Pharaoh (, ;

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

: ''

pr ꜥꜣ PR, P.R., Pr, pr, or Pr. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''P.R.'' (TV series), a Canadian television sitcom * ''Partisan Review'', a former political and literary journal * ''Perry Rhodan'', German science fiction series * ''Power R ...

''; cop, , Pǝrro;

Biblical Hebrew Biblical Hebrew (, or , ), also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language, a language in the Canaanite branch of Semitic languages spoken by the Israelites in the area known as the Land of Israel, roughly west of ...

: ''Parʿō'') is the

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

term often used for the

monarchs A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power in ...

of ancient Egypt, who ruled from the First Dynasty () 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 Mediterr ...

in 30 BCE. 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 earliest confirmed instances of "pharaoh" used contemporaneously for a ruler were a letter to

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 Dy ...

(reigned –1336 BCE) or an inscription possibly referring to

Thutmose III Thutmose III (variously also spelt Tuthmosis or Thothmes), sometimes called Thutmose the Great, was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Officially, Thutmose III ruled Egypt for almost 54 years and his reign is usually dated from 28 ...

(–1425 BCE). In the early dynasties, ancient Egyptian kings had as many as three titles: the

Horus Horus or Heru, Hor, Har in Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as god of kingship and the sky. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the P ...

, 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 served as commander-in-chief of the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

. Religiously, the king officiated over religious ceremonies and chose the sites of new temples. The king was responsible for maintaining

Maat Maat or Maʽat ( Egyptian: mꜣꜥt /ˈmuʀʕat/, Coptic: ⲙⲉⲓ) refers to the ancient Egyptian concepts of truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality, and justice. Ma'at was also the goddess who personified these concepts, and regul ...

( 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 In Egyptian history, the Upper and Lower Egypt period (also known as The Two Lands) was the final stage of prehistoric Egypt and directly preceded the unification of the realm. The conception of Egypt as the Two Lands was an example of the duali ...

, the

Deshret Deshret ( egy, dšrt "Red One") was the formal name for the Red Crown of Lower Egypt and for the desert Red Land on either side of Kemet (Black Land), the fertile Nile river basin. When combined with the Hedjet (White Crown) of Upper Egypt, it fo ...

or the "Red Crown", was a representation of the kingdom of Lower Egypt, while the

Hedjet Hedjet ( egy, wikt:ḥḏt#Etymology 2, ḥḏt "White One") is the formal name for the White Crown of pharaoh, pharaonic Upper Egypt. After the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, it was combined with the Deshret, the Red Crown of Lower Egypt, t ...

, the "White Crown", was worn by the kings of Upper Egypt. After the unification of both kingdoms, the

Pschent The pschent (; Greek '' ψχέντ'') was the double crown worn by rulers in ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians generally referred to it as sekhemty (''sḫm.ty''), the Two Powerful Ones. It combined the White Hedjet Crown of Upper Egypt and ...

, the combination of both the red and white crowns became the official crown of the pharaoh. With time new headdresses were introduced during different dynasties such as the

Khat Khat or qat ( ''ch’at''; Oromo: ''Jimaa'', so, qaad, khaad, khat or chat, ar, القات ''al-qāt'') is a flowering plant native to eastern and southern Africa. Khat contains the alkaloid cathinone, a stimulant, which is said to cause e ...

Nemes Nemes were pieces of striped head cloth worn by pharaohs in ancient Egypt. It covered the whole crown and behind of the head and nape of the neck (sometimes also extending a little way down the back) and had lappets, two large flaps which hung d ...

Atef Atef is the specific feathered white crown of the ancient Egyptian deity Osiris. It combines the Hedjet, the white crown of Upper Egypt, with curly ostrich feathers on each side of the crown for the Osiris cult. The feathers are identified as os ...

Hemhem crown Hemhem crown was an ancient Egyptian ceremonial headgear, in the form of an ornate triple atef with corkscrew sheep horns and usually two uraei. The Egyptian word "hemhem" means "to shout", "cry out", possibly indicating that the hemhem crown re ...

, and

Khepresh The khepresh (''ḫprš'') was an ancient Egyptian royal headdress. It is also known as the blue crown or war crown. New Kingdom pharaohs are often depicted wearing it in battle, but it was also frequently worn in ceremonies. While it was once c ...

. At times, a combination of these headdresses or crowns worn together was depicted.

Etymology

The word ''pharaoh'' ultimately derives from the

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 pr-ꜥꜣ'' "Courtier of the High House", with specific reference to the buildings of the court or palace. From the

Twelfth Dynasty The Twelfth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty XII) is considered to be the apex of the Middle Kingdom by Egyptologists. It often is combined with the Eleventh, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth dynasties under the group title, Middle Kingdom. Some s ...

