Debate about the founder of the Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, By Kyrllos Eskandar.

 


Debate about the founder of the kingdom of Ancient Egypt.

 Due to the lack of the information and because of the scattrered sources we have three theories and hypotheses about the founder of the Ancient Egyptian Kingdom, the one who united Upper and Lower Egypt to become one strong Empire.

Before the dynastic period in Egypt, the land of Egypt was divided into two parts the north and the south, each part had its own crown and its own local deity.

white and red crwon

The red crown was the crown For the north known as “Dshrt”, the white crown was for the south known as “Hdjet”.  

Goddess Wadjet “cobra” was the local deity for the north, Goddess Nekhbet “ vulture” was the local deity for the south.

goddess wadjet and nekhbet

After the unification of the two lands in the 1st dynasty, the two lands have been unified under the control of one king who used to wear the double crowns of the north and south named “Sekhemty”, moreover the kings after the unification used to precede their names with title “Nebti name” which was combination between the two local deities of the north and the south (cobra and Vulture) to show and emphasise the unification between the north and south under the control of the king.

A new capital established to be the administrative center for the country named “Men nefr” 20 km  south of Giza.

We have three names one of them assumed to be the hero who united Egypt and established one of the greatest empires in history;

1- NARMER

2- MENES

3- SCORPION

According to Ancient Egyptian tradition voiced by Manetho & Herodotos and the Ancient Egyptian Kinglists, the 1st dynasty started with the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt by the almost legendary king MENES while the archaeological record does not mention Menes.

The first king to be prominently present in the available sources material is NARMER. his name has been found throughout Egypt, which sometimes interpreted that Narmer was the first king to have ruled over the whole Egypt.

Narmer’s name also has been found outside Egypt, In Syria-Phalestine, indicating that there was an active trade going on between Egypt and parts of the Ancient Near East.

narmer palette

One of the most important artefacts of king Narmer his schist palette, it is finely decorated with scenes of the king as a victorious, and it shows scenes of celebrations. Most of the scenes on this palette used to be interpreted as a sign of war between the north and the south ended with the victory of Narmer and the unification of the two lands.

This palette was found in a deposit in Hierakonpolis a predynastic capital in the South of Egypt, the deposit where it was found also contained other artefacts stemming from the early beginnings of Ancient Egypt’s recorded history.

One of these artefacts, fragments of a macehead inscribed with the name of king Scorpion, whom sometimes referred as king Narmer’s predecessor. And sometimes as a rival king.



scorpion macehead

 But in a stylistic comparison of the macehead of king Scorpion with both the macehead of king Narmer and his palette would reveal that at very least, all three artefacts are very likely to have been produced at the same atelier.

This and the absence of any other known sources to mention king Scorpion has led some Egyptologists to propose that Scorpion and Narmer were the same person. Until more sources are found that would confirm scorpion as a different king, the hypothesis That he and Narmer were the same cannot be discarted.

 

narmer macehead

whether the three names for one person or three different kings, in the future with more discoveries and excavations the truth might be revealed to know who is the founder of our Empire.


By kyrllos Eskandar

Egyptologist-Tourguide

facebook page: kyrllos eskandar- egypt tourguide

youtube channel: Shadow of pharaohs

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