For nearly 3,000 years, Egypt was ruled by a procession of pharaohs, starting with the Old Kingdom in 2,700 B.C., then the Middle Kingdom and culminating with the New Kingdom, which lasted until 1070 B.C. For the most part, these were absolute monarchs whose power was considered divine. Dynasties passed from one ruler to another with infighting and inbreeding a plenty. It was not an easy time to be atop the throne. But a few rulers stood above the rest.
As ancient Egyptian rulers, pharaohs were both the heads of state and the religious leaders of their people. The word “pharaoh” means “Great House,” a reference to the palace where the pharaoh resides. While early Egyptian rulers were called “kings,” over time, the name “pharaoh” stuck.
The title "pharaoh" is used for those rulers of Ancient Egypt who ruled after the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt by Narmer during the Early Dynastic Period, approximately 3100 BC. However, the specific title was not used to address the kings of Egypt by their contemporaries until the New Kingdom's 18th Dynasty, c. 1400 BC.
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 served as commander-in-chief of the military. Religiously, the king officiated over religious ceremonies and chose the sites of new temples.
As the religious leader of the Egyptians, the pharaoh was considered the divine intermediary between the gods and Egyptians. Maintaining religious harmony and participating in ceremonies were part of the pharaoh’s role as head of the religion. As a statesman, the pharaoh made laws, waged war, collected taxes, and oversaw all the land in Egypt (which was owned by the pharaoh).
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Many scholars believe the first pharaoh was Narmer, also called Menes. Though there is some debate among experts, many believe he was the first ruler to unite upper and lower Egypt (this is why pharaohs hold the title of “lord of two lands”). Pharaohs were typically male, although there were some noteworthy female leaders, like Hatshepsut and Cleopatra. Hatshepsut, in particular, was a successful ruler, but many inscriptions and monuments about her were destroyed after her death-perhaps to stop future women from becoming pharaohs.
After their deaths, many pharaohs were entombed and surrounded by riches they were meant to use in the afterlife. Explorers and archaeologists have discovered these tombs and learned a great deal about ancient Egyptian society from them. One very famous example was in 1922 when archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamen, a pharaoh who died when he was only nineteen.
As a central figure of the state, the pharaoh was the obligatory intermediary between the gods and humans. In the sanctuaries, the image of the sovereign is omnipresent through parietal scenes and statues. In this iconography, 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, the Pharaoh was the supreme officiant; the first of the priests of the country.
More widely, the pharaonic gesture covered all the fields of activity of the collective and ignored the separation of powers. From the Pyramid Texts, the political actions of the sovereign were framed by a single maxim: "Bring Maat and repel Isfet", that is to say, promote harmony and repel chaos. As the nurturing father of the people, the Pharaoh ensured prosperity by calling upon the gods to regulate the waters of the Nile, by opening the granaries in case of famine and by guaranteeing a good distribution of arable land. Chief of the armies, the pharaoh was 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. The Pharaoh was always the sole victor; standing up and knocking out a bunch of prisoners or shooting arrows from his battle chariot.
As the only legislator, the laws and decrees he promulgated were seen as inspired by divine wisdom.
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Sceptres and staves were a general symbol 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 Anedjib is shown on stone vessels carrying a so-called mks-staff. The scepter with the longest history seems to be the heqa-sceptre, sometimes described as the shepherd's crook. The earliest examples of this piece of regalia dates to prehistoric Egypt. 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 earliest evidence known of the Uraeus-a rearing cobra-is from the reign of Den from the first dynasty. A guardian statue wearing the red crown which reflected the facial features of the reigning king, probably Amenemhat II or Senwosret II, and which functioned as a divine guardian for the imiut. Made of cedar wood and plaster c.
The red crown of Lower Egypt, the Deshret crown, dates back to pre-dynastic times and symbolised chief ruler. 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 khat headdress consists of a kind of "kerchief" whose end is tied similarly to a ponytail. 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.
Osiris is shown to wear the Atef crown, which is an elaborate Hedjet with feathers and disks. 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.
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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.
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.
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 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. 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.
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.
The earliest example of a Nebty (Two Ladies) name comes from the reign of king Aha from the First Dynasty. 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.
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.
In Ancient Egypt, the Pharaoh was often considered to be divine. This precept originated before 3000 BCE and the Egyptian office of divine kingship would go on to influence many other societies and kingdoms, surviving into the modern era. The Pharaoh also became a mediator between the gods and man. This institution represents an innovation over that of Sumerian city-states where, though the clan leader or king mediated between his people and the gods, did not himself represent a god on Earth.
During the Early Dynastic Period, the Pharaoh was represented as the divine incarnation of Horus, and the unifier of Upper and Lower Egypt. By the time of Djedefre (26th century BCE), the Pharaoh also ceased to have a father, as his mother was magically impregnated by the solar deity Ra.
According to Pyramid Text Utterance 571, "... the King was fashioned by his father Atum before the sky existed, before earth existed, before men existed, before the gods were born, before death existed ..."
According to an inscription on the statue of Horemheb (14th-13th centuries BCE): "he [Horemheb] already came out of his mother's bosom adorned with the prestige and the divine color ..."
Inscriptions regularly described the Pharaoh as the "good god" or "perfect god" (nfr ntr). By the time of the New Kingdom, the divinity of the king was imbued as he possessed the manifestation of the god Amun-Re; this was referred to as his 'living royal ka' which he received during the coronation ceremony.
The divinity of Pharaoh was still held to during the period of Persian domination of Egypt. The Persian emperor Darius the Great (522-486 BCE) was referred to as a divine being in Egyptian temple texts.
Descriptions of the divinity of the Pharaoh are much more infrequent in sources from Classical Greece. One Ptolemaic-era hymn describes the divinity of the Pharaoh, though this may reflect Greek notions of divine kingship just as much as it could reflect Egyptian ones. The historian Herodotus explicitly denies this, claiming that Egyptian priests rejected any notion of the divinity of the king.
Even after the reign of the Egyptian kings and pharaohs, the notion of Pharaoh's self-notion as a divine being survived and is described in rabbinic literature. In these sources, the Pharaoh is described as hubristically asserting his own divinity and yet, compared to the one true God, is no more than an impotent human.
We will look at three groups of key figures of ancient Egypt: those who contributed to the early development of the pyramid as an important emblem of ancient Egyptian society; those ancient Egyptians whose leadership is noteworthy; and important rulers from outside of Egypt.
There are three key figures of the Old Kingdom (circa 2700-2100 B.C.E.) who drove the development of Egypt’s most famous monument, the pyramid. As the architect to King Djoser (circa 2650-2575 B.C.E.), Imhotep is credited with the development of a six-layer step pyramid at Saqqarah and is the only key figure we cite who is not a ruler. The world’s oldest stone monument, the Step Pyramid, was built over a mastaba, an older form of a rectangular, one-layer tomb in use at the time and is considered the essential first step in the development of the pyramid.
It was Snefru (reigned circa 2600 B.C.E.) who covered the ground between a stepped pyramid and a true pyramid, albeit with some issues along the way-such as the limestone casing falling off the Meidum Pyramid and getting the angle wrong on the Bent Pyramid. But with the Red Pyramid at Dashur, he achieved what is widely considered to be the first true pyramid.
Snefru’s son, Khufu (reigned circa 2580-2565 B.C.E.), learned from his father’s technological advances. He had the Great Pyramid at Giza built, a structure that-with a height of 147 meters (481 feet)-was the world’s tallest building for about 3,800 years, until the Cathedral at Lincoln, England, was completed in 1311 C.E.
Great Pyramid of Giza
Three Notable Pharaohs
1. Khnum Khufu (2589 B.C. - 2566 B.C.)
Khnum Khufu
Khufu was one of the earlier leaders of the Old Kingdom. He’s most known for being responsible for constructing the Great Pyramid of Giza, which was meant for him. The Great Pyramid is the only remaining wonder of this ancient world. But it should be noted that the construction of this great structure was not meant to benefit society as a whole but to house its great king upon his death. Standing 450 feet tall, it’s the biggest of all the pyramids and was made of 2.3 million limestone blocks.
The great pharaoh was likely once housed in a huge granite sarcophagus in what’s known as the “King’s Chamber” of the pyramid, but his mummified remains have never been found.
Beyond this outstanding achievement, which famously towers today, there is only one other known memento left of Khufu: a 3-inch statue of the king found in the ruins of another ancient temple. Still, it’s hard to underestimate the lasting power of the tomb that he left behind.
2. Ramses II (1279 B.C. - 1213 B.C.)
Ramses II
Rameses II, also known as Ramses the Great, was one of the most important kings from the New Kingdom, known for restoring Egypt to its former glory after a period of great turbulence. He ruled Egypt for 67 years and lived into his 90s, later being buried in the Valley of the Kings.
Egypt was in the midst of the Bronze Age, and Ramesses would be responsible for putting up temples and other symbols of his glory throughout the empire. Much of it was built at the temple complex known as Karnak.
Rameses was designated as the future King of Egypt at a young age by his father Seti I. He was made a captain in the army at just 10 years old. His father spent several years molding him to be the great ruler he would one day become. As a young boy, his military title was largely symbolic, but years later, he would be known for his military exploits.
The Great Life Of Ramses (FULL DOCUMENTARY)
While little is known about his personal life, we do know that his second wife Nefertari was likely his favorite and in his life, he fathered nearly 100 children via his various wives and his harem.
3. Thutmose III (1479 B.C. - 1425 B.C.)
Thutmose III
Thutmose III was the nephew of one of the greatest female pharaohs, Hatshepsut. After her death, he took over as the sole ruler and went on to several successful military feats across the region. The Battle of Megiddo is one of his most famous victories, where his men surrounded and starved out the city for 11 months before they surrendered. For this, he gained notoriety throughout the region.
Eventually, Thutmose III would use his military skill to secure the largest empire in Egypt’s history. He conquered over 350 cities, and his soldiers plundered and brought the wealth home to their leader, making Egypt a very wealthy nation. He was also known for inviting his conquered rulers to be schooled at court in Egypt so they would regard their new leader with at least some positivity.
In the New Kingdom (circa 1560-1070 B.C.E.), a set of Egyptian rulers achieved renown for vastly different reasons.
Hatshepsut (reigned circa 1473-1458 B.C.E.) began her rule first as a queen married to Thutmose II, then as regent to her stepson Thutmose III, but ended it as a king in her own right, the first woman to rule Egypt as king.
Thutmose III (reigned circa 1479-1425 B.C.E.) followed Hatshepsut to the throne after she died and apparently tried to eradicate all evidence of her rule. It is now believed he did this to secure the tradition of males serving as the ultimate rulers. Under his rule, Egypt reached the height of its power, with holdings in southwest Asia up to the Euphrates River, supply ports along the Levantine coast in the Middle East, and continued dominance over Nubia, the region along the almighty Nile River.
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