naguib Kanawati also finds the hypothesis that Userkare was a legitimate ruler or regent unconvincing. Indeed, archeological evidence lends credence to the idea that Userkare was illegitimate in the eyes of his successor Pepi I, in particular, there is no mention of Userkare in the tombs and biographies of the many Egyptian officials who served under both Teti and Pepi I
6.
Merenre Nemtyemsaf I
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Merenre Nemtyemsaf I was the fourth king of the Sixth dynasty of Egypt. His nomen, theophorically referring to Nemty, was read as Antyemsaf. Merenre was a son of Pepi I and Ankhesenpepi I, and grandson of the female vizier Nebet and he also began a process of royal consolidation, appointing Weni as the first governor of all of Upper Egypt and expanding the power of several other governors. While he was assumed to have died at an early age. Two contemporary objects suggests that Merenres reign lasted more than a decade. The British Egyptologists Ian Shaw and Paul Nicholson in a 1995 book raised Merenre Is reign from the traditional 6 year figure to 9 years. One must note that cattle counts were not always biennial, for example,18 had been performed by the 30th year of Pepi Is reign and it is therefore entirely possible that Merenre ruled for fewer than 11 years. Sixth dynasty royal seals and stone found at Saqqara demonstrate that Merenres aunt. Merenres daughter was Ankhesenpepi III, the wife of Pepi II. The South Saqqara Stone, Sixth Dynasty Annals
7.
Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
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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
8.
Ra
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Ra or Re is the ancient Egyptian sun god. By the Fifth Dynasty in the 25th and 24th centuries BC, he had become a god in ancient Egyptian religion. In later Egyptian dynastic times, Ra was merged with the god Horus and he was believed to rule in all parts of the created world, the sky, the earth, and the underworld. He was associated with the falcon or hawk, when in the New Kingdom the god Amun rose to prominence he was fused with Ra as Amun-Ra. During the Amarna Period, Akhenaten suppressed the cult of Ra in favor of another deity, the Aten, the deified solar disc. The cult of the Mnevis bull, an embodiment of Ra, had its center in Heliopolis, all forms of life were believed to have been created by Ra, who called each of them into existence by speaking their secret names. Alternatively man was created from Ras tears and sweat, hence the Egyptians call themselves the Cattle of Ra, in the myth of the Celestial Cow it is recounted how mankind plotted against Ra and how he sent his eye as the goddess Sekhmet to punish them. When she became bloodthirsty she was pacified by drinking beer mixed with red dye, to the Egyptians, the sun represented light, warmth, and growth. This made the sun deity very important, as the sun was seen as the ruler of all that he created, the sun disk was either seen as the body or eye of Ra. Ra was the father of Shu and Tefnut, whom he created, Shu was the god of the wind, and Tefnut was the goddess of the rain. Sekhmet was the Eye of Ra and was created by the fire in Ras eye, Ra was thought to travel on the Atet, two solar barks called the Mandjet or morning boat and the Mesektet or evening boat. These boats took him on his journey through the sky and the Duat, while Ra was on the Mesektet, he was in his ram-headed form. When Ra traveled in his sun boat, he was accompanied by other deities including Sia and Hu. Sometimes, members of the Ennead helped him on his journey, including Set, who overcame the serpent Apophis, and Mehen, when Ra was in the underworld, he would visit all of his various forms. Apophis, the god of chaos, was a serpent who attempted to stop the sun boats journey every night by consuming it or by stopping it in its tracks with a hypnotic stare. During the evening, the Egyptians believed that Ra set as Atum or in the form of a ram, the night boat would carry him through the underworld and back towards the east in preparation for his rebirth. When Ra was in the underworld, he merged with Osiris, the god of the dead, Ra was worshipped as the Creator god among some ancient Egyptians, specifically followers of his cult at Heliopolis. It was believed that Ra wept, and from his tears came man and these cult-followers believed that Ra was self-created, while followers of Ptah believed that Ra was created by Ptah
9.
Ankhesenpepi II
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Ankhesenpepi II or Ankhesenmeryre II was a queen consort during the sixth dynasty of Egypt. She was the wife of Kings Pepi I and Merenre Nemtyemsaf I, Ankhesenpepi II was the daughter of Khui and the female vizier Nebet. Her sister Ankhesenpepi I was also married to King Pepi I and her brother Djau served as vizier. Both queens gave birth to the kings, the son of Ankhesenpepi I was Merenre Nemtyemsaf I, who ruled only for a few years, the son of Ankhesenpepi II was Pepi II, Pepi II was a young boy when he succeeded to the throne. There are indications that Ankhesenpepi II served as a regent for her son in early years of his reign. A statue which shows her with her son on her lap shows the queen much larger in size than her son, some have interpreted this statue as Ankhesenpepi II and her son Pepi II assuming the roles of the goddess Isis and her son Horus. She is also mentioned together with her sister on their brothers stela in Abydos, at her pyramid and she further appears in a decree in Abydos. She is depicted in the Sinai, where she is equal in size to her son. However, it is now known that she was also the queen of Merenre after the death of Pepi I. Since the temple was constructed under Pepi II because it makes a reference to king Pepi II, after her son Pepi came to the throne, Ankhesenpepi added the titles Mother of the Dual King Men-ankh-Neferkare, King’s Mother of Men-ankh-Neferkare, and King’s Mother. Ankhesenpepi IIs pyramid in Saqqara was found and excavated in 1998, the finds show that Ankhesenpepis pyramid contained the first known examples of the pyramid texts in a Queens pyramid. The texts refer to her as a mother, hence the construction of her pyramid dates to the reign of her son. In 1963, the chamber was discovered and remains which could be those of the queen were found. The burial was disturbed and the found in and near the sarcophagus was incomplete. The bones belong to an aged woman
