2009年3月29日 下午11點41分56秒The Royal Cults of the Kings of Ancient Egypt

by Jefferson Monet

Ancient Egyptian cults can be divided into several categories, including Divine Cults, which worshipped actual existing gods, Royal Cults for the worship of the king, Private Cults,  animal cults and what might be referred to as other Funerary Cults for the worship of deceased private individuals. Of these, perhaps the second most important, after Divine Cults, were the Royal Cults. The cult of the king was one of the most prominent features of ancient Egyptian religion. The Egyptian ruler, because of his status as a ntr, or god, received both a cult during his life and after his death. He (or she) acquired and maintained his divinity as a result of specific kingship rituals, of which, the coronation was clearly the most important. In this ceremony, the king was transformed into a god by means of his union with the royal ka, or soul. All previous kings of Egypt had possessed the royal ka, and at his or her coronation, the king became divine as "one with the royal ka when his human form was overtaken by his immortal element, which flows through his whole being and dwells in it". As a god, the King became the son of Re, the sun god, and he was a manifestation of Horus, the falcon god, as well as the son of Osiris. Also, from the Middle Kingdom, there was increasing emphasis placed on his relationship with Amun-Re, and he was described as the son of Amun, the king of the gods.  Thus, the king became an intermediary between mankind and the divine, responsible for sustaining the balance of the universe through maintaining ma'at, or divine order. Upon his death, the ancient Egyptians believed that he became fully divine and assimilated with Osiris and Re. The kings status as a god depended on his or her union with the royal ka, and therefore various rituals were intended to reinforce this relationship during the king's reign. An obvious example was the Opet festival that was held each year at the temple of Amun-Re at Karnak during the fourth month of the inundation. There, the king had his union with the royal ka renewed and therefore his right to rule reconfirmed. After (almost always) thirty years, the king also celebrated his first sed-festival, which served to reconfirm his relationship to the royal ka as well as to restore his vitality. The practice of the king receiving a royal cult during his lifetime became especially prominent during the New Kingdom, beginning with the reign of Amenhotep III. This cult followed very closely the pattern of the daily temple rituals of other gods, and kings erected for themselves statues, sometimes colossal, so that offerings could be received. There are depictions of the king making offerings to his deified self. These statue represented the royal ka of the living king, and when he or she worships their own statue, they are actually worshipping the concept of deified kingship as represented in the royal ka, which the king embodies.  Cults associated with the living pharaoh were more significant during certain periods, and may have been linked with various political, economic and religious trends. For example, this type of cult may have been emphasized during periods of coregency. Evidence suggests that, during the Middle and New Kingdoms, some successors could have been coronated prior to the death of the elder king. In these cases, the elder ruler may have been projected into a fully divine role, perhaps conceptualized as a living Osiris. However, clearly the most important development in the cult of the living king occurred during the New Kingdom, focusing on his or her divine birth. The key here is that the pharaoh was engendered not by the seed of his actual paternal father, but rather by that of Amun himself. Cults focused on the divinity of the ruling monarch could have been linked to a need to legitimize the king's claim to the throne by rulers such as Hatshepsut, the Early 18th Dynasty female ruler. Yet, the expanded role of the cult of the living pharaoh persisted through the New Kingdom. It's strength perhaps may be seen as a means of contributing to royal power and legitimacy over an increasingly complex governmental and religious system. The cult of the living king probably had it's greatest emphasis during the Amarna period, when Akhenaten focused the state religion on the supreme power of the sun disk known as Aten. His religious program emphasized the indispensable role of the king as the sole intermediary between mankind and the life giving force of the sun disk. Direct worship of the Aten was actually limited to Akhenaten himself, while the king and his royal family were intended to be the object of worship by the population at large. There have been unearthed offering stelae depicting the royal family belonging to private households, and such veneration of the king within domestic spheres represents an emphasis on kingly divinity not seen in other periods. However, after the Amarna period, royal cult buildings continued to be erected, such as that of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel, that presented the royal cult as an inseparable part of the divine order.  