Pharaoh (, ;
Egyptian: ''
pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro;
Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the
vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of
ancient Egypt who ruled as
monarchs from the
First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the
annexation of Egypt by the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Medite ...
in 30 BC. However, regardless of gender, "king" was the term used most frequently by the ancient Egyptians for their monarchs through the middle of the
Eighteenth Dynasty during the
New Kingdom
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
. The term "pharaoh" was not used contemporaneously for a ruler until a possible reference to
Merneptah, c. 1210 BC during the
Nineteenth Dynasty, nor consistently used until the decline and instability that began with the
Twenty-Fifth Dynasty.
In the early dynasties, ancient Egyptian kings had as many as
three titles: the
Horus, the
Sedge and Bee (
''nswt-bjtj''), and the Two Ladies or
Nebty (
''nbtj'') name. The Golden Horus and the nomen and prenomen titles were added later.
In Egyptian society,
religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural ...
was central to everyday life. One of the roles of the king was as an intermediary between the deities and the people. The king thus was deputised for the deities in a role that was both as civil and religious administrator. The king owned all of the land in Egypt, enacted laws, collected taxes, and defended Egypt from invaders as the
commander-in-chief of the army. Religiously, the king officiated over religious ceremonies and chose the sites of new temples. The king was responsible for maintaining
Maat (
mꜣꜥt), or cosmic order, balance, and justice, and part of this included going to war when necessary to defend the country or attacking others when it was believed that this would contribute to Maat, such as to obtain resources.
During the early days prior to the unification of
Upper and Lower Egypt, the
Deshret or the "Red Crown", was a representation of the kingdom of Lower Egypt, while the
Hedjet, the "White Crown", was worn by the kings of the kingdom of Upper Egypt. After the unification of both kingdoms into one united Egypt, the
Pschent, the combination of both the red and white crowns was the official crown of kings. With time new headdresses were introduced during different dynasties such as the
Khat,
Nemes,
Atef,
Hemhem crown, and
Khepresh. At times, a combination of these headdresses or crowns worn together was depicted.
Etymology
The word ''pharaoh'' ultimately derives from the
Egyptian compound ', * "great house", written with the two
biliteral hieroglyphs ' "house" and ' "column", here meaning "great" or "high". It was the title of the royal palace and was used only in larger phrases such as ''
smr
SMR may refer to:
Organisations
* Seattle Mountain Rescue, American non-profit
* Solomon Mahlangu Regiment of the South African Army
* Swedish Resistance Movement, a neo-Nazi political party
Places
* San Marino (by ISO 3166-1, IOC and FIFA cou ...
pr-ꜥꜣ'' "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 a person.
Sometime during the era of the
New Kingdom
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
, ''pharaoh'' became the form of address for a person who was king. The earliest confirmed instance where ''pr ꜥꜣ'' is used specifically to address the ruler is in a letter to the eighteenth dynasty king,
Akhenaten
Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Echnaton, Akhenaton, ( egy, ꜣḫ-n-jtn ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth ...
(reigned c. 1353–1336 BC), that is addressed to "Great House, L, W, H, the Lord". However, there is a possibility that the title ''pr ꜥꜣ'' first might have been applied personally to
Thutmose III (c. 1479–1425 BC), depending on whether an inscription on the Temple of Armant may be confirmed to refer to that king. During the
Eighteenth dynasty (sixteenth to fourteenth centuries BC) the title pharaoh was employed as a
reverential designation of the ruler. About the late
Twenty-first Dynasty (tenth century BC), however, instead of being used alone and originally just for the palace, it began to be added to the other titles before the name of the king, and from the
Twenty-Fifth Dynasty (eighth to seventh centuries BC, during the declining
Third Intermediate Period) it was, at least in ordinary use, the only
epithet prefixed to the royal appellative.
From the
Nineteenth dynasty onward ''pr-ꜥꜣ'' on its own, was used as regularly as ''
ḥm'', "Majesty".
The term, therefore, evolved from a word specifically referring to a building to a respectful designation for the ruler presiding in that building, particularly by the time of the
Twenty-Second Dynasty
The Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt is also known as the Bubastite Dynasty, since the pharaohs originally ruled from the city of Bubastis. It was founded by Shoshenq I.
The Twenty-first, Twenty-second, Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, and Twenty-f ...
and
Twenty-third Dynasty.
The first dated appearance of the title "pharaoh" being attached to a ruler's name occurs in Year 17 of
Siamun (tenth century BC) on a fragment from the
Karnak Priestly Annals, a religious document. Here, an induction of an individual to the Amun priesthood is dated specifically to the reign of "Pharaoh
Siamun". This new practice was continued under his successor,
Psusennes II
Titkheperure or Tyetkheperre Psusennes II Greek_language.html" ;"title="/nowiki> Greek Ψουσέννης/nowiki> or Hor-Pasebakhaenniut II Egyptian language">Egyptian ''ḥr-p3-sb3-ḫˁỉ--nỉwt''">Greek language">Greek Ψουσέννης/n ...