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. CairoEgMuseumTaaMaskMostlyPhotographed

Sometime during the era of the

, ''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,

(reigned –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

(–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 The Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XXV, alternatively 25th Dynasty or Dynasty 25), also known as the Nubian Dynasty, the Kushite Empire, the Black Pharaohs, or the Napatans, after their capital Napata, was the last dynasty of th ...

(eighth to seventh centuries BC, during the declining

Third Intermediate Period The Third Intermediate Period of ancient Egypt began with the death of Pharaoh Ramesses XI in 1077 BC, which ended the New Kingdom, and was eventually followed by the Late Period. Various points are offered as the beginning for the latt ...

) it was, at least in ordinary use, the only

epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

prefixed to the royal appellative. From the

Nineteenth dynasty The Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XIX), also known as the Ramessid dynasty, is classified as the second Dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom period, lasting from 1292 BC to 1189 BC. The 19th Dynasty and the 20th Dynasty furt ...

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 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 Neterkheperre or Netjerkheperre-Setepenamun Siamun was the sixth pharaoh of Egypt during the Twenty-first Dynasty. He built extensively in Lower Egypt for a king of the Third Intermediate Period and is regarded as one of the most powerful ruler ...

(tenth century BC) on a fragment from the

Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (, which was originally derived from ar, خورنق ''Khurnaq'' "fortified village"), comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construct ...

Priestly Annals, a religious document. Here, an induction of an individual to the Amun priesthood is dated specifically to the reign of "Pharaoh

". This new practice was continued under his successor,

Psusennes II Titkheperure or Tyetkheperre Psusennes II Greek_language.html" "title="/nowiki>Greek language">Greek Ψουσέννης] or Hor-Pasebakhaenniut II gyptian language, Egyptian ''ḥr-p3-sb3-ḫˁỉ--nỉwt'' was the last Pharaoh, king of the ...

, 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 Amun (; also ''Amon'', ''Ammon'', ''Amen''; egy, jmn, reconstructed as (Old Egyptian and early Middle Egyptian) → (later Middle Egyptian) → (Late Egyptian), cop, Ⲁⲙⲟⲩⲛ, Amoun) romanized: ʾmn) was a major ancient Egyptian ...

", 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—including

Alan Gardiner Sir Alan Henderson Gardiner, (29 March 1879 – 19 December 1963) was an English Egyptologist, linguist, philologist, and independent scholar. He is regarded as one of the premier Egyptologists of the early and mid-20th century. Personal life G ...

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 Late Egyptian is the stage of the Egyptian language that was written by the time of the New Kingdom of Egypt around 1350 BC (the Amarna Period). Texts written wholly in Late Egyptian date to the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt and later. Late Egyptian ...

, 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 f ...

derived the name of one of the Egyptian kings, grc-koi, Φερων. In the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''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).
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 th ...

, 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 t ...

''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.: , sing. ...

likewise spells it ar, فرعون ''firʿawn'' with ''n'' (here, always referring to the one evil king in the

Book of Exodus The Book of Exodus (from grc, Ἔξοδος, translit=Éxodos; he, שְׁמוֹת ''Šəmōṯ'', "Names") is the second book of the Bible. It narrates the story of the Exodus, in which the Israelites leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through t ...

story, by contrast to the good king in surah Yusuf's story). The Arabic combines the original

ayin ''Ayin'' (also ''ayn'' or ''ain''; transliterated ) is the sixteenth letter of the Semitic scripts, including Phoenician , Hebrew , Aramaic , Syriac ܥ, and Arabic (where it is sixteenth in abjadi order only). The letter represents a ...

from Egyptian along with the ''-n'' ending from Greek. In English, the term was at first spelled "Pharao", but the translators for 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

rebracketing Rebracketing (also known as resegmentation or metanalysis) is a process in historical linguistics where a word originally derived from one set of morphemes is broken down or bracketed into a different set. For example, ''hamburger'', originally ...

''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)" ar ...

"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".

Functions

As a central figure of the state, the pharaoh is the obligatory intermediary between the gods and humans. To the former, he ensured the proper performance of rituals in the

temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

; to the latter, he guaranteed agricultural prosperity, the defense of the territory and impartial justice. In the sanctuaries, the image of the sovereign is omnipresent through parietal scenes and

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

s. In this

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

, the pharaoh is invariably represented as the equal of the gods. In the religious speech, he is however only their humble servant, a zealous servant who makes multiple offerings. This piety expresses the hope of a just return of service. Filled with goods, the gods must favorably activate the forces of nature for a common benefit to all Egyptians. The only human being admitted to dialogue with the gods on an equal level, Pharaoh is the supreme officiant; the first of the priests of the country. More widely, the pharaonic gesture covers all the fields of activity of the collective and ignores the

separation of powers Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typic ...