The Temple of Luxor may be seen as the greatest surviving monument relating to the divine, living king. Though the building was begun during the Middle Kingdom, it underwent major additions and restorations during the reign of Amenhotep III and later during the Ramessid period. This building can best be understood as a cult place of the living king and his divine association with the Theban triad. It was the focal point of the great Opet festival, when the image of Amun journeyed from his sanctuary at Karnak and the living king celebrated his divine origins.  Of course, the worship of the divine king continued after his or her death, and from the very beginning of Egyptian history, the royal burials included a place where the dead ruler's spirit could receive offerings of food and drink. Early evidence for the development of the royal funerary cult occurs in the mortuary structures built by the Early Dynastic kings at Abydos. The burial places of the 1st and 2nd Dynasty kings have associated "valley enclosures" and there is evidence for long term presentation of offerings in a few of these.  The famous Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara is the first known fully articulated funerary monument.  It includes various architectural elements that were designed to perpetuate the role of the king in the afterlife, including symbolic components of the royal palace, both above ground as well as below the pyramid where the king could rule for eternity. An integrated element of this architecture was a full offering cult, which was housed in a mortuary temple positioned on the north side of the pyramid.  As early as the 4th Dynasty, kings erected for themselves a mortuary temple complex situated on the east side of their larger pyramids for their funerary cult. The colossal size and investment that went into these pyramid complexes of the 4th Dynasty attests to the central importance of the pharaoh and his cult during this period of very early Egyptian history. In fact, considering the resources that went into these structures, much of the central government during the Old Kingdom must have been focused on the construction of these funerary complexes, and so the royal cult became a driving force in the political and economic of the Old Kingdom state.  Royal pyramid complexes from the 4th, 5th and 6th dynasties typically had two main cult buildings, including the mortuary temple on the pyramid's east side, and a valley temple at the edge of the Nile River floodplain. Like normal divine cults, the mortuary temples were manned by rotating teams of priests in order to receive offerings and carry on the cult rituals. The valley temple, on the other hand, was adorned with scenes and statuary expressing the king's association with a wide variety of deities. Specifically, the valley temples seems to have been a structure used particularly to link the royal cult with other temples through periodic festivals and processions.  Beginning with the pyramid of King Userkaf, the first king of Egypt's 5th Dynasty, there was a false door in the mortuary temple that became the focal point for offerings to the king's spirit. However, beginning with the pyramid of Unas, the last ruler of the 5th Dynasty, a major source of information on royal funerary cults is the Pyramid Texts, where were inscribed on the walls of the burial chambers. These texts provide a complex series of magical spells and religious statements intended to aid the king during the afterlife. They record embalming and burial rituals, as well as written versions of he offering formulae and of the offering ritual itself. During the Middle Kingdom, the construction of pyramid complexes continued, but there were some basic theological shifts. For example, the first royal mortuary complex build during the eleventh dynasty, belonging to Montuhotep, represents a departure from the complexes of the Old Kingdom in its emphasis on venerating the newly important state god of Thebes, Amun-Re. Now, the king's legitimacy is provided through his or her association with that deity. Hence, the complex of Montuhotep focuses on the Thebian triad, consisting of Amun, Mut and Khonsu, but integrates a cult statue for the king.  The association between the the deified king and other gods was emphasized during this period, and later with the ritual known as the "Beautiful Festival of the Valley", which was held annually. During this ceremony, the image (statue) of Amun was carried on his sacred bark to the west where he visited the king's funerary temple.  Later, during the Middle Kingdom, there were at times efforts to return to Old Kingdom cult practices, but there were nevertheless significant changes in conceptions of kingship that effectively restructured ideas on the nature of the king's role. Changes reflected in the design and decoration of royal cult buildings of the later Middle Kingdom and afterwards emphasis the veneration of the gods, with the king's cult appended and legitimized through his association with important gods. By late in the 12th Dynasty, the term "mansion of millions of years" appears in some records referencing the funerary temple of Amenemhet III at Hawara. This term can be understood to apply to royal cult complexes where the king's cult was important, but nevertheless subordinate to the cult of major deities. This late 12th Dynasty practice ushered in the New Kingdom, when the mansion of millions of years became the standard type of royal cult building. They were built on the West bank of the Nile at Thebes, and the best remaining examples are the Ramesseum of Ramesses II of the 19th Dynasty and Medinet Habu built by Ramesses III. who ruled during the 20th Dynasty. These temple complexes were built some distance from the actual tombs of these rulers, who were buried further in on the West Bank in the Valley of the Kings.  