, and the subsequent kings of the twenty-second dynasty. For instance, the Large Dakhla stela is specifically dated to Year 5 of king "Pharaoh Shoshenq, beloved of
Amun", whom all Egyptologists concur was
Shoshenq I
Hedjkheperre Setepenre Shoshenq I (Egyptian ''ššnq''; reigned c. 943–922 BC)—also known as Shashank or Sheshonk or Sheshonq Ifor discussion of the spelling, see Shoshenq—was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the founder of the Twenty-secon ...
—the founder of the
Twenty-second Dynasty
The Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt is also known as the Bubastite Dynasty, since the pharaohs originally ruled from the city of Bubastis. It was founded by Shoshenq I.
The Twenty-first, Twenty-second, Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, and Twenty-f ...
—including
Alan Gardiner in his original 1933 publication of this stela. Shoshenq I was the second successor of Siamun. Meanwhile, the traditional custom of referring to the sovereign as, ''pr-ˤ3'', continued in official Egyptian narratives.
The title is reconstructed to have been pronounced in the
Late Egyptian language, from which the Greek historian
Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known for ...
derived the name of one of the Egyptian kings, grc-koi, Φερων. In the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...
, the title also occurs as he, פרעה ;
[Elazar Ari Lipinski: "Pesach – A holiday of questions. About the Haggadah-Commentary Zevach Pesach of Rabbi Isaak Abarbanel (1437–1508).](_blank)
Explaining the meaning of the name Pharaoh." Published first in German in the official quarterly of the Organization of the Jewish Communities of Bavaria: ''Jüdisches Leben in Bayern. Mitteilungsblatt des Landesverbandes der Israelitischen Kultusgemeinden in Bayern.'' Pessach-Ausgabe Nr. 109, 2009, , S. 3–4. from that, in the
Septuagint
The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond t ...
, grc-koi, φαραώ, pharaō, and then in
Late Latin
Late Latin ( la, Latinitas serior) is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the , and continuing into the 7th century in the ...
''pharaō'', both ''-n'' stem nouns. The
Qur'an
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...
likewise spells it ar, فرعون ''firʿawn'' with ''n'' (here, always referring to the one evil king in the
Book of Exodus story, by contrast to the good king in
surah Yusuf
Yusuf ( ar, يوسف, ; Arabic synonym of "Joseph") is the 12th chapter (Surah) of the Quran and has 111 Ayahs (verses). It is preceded by sūrah Hud and followed by Ar-Ra’d (The thunder).
Regarding the timing and contextual background of t ...
's story). The Arabic combines the original
ayin from Egyptian along with the ''-n'' ending from Greek.
In English, the term was at first spelled "Pharao", but the translators of the
King James Bible
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...
revived "Pharaoh" with "h" from the Hebrew. Meanwhile, in Egypt, evolved into
Sahidic Coptic
Coptic (Bohairic Coptic: , ) is a language family of closely related dialects, representing the most recent developments of the Ancient Egyptian language, Egyptian language, and historically spoken by the Copts, starting from the third-century ...
''pərro'' and then ''ərro'' by mistaking ''p-'' as the
definite article
An article is any member of a class of dedicated words that are used with noun phrases to mark the identifiability of the referents of the noun phrases. The category of articles constitutes a part of speech.
In English, both "the" and "a(n)" ...
"the" (from ancient Egyptian ''
pꜣ'').
Other notable epithets are ''
nswt'', translated to "king"; ''
ḥm'', "Majesty"; ''
jty'' for "monarch or sovereign"; ''
nb'' for "lord";
and ''
ḥqꜣ'' for "ruler".
Regalia
Scepters and staves
Sceptres and staves were a general symbol of authority in
ancient Egypt.
[Wilkinson, Toby A. H. ''Early Dynastic Egypt''. Routledge, 2001, p. 158.] One of the earliest royal scepters was discovered in the tomb of
Khasekhemwy
Khasekhemwy (ca. 2690 BC; ', also rendered ''Kha-sekhemui'') was the last Pharaoh of the Second Dynasty of Egypt. Little is known about him, other than that he led several significant military campaigns and built the mudbrick fort known as Shune ...
in
Abydos Abydos may refer to:
*Abydos, a progressive metal side project of German singer Andy Kuntz
* Abydos (Hellespont), an ancient city in Mysia, Asia Minor
* Abydos (''Stargate''), name of a fictional planet in the '' Stargate'' science fiction universe ...