. Also, every member of the administration acts only in the name of the royal person, by delegation of power. From the ''

Pyramid Texts The Pyramid Texts are the oldest ancient Egyptian funerary texts, dating to the late Old Kingdom. They are the earliest known corpus of ancient Egyptian religious texts. Written in Old Egyptian, the pyramid texts were carved onto the subterranea ...

'', the political actions of the sovereign are framed by a single maxim: "Bring

and repel

Isfet An ion-sensitive field-effect transistor (ISFET) is a field-effect transistor used for measuring ion concentrations in solution; when the ion concentration (such as H+, see pH scale) changes, the current through the transistor will change accord ...

", that is to say, promote harmony and repel chaos. As the nurturing father of the people, Pharaoh ensures prosperity by calling upon the gods to regulate the waters of the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...

, by opening the granaries in case of famine and by guaranteeing a good distribution of arable land. Chief of the armies, the pharaoh is the brave protector of the borders. Like Ra who fights the serpent Apophis, the king of Egypt repels the plunderers of the desert, fights the invading armies and defeats the internal rebels. Pharaoh is always the sole victor; standing up and knocking out a bunch of prisoners or shooting arrows from his battle

chariot A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 2000&nbs ...

. As the only legislator, the laws and decrees he promulgates are inspired by divine wisdom. This legislation, kept in the archives and placed under the responsibility of the

vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was a ...

, applies to all, for the common good and social agreement.

Regalia

Scepters and staves

Khasekhemwy-BeadedScepter MuseumOfFineArtsBoston

Sceptre A sceptre is a staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia. Figuratively, it means royal or imperial authority or sovereignty. Antiquity Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia The ''Was'' and other ...

s 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. 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 Naqada III is the last phase of the Naqada culture of ancient Egyptian prehistory, dating from approximately 3200 to 3000 BC. It is the period during which the process of state formation, which began in Naqada II, became highly visible, ...

. 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 A flail is an agricultural tool used for threshing, the process of separating grains from their husks. It is usually made from two or more large sticks attached by a short chain; one stick is held and swung, causing the other (the swipple) to st ...

later was closely related to the ''heqa''-scepter (the

crook and flail The crook and flail (''heka'' and ''nekhakha'') were symbols used in ancient Egyptian society. They were originally the attributes of the deity Osiris that became insignia of pharaonic authority. The shepherd's crook stood for kingship and the ...

), 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 The Narmer macehead is an ancient Egyptian decorative stone mace head. It was found in the “main deposit” in the temple area of the ancient Egyptian city of Nekhen ( Hierakonpolis) by James Quibell in 1898. It is dated to the Early Dynastic ...

.Wilkinson, Toby A. H. ''Early Dynastic Egypt''. Routledge, 2001, p. 161.

The Uraeus

The earliest evidence known of the

Uraeus The Uraeus (), or Ouraeus (Ancient Greek: , ; Egyptian: ', "rearing cobra"), ''(plural: Uraei)'' is the stylized, upright form of an Egyptian cobra, used as a symbol of sovereignty, royalty, deity and divine authority in ancient Egypt. Sym ...

—a rearing cobra—is from the reign of

Den Den may refer to: * Den (room), a small room in a house * Maternity den, a lair where an animal gives birth Media and entertainment * ''Den'' (album), 2012, by Kreidler * Den (''Battle Angel Alita''), a character in the ''Battle Angel Alita' ...

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

crown, dates back to pre-dynastic times and symbolised chief ruler. A red crown has been found on a pottery shard from

Naqada Naqada (Egyptian Arabic: ; Coptic language: ; Ancient Greek: ) is a town on the west bank of the Nile in Qena Governorate, Egypt, situated ca. 20 km north of Luxor. It includes the villages of Tukh, Khatara, Danfiq, and Zawayda. Accordi ...

, 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

and the

Narmer Palette The Narmer Palette, also known as the Great Hierakonpolis Palette or the Palette of Narmer, is a significant Egyptian archeological find, dating from about the 31st century BC, belonging, at least nominally, to the category of cosmetic palettes. ...

Hedjet

The white crown of Upper Egypt, the

, was worn in the Predynastic Period by

Scorpion II Scorpion II ( Ancient Egyptian: possibly Selk or Weha), also known as King Scorpion, was a ruler during the Protodynastic Period of Upper Egypt (c. ). Identity Name King Scorpion's name and title are of great dispute in modern Egyptol ...

, and, later, by Narmer.

Pschent

This is the combination of the Deshret and Hedjet crowns into a double crown, called the

crown. It is first documented in the middle of the

First Dynasty of Egypt The First Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty I) covers the first series of Egyptian kings to rule over a unified Egypt. It immediately follows the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, possibly by Narmer, and marks the beginning of the Early Dyn ...