Now, rather being independent, these temples were considered a part of the domain of Amun and so were connected administratively with the great temple of Amun at Karnak. They were surrounded by various precincts that included storerooms and housing for priests and officials who ran the economic foundations that sustained their cults.  These complexes, usually referred to as mortuary temples, were actually built and dedicated to Amun-Re. The cult of the king was mediated by his or her divine association with that deity. The "Beautiful Festival of the Valley" survived the Middle Kingdom and continued as one of the most important ritual links during the New Kingdom between the royal funerary temples and the temple of Amun at Karnak.  However, there were mansions of millions of years built elsewhere. One important example is that of Seti I at Abydos, where the royal cult was linked to one of Egypt's other principal gods, Osiris. The ancient Egyptians believed that Osiris was a deceased king of Egypt who was reborn to rule in the netherworld. Thus, Seti I's temple was also a monument dedicated to the institution of kingship itself as embodied in Osiris.  Seti I's temple also illustrates another type of cult, which venerates the royal ancestors through cult activity mandated by the living king. Known as the Cult of the Royal Ancestors to modern Egyptologists, this type of worship is known from as early as the Old and Middle Kingdoms, but became particularly visible during the New Kingdom. This type of cult activity could be established through patronage of existing temples, such as at Karnak, or the dedications of Senusret III within the mortuary temple of Montuhotep. However, it could also be articulated within a newly founded building such as that of Seti I at Abydos.  There was also a place for the royal cult within the temples of more normal gods. Kings from the earliest dynasties expressed their association with the gods by dedicating statuary and other religious objects, and in many of the large state temples, the cults of the gods and king became well linked. We find in the temples such as those of Horus at Heirakonpolis and Montu at Medamud considerable remains of royal dedicatory material, and there is no doubt that such temples also maintained a substantial royal cult. Those in such divine state temples, the king's cult may have been represented by his statue that received a portion of the daily offerings, in other instances and particularly in large state temples, entire ancillary buildings were built to link the royal cult with the divine god's cult. There are often referred to as ka-chapels, and can be found in such locations as Bubastis, Dendera, Heirakonpolis, Abydos and Tell el-Dab'a.  Other structures within the gods' temples were intended to emphasize overtly the king's connection with the divine. A fine example of these structures is the birth houses known as mammisi, which are decorated with scenes of the divine birth of the pharaoh and can be found at locations such as the Temple of Hathor at Dendera.  On a popular level, the king might receive a cult following in a more spontaneous fashion outside the framework of mortuary and normal state temples. In this regard, the royal cult displays many of the characteristics found in the worship of local gods. A good example of such a cult is that of Amenhotep I at the community of the royal tomb builders at Deir el-Medina. From the 18th through the 20th dynasty, Amenhotep I was venerated for his role in establishing the workers village, where he became the patron deity. There, his cult was celebrated at a popular level during periodic festivals and processions. There were similar royal cults found at other locals, such as the Sinai, where during the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian miners  carried out a cult for Sneferu. In the Second Cataract (rapids) region well south of modern Aswan, Senusret III was also venerated as a local god.  Just as in the case of divine cults, the most important element of royal cult ritual was the daily offering. Basically, this entailed interaction between priests and the statue of the king which allowed it to be a suitable abode for the ka of the king. There are elements of the offering cult present as early as the Pyramid Texts. However, the daily rituals are best documented in the 19th Dynasty temple of Seti I at Abydos, and in the Ptolemaic period temple of Horus at Edfu. The daily routine involved a series of ritual acts accompanied by magical spells and offering formulae uttered by the priests, and included the statue's awakening, cleansing, anointing and dressing. Some parts of the the more involved morning ritual would be repeated several more times during the day, and in large royal cult temples, it was enacted for multiple images (statues) and subsidiary cults within the temple. Of course, as explained earlier, there were also periodic festivals and processions in which a royal cult statue was taken to nearby gods' temples, providing for interaction between the surrounding community and the royal cult.