.
Kings were also known to carry a staff, and
Anedjib
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 ...
is shown on stone vessels carrying a so-called ''mks''-staff.
[Wilkinson, Toby A. H. ''Early Dynastic Egypt''. Routledge, 2001, p. 159.] The scepter with the longest history seems to be the ''heqa''-sceptre, sometimes described as the shepherd's crook.
[Wilkinson, Toby A. H. ''Early Dynastic Egypt''. Routledge, 2001, p. 160.] The earliest examples of this piece of regalia dates to
prehistoric Egypt
Prehistoric Egypt and Predynastic Egypt span the period from the earliest human settlement to the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period around 3100 BC, starting with the first Pharaoh, Narmer for some Egyptologists, Hor-Aha for others, with th ...
. A scepter was found in a tomb at Abydos that dates to
Naqada III.
Another scepter associated with the king is the
''was''-sceptre.
This is a long staff mounted with an animal head. The earliest known depictions of the ''was''-scepter date to the
First Dynasty. The ''was''-scepter is shown in the hands of both kings and deities.
The
flail later was closely related to the ''heqa''-scepter (the
crook and flail), but in early representations the king was also depicted solely with the flail, as shown in a late pre-dynastic knife handle that is now in the Metropolitan museum, and on the
Narmer Macehead.
[Wilkinson, Toby A. H. ''Early Dynastic Egypt''. Routledge, 2001, p. 161.]
The Uraeus
The earliest evidence known of the
Uraeus—a rearing cobra—is from the reign of
Den from the first dynasty. The cobra supposedly protected the king by spitting fire at its enemies.
[Wilkinson, Toby A. H. ''Early Dynastic Egypt''. Routledge, 2001, p. 162.]
Crowns and headdresses
Deshret
The red crown of Lower Egypt, the
Deshret crown, dates back to pre-dynastic times and symbolised chief ruler. A red crown has been found on a pottery shard from
Naqada, and later,
Narmer
Narmer ( egy, Wiktionary:nꜥr-mr, nꜥr-mr, meaning "painful catfish," "stinging catfish," "harsh catfish," or "fierce catfish;" ) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period (Egypt), Early Dynastic Period. He was the successor ...
is shown wearing the red crown on both the
Narmer Macehead and the
Narmer Palette.
Hedjet
The white crown of Upper Egypt, the
Hedjet, was worn in the Predynastic Period by
Scorpion II, and, later, by Narmer.
Pschent
This is the combination of the Deshret and Hedjet crowns into a double crown, called the
Pschent crown. It is first documented in the middle of the
First Dynasty of Egypt. The earliest depiction may date to the reign of
Djet, and is otherwise surely attested during the reign of
Den.
[Wilkinson, Toby A. H. ''Early Dynastic Egypt''. Routledge, 2001 ]
Khat
The
''khat'' headdress consists of a kind of "kerchief" whose end is tied similarly to a
ponytail. The earliest depictions of the ''khat'' headdress comes from the reign of
Den, but is not found again until the reign of
Djoser.
Nemes
The
Nemes headdress dates from the time of
Djoser. It is the most common type of royal headgear depicted throughout Pharaonic Egypt. Any other type of crown, apart from the Khat headdress, has been commonly depicted on top of the Nemes. The statue from his
Serdab in
Saqqara
Saqqara ( ar, سقارة, ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphi ...
shows the king wearing the ''nemes'' headdress.
Atef
Osiris
Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He ...
is shown to wear the
Atef crown, which is an elaborate
Hedjet with feathers and disks. Depictions of kings wearing the Atef crown originate from the Old Kingdom.
Hemhem
The
Hemhem crown is usually depicted on top of
Nemes,
Pschent, or
Deshret crowns. It is an ornate, triple
Atef with corkscrew sheep horns and usually two uraei. The depiction of this crown begins among New Kingdom rulers during the Early
Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt.
Khepresh
Also called the blue crown, the
Khepresh crown has been depicted in art since the New Kingdom. It is often depicted being worn in battle, but it was also frequently worn during ceremonies. It used to be called a war crown by many, but modern historians refrain from defining it thus.
Physical evidence
Egyptologist
Bob Brier has noted that despite their widespread depiction in royal portraits, no ancient Egyptian crown has ever been discovered. The tomb of
Tutankhamun that was discovered largely intact, contained such royal regalia as a
crook and flail, but no crown was found among his funerary equipment. Diadems have been discovered. It is presumed that crowns would have been believed to have magical properties and were used in rituals. Brier's speculation is that crowns were religious or state items, so a dead king likely could not retain a crown as a personal possession. The crowns may have been passed along to the successor, much as the crowns of modern monarchies.