. The earliest depiction may date to the reign of

Djet Djet, also known as Wadj, Zet, and Uadji (in Greek possibly the pharaoh known as Uenephes or possibly Atothis), was the fourth pharaoh of the First Dynasty. Djet's Horus name means "Horus Cobra" or "Serpent of Horus". Family Djet's queen was ...

, and is otherwise surely attested during the reign of

.Wilkinson, Toby A. H. ''Early Dynastic Egypt''. Routledge, 2001

Khat

IvoryLabelOfDen-BritishMuseum-August19-08

The ''khat'' headdress consists of a kind of "kerchief" whose end is tied similarly to a

ponytail A ponytail is a hairstyle in which some, most or all of the hair on the head is pulled away from the face, gathered and secured at the back of the head with a hair tie, clip, or other similar accessory and allowed to hang freely from that point ...

. The earliest depictions of the ''khat'' headdress comes from the reign of

, but is not found again until the reign of

Djoser Djoser (also read as Djeser and Zoser) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 3rd Dynasty during the Old Kingdom, and was the founder of that epoch. He is also known by his Hellenized names Tosorthros (from Manetho) and Sesorthos (from Euseb ...

Nemes

The

headdress dates from the time of

. 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 A serdab ( fa, سرداب, d=Sardāb), literally meaning "cold water", which became a loanword in Arabic for 'cellar' is an ancient Egyptian tomb structure that served as a chamber for the Ka statue of a deceased individual. Used during the Old Kin ...

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, Memphis. ...

shows the king wearing the ''nemes'' headdress. Kneeling Statuette of Pepy I, ca

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 was ...

is shown to wear the

crown, which is an elaborate

with feathers and disks. Depictions of kings wearing the Atef crown originate from the Old Kingdom.

Hemhem

The

is usually depicted on top of

, or

crowns. It is an ornate, triple

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

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 Robert Brier (; born December 13, 1943) is an American Egyptologist specializing in paleopathology. A senior research fellow at Long Island University/LIU Post, he has researched and published on mummies and the mummification process and has appea ...

has noted that despite their widespread depiction in royal portraits, no ancient Egyptian crown has ever been discovered. The tomb of

Tutankhamun Tutankhamun (, egy, twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn), Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen () (), sometimes referred to as King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ruled ...

that was discovered largely intact, contained such royal regalia as a

, 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 The Horus name is the oldest known and used crest of ancient Egyptian rulers. It belongs to the " great five names" of an Egyptian pharaoh. However, modern Egyptologists and linguists are starting to prefer the more neutral term: the "serekh nam ...

is the oldest and dates to the late pre-dynastic period. The Nesu Bity name was added during the First Dynasty. The

Nebty name The Nebty name (also called the Two-Ladies-name) was one of the "ancient Egyptian royal titulary, great five names" used by Egyptian pharaohs. It was also one of the oldest royal titles. The modern term "Two-Ladies-name" is a simple derivation fro ...

(Two Ladies) was first introduced toward the end of the First Dynasty. The Golden falcon (''bik-nbw'') name is not well understood. The

prenomen The ''praenomen'' (; plural: ''praenomina'') was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the bi ...

and nomen were introduced later and are traditionally enclosed in a

cartouche In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the fea ...

. 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 In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a serekh is a rectangular enclosure representing the niched or gated façade of a palace surmounted by (usually) the Horus falcon, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The serekh was the earliest conven ...

. 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

. Aha refers to "Horus the fighter",

Djer Djer (or Zer or Sekhty) 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 disco ...

refers to "Horus the strong", etc. Later kings express ideals of kingship in their Horus names.

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

, was one of the new developments from the reign of

. 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 In Ancient Egyptian texts, the "Two Ladies" ( egy, nbtj, sometimes anglicized ''Nebty'') was a religious epithet for the goddesses Wadjet and Nekhbet, two deities who were patrons of the ancient Egyptians and worshiped by all after the unificati ...

) name comes from the reign of king Aha from the First Dynasty. The title links the king with the goddesses of Upper and Lower Egypt,

Nekhbet Nekhbet (; also spelt Nekhebit) is an early predynastic local goddess in Egyptian mythology, who was the patron of the city of Nekheb (her name meaning ''of Nekheb''). Ultimately, she became the patron of Upper Egypt and one of the two patron dei ...

and

Wadjet Wadjet (; egy, wꜢḏyt "Green One"), known to the Greek world as Uto (; grc-koi, Οὐτώ) or Buto (; ) among other renderings including Wedjat, Uadjet, and Udjo, was originally the ancient local goddess of the city of Dep. It became part ...

. 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

pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

s and

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

s are representations of (golden)

sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

-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

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. S F-E-CAMERON EGYPT 2005 RAMASEUM 01360

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Shaw, Garry J. ''The Pharaoh, Life at Court and on Campaign'', Thames and Hudson, 2012. * Sir

''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 Monarchs in the Torah Titles of national or ethnic leadership Egyptian royal titles