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
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 ...
from the
First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the
annexation of Egypt by the
Roman Empire 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. The term "pharaoh" was not used contemporaneously for a ruler until a possible reference to
Merneptah
Merneptah or Merenptah (reigned July or August 1213 BC – May 2, 1203 BC) was the fourth pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. He ruled Egypt for almost ten years, from late July or early August 1213 BC until his death on May 2, ...
, 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 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
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 dual ...
, 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, ḥḏt "White One") is the formal name for the White Crown of pharaonic Upper Egypt. After the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, it was combined with the Deshret, the Red Crown of Lower Egypt, to form the Pschent, the double cr ...
, 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 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 was the official crown of kings. With time new headdresses were introduced during different dynasties such as the
Khat,
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 ...
,
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 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 ...
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, ''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 (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
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 2 ...
(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
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 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 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, 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—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, from which the Greek historian
Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer
A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...
derived the name of one of the Egyptian kings, grc-koi, Φερων. In the
Hebrew Bible, 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, grc-koi, φαραώ, pharaō, and then in
Late Latin ''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.: , s ...
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'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 represen ...
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 revived "Pharaoh" with "h" from the Hebrew. Meanwhile, in Egypt, evolved into
Sahidic Coptic ''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)" a ...
"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
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 in
Abydos.
Kings were also known to carry a staff, and
Anedjib 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. 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, w ...
.
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 agriculture, agricultural tool used for threshing, the process of separating cereal, 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 othe ...
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 ancient Egyptian deities, deity Osiris that became insignia of pharaonic authority. The shepherd's crook st ...
), 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
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 ...
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 is shown wearing the red crown on both the
Narmer Macehead 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
Hedjet
Hedjet ( egy, ḥḏt "White One") is the formal name for the White Crown of pharaonic Upper Egypt. After the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, it was combined with the Deshret, the Red Crown of Lower Egypt, to form the Pschent, the double cr ...
, 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
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 ...
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 Dy ...
. 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
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 ...
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
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 Ki ...
in
Saqqara shows the king wearing the ''nemes'' headdress.
Atef
Osiris is shown to wear the
Atef crown, which is an elaborate
Hedjet
Hedjet ( egy, ḥḏt "White One") is the formal name for the White Crown of pharaonic Upper Egypt. After the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, it was combined with the Deshret, the Red Crown of Lower Egypt, to form the Pschent, the double cr ...
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
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 ...
,
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 ...
, or
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 ...
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
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 appear ...
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
The crook and flail (''heka'' and ''nekhakha'') were symbols used in ancient Egyptian society. They were originally the attributes of the ancient Egyptian deities, deity Osiris that became insignia of pharaonic authority. The shepherd's crook st ...
, 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
The Nebty name (also called the Two-Ladies-name) was one of the " 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 from the translation of the Egyptia ...
(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 birt ...
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
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
Horus.
Aha refers to "Horus the fighter",
Djer refers to "Horus the strong", etc. Later kings express ideals of kingship in their Horus names.
Khasekhemwy 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
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 birt ...
, 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 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
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
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 birt ...
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
*
Roman pharaoh
*
Coronation of the pharaoh
*
Curse of the pharaohs
The curse of the pharaohs or the mummy's curse is a curse alleged to be cast upon anyone who disturbs the mummy of an ancient Egyptian, especially a pharaoh. This curse, which does not differentiate between thieves and archaeologists, is claime ...
*
Egyptian chronology
*
Pharaohs in the Bible
The Bible makes reference to various pharaohs ( he, , ''Parʿō'') of Egypt. These include unnamed pharaohs in events described in the Torah, as well as several later named pharaohs, some of whom were historical or can be identified with historic ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
* Shaw, Garry J. ''The Pharaoh, Life at Court and on Campaign'', Thames and Hudson, 2012.
* Sir
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 ...
''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