Titles
During the
Early Dynastic Period kings had three titles. The
Horus name is the oldest and dates to the late pre-dynastic period. The Nesu Bity name was added during the
First Dynasty. The
Nebty name (Two Ladies) was first introduced toward the end of the First Dynasty.
The Golden falcon (''bik-nbw'') name is not well understood. The
prenomen and
nomen were introduced later and are traditionally enclosed in a
cartouche.
By the
Middle Kingdom, the official
titulary of the ruler consisted of five names; Horus, Nebty, Golden Horus, nomen, and prenomen for some rulers, only one or two of them may be known.
Horus name
The Horus name was adopted by the king, when taking the throne. The name was written within a square frame representing the palace, named a
serekh. The earliest known example of a serekh dates to the reign of king
Ka, before the First Dynasty.
[Toby A. H. Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, Routledge 1999, pp. 57f.] The Horus name of several early kings expresses a relationship with
Horus.
Aha
AHA, Aha, or aha may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Aha!'' (TV program), an information and education TV program in the Philippines
* a-ha, a Norwegian pop music band
* ''Aha!'' (film), a 2007 Bangladeshi film
* Aha (streaming se ...
refers to "Horus the fighter",
Djer refers to "Horus the strong", etc. Later kings express ideals of kingship in their Horus names.
Khasekhemwy
Khasekhemwy (ca. 2690 BC; ', also rendered ''Kha-sekhemui'') was the last Pharaoh of the Second Dynasty of Egypt. Little is known about him, other than that he led several significant military campaigns and built the mudbrick fort known as Shune ...
refers to "Horus: the two powers are at peace", while
Nebra refers to "Horus, Lord of the Sun".
Nesu Bity name
The ''Nesu Bity'' name, also known as
prenomen, was one of the new developments from the reign of
Den. The name would follow the glyphs for the "Sedge and the Bee". The title is usually translated as king of Upper and Lower Egypt. The ''nsw bity'' name may have been the birth name of the king. It was often the name by which kings were recorded in the later annals and king lists.
Nebty name
The earliest example of a ''Nebty'' (
Two Ladies) name comes from the reign of king
Aha
AHA, Aha, or aha may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Aha!'' (TV program), an information and education TV program in the Philippines
* a-ha, a Norwegian pop music band
* ''Aha!'' (film), a 2007 Bangladeshi film
* Aha (streaming se ...
from the
First Dynasty. The title links the king with the goddesses of Upper and Lower Egypt,
Nekhbet and
Wadjet.
The title is preceded by the vulture (Nekhbet) and the cobra (Wadjet) standing on a basket (the neb sign).
Golden Horus
The
Golden Horus or Golden Falcon name was preceded by a falcon on a gold or ''nbw'' sign. The title may have represented the divine status of the king. The Horus associated with gold may be referring to the idea that the bodies of the deities were made of gold and the
pyramids and
obelisks are representations of (golden)
sun-rays. The gold sign may also be a reference to Nubt, the city of Set. This would suggest that the iconography represents Horus conquering Set.
Nomen and prenomen
The
prenomen and
nomen were contained in a cartouche. The prenomen often followed the King of Upper and Lower Egypt (''nsw bity'') or Lord of the Two Lands (''nebtawy'') title. The prenomen often incorporated the name of
Re. The nomen often followed the title, Son of Re (''sa-ra''), or the title, Lord of Appearances (''neb-kha'').
[Dodson, Aidan and Hilton, Dyan. ''The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt''. Thames & Hudson. 2004. ]
See also
*
List of pharaohs
The title "Pharaoh" is used for those rulers of Ancient Egypt who ruled after the unification of Upper Egypt, Upper and Lower Egypt by Narmer during the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt, Early Dynastic Period, approximately 3100 BC. However, the s ...
*
Roman pharaoh
*
Coronation of the pharaoh
*
Curse of the pharaohs
*
Egyptian chronology
*
Pharaohs in the Bible
Notes
References
Bibliography
* Shaw, Garry J. ''The Pharaoh, Life at Court and on Campaign'', Thames and Hudson, 2012.
* Sir
Alan Gardiner ''Egyptian Grammar: Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs'', Third Edition, Revised. London: Oxford University Press, 1964. Excursus A, pp. 71–76.
* Jan Assmann, "Der Mythos des Gottkönigs im Alten Ägypten", in Christine Schmitz und Anja Bettenworth (hg.), ''Menschen - Heros - Gott: Weltentwürfe und Lebensmodelle im Mythos der Vormoderne'' (Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag, 2009), pp. 11–26.
External links
Digital Egypt for Universities
{{Authority control
Ancient Egyptian titles
Heads of state
Royal titles
Noble titles
Positions of authority
Torah monarchs
Titles of national or ethnic leadership
Egyptian royal titles