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2009年3月29日 下午11點40分11秒Early Dynastic Kings, Part II

By Marie Parsons

In the 2nd Dynasty, bronze vessels were made in Egypt for the first time. The entire ancient Near East had entered the Bronze Age. Six kings may have ruled in the 2nd dynasty, which lasted little more than 200 years. The names of the first three rulers, Hetepsekhemwy, meaning "Pleasing in Powers," Raneb, meaning "Ra is the lord," and Nynetjer, meaning "Godlike," were inscribed on the back of a statue of a priest named Hotepdief. This priest presumably was in the royal mortuary cult at Saqqara for these kings. Horus Hetepsekhemwy Hetepsekhemwy may have reigned for 38 years. Sealings with his name have been found near the 5th Dynasty pyramid of Unas at Saqqara, though the tomb attributed to him was empty. Sealings with his name have also been found in the offering chambers nearest the entrance of Qa’a’s tomb, perhaps indicating that Hetepsekhemwy oversaw the burial of his predecessor. In addition, an grave from Badari dated to the Early Dynastic period contained an alabaster vessel fragment inscribed with the royal serekh, the name of an estate, and the title of a mortuary priest. Horus Nebra Raneb’s name should more appropriately be Nebra, "lord of the sun." He reigned for 39 years, according to Manetho. A granite stele from Abydos with Nebra’s name in serekh. appears today in the Metropolitan Museum. Sealings with his name were also found with those of Hetepsekhemwy in the royal gallery tomb at Saqqara, so Nebra may have overseen the burial of his predecessor in turn. Nebra’s name in serekh also appears cut on a rock near Armant in the western desert, close to an ancient trade route linking the Nile with its western oases. Manetho records that Nebra introduced the worship of the sacred goat of Mendes, of the sacred bull of Mnevis at Heliopolis, and of the sacred Apis bull at Memphis. However, it is now believed that since a stele dating from King Den’s reign during the 1st Dynasty attests to his founding of the Apis cult, the worship of the Apis bull is dated earlier. Horus Nynetjer Nynetjer is the best attested king of the early 2nd Dynasty. He ruled for 47 years according to Manetho, and the Palermo Stone attests to at least 35 regnal years. The royal annals record events between his 6th and 26th regnal year, including various feasts of gods, including Sokar, a "running of the Apis bull" in the 9th regnal year, a military campaign in the 13th year, and in year 15, the birth of Khasekhemwy, the fifth and last king of the 2nd dynasty. The foundation of a chapel named Hr-rn is recorded for the 7th regnal year. With the exception of a ceremony in the 19th regnal year associated with the goddess Nekhbet of El-Kab, most of the festival activities of the king were closely connected with the Memphis region. That is to say, Nynetjer kept himself and his court closer to the Delta area and Lower Egypt. Perhaps this influenced the internal tensions toward the end of his reign. The Palermo Stone records that in the 13th regnal year, two towns were attacked. The name of one town has been translated to mean "northland," perhaps referring to Lower Egypt. Ephemeral rulers Some rather ephemeral rulers may have reigned after Nynetjer died. The royal names of Weneg and Nubnefer were found incised on stone vessels found in galleries beneath the Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara. Weneg, if he existed at all, may have ruled only in the north, as he is unattested outside of Saqqara. Since Unas leveled a good portion of Saqqara for his pyramid and causeway, Weneg’s tomb and tombs of others may lie beneath that pyramid. Another ephemeral successor to Nynetjer was Sened. A block inscribed with the words nswt-bity Snd was found reused in the funerary temple of King Khafre at Giza, though it may be more correctly dated later than the 2nd Dynsty. But an inscription dated to the 4th Dynasty from the tomb of a man named Shery, who may served in the royal mortuary cults, mentions King Sened, and indicates that his mortuary cult was celebrated at Saqqara and still current more than 100 years after his death. Shery’s titles suggest a connection between the cults of Sened and Peribsen. If this is true, perhaps Sened ruled in the north and Peribsen in the south, an initially amicable division. One last piece of evidence for the existence of Sened was the appearance of his name on the belt of a ate Period bronze statuette of a king. Horus Sekhemib/Set Peribsen The fourth king of the 2nd Dynasty came to the throne under the name of Sekhemib, and reigned for 17 years. During his reign the rivalry that seemed to be left merely simmering between north or Lower Egypt and the Delta, and south or Upper Egypt, reached the boiling point once again and a period of internal unrest began. It is thought possible that the basis for the story of the Contendings between Horus and Set is dated to this time, as the followers of each deity fought for control of the throne of unified Egypt. Whereas all the kings up to now had had a Horus name and used the Horus falcon on their royal serekhs, Sekhemib changed that. He not only changed his name from Horus Sekhemib, meaning "powerful in heart," to Set Peribsen, meaning "Hope of all hearts," but he also replaced the Horus falcon with the Set animal. His granite funerary stele from Abydos shows this serekh change. Peribsen chose to be buried back in Abydos rather than in Saqqara as had his recent predecessors, and though he is not attested outside Upper Egypt, as earlier mentioned, his mortuary cult was apparently celebrated in Saqqara. Horus-Set Khasekhemwy Khasekhemwy was the last king of the 2nd Dynasty. He may have been born with the name Khasekhem, but after putting down the various rebellions and once more uniting Egypt, he changed his name to Khasekhemwy, meaning "The Two Powerful Ones Appear." He also included both the Horus falcon and the Set animal on his serekh and added the epithet nbwy -htp im=f, meaning "the two ladies are at peace in him," perhaps referring to the tutelary goddesses of Upper and Lower Egypt, once again united under his sole rule. A study of Nile levels recorded on the Palermo Stone indicate that the annual inundation had significantly dropped after the end of the 1st Dynasty. Perhaps ecological as well as political factors influenced the repeated upsurge in conflict between Upper and Lower Egypt. An inscription on a stone vase reads, "The year of fighting the northern enemy within the city of Nekheb." The vulture goddess Nekhbet was the royal tutelary deity of this city, now known as el-Kab, which lay on the eastern bank of the Nile opposite the city of Nekhen or Hierakonpolis. Two seated statues of Khasekhemwy have inscribed around their bases images of contorted bodies, supposedly northern rebels, with a figure of 47,209 recorded as the number killed. Khasekhemwy’s tomb at Abydos is unique, trapezoidal in shape, 230 feet in length and varying from some 56 feet wide at one end to 33 feet at the other, with a stone burial chamber in the center. A royal scepter of gold and sard, and several small stone pots with gold-leaf lid coverings, were overlooked by tomb-robbers. About 1000 yards away from the tomb is the Shunet el-Zebib, a rectangular mud-brick structure 404 feet by 210 feet. Its walls stand up to 66 feet high and are about 16 feet thick. It contains a central burial structure of stone. Khasekhemwy married a northern princess named Nimaathap, who was called "king-bearing Mother" on a jar-sealing, and later on she was seen as the ancestress of the 3rd Dynasty.

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2009年3月29日 下午11點37分42秒Early Dynastic Kings, Part I

By Marie Parsons

Aha, probably the son of Narmer and his queen Nithotep, is thought to be the first king of the 1st Dynasty. A tomb at Abydos is attributed to him. It is the largest in the northwestern part of the cemetery, and another tomb close by contained labels with the name Berner-Ib, or "Sweetheart," possibly his queen. Horus Djer Djer, whose name may have meant "Horus who Succors," is said to have reigned for 57 years. Nine years from his reign are recorded on the main Cairo fragment of the royal annals, describing the royal progress, or the "following of Horus," the fashioning and dedication of cult statues, and an expedition to Western Asia. These were the first records of military expeditions outside of the Two Lands. Forces were sent east into Sinai and perhaps beyond. The annals refer to one regnal year being called "The Year of Smiting the Land of the Stjt", a word later referring perhaps to Syria-Palestine. The sciences may have flourished at this time, because Djer was remembered later on as a great physician. Manetho claims that Djer wrote on anatomy and treatment of diseases in circulation 3,000 years after his death. One of his prescriptions was for hair strengthening. Djer’s tomb lies at Umm el-Quab, at Abydos. It was a subterranean brick structure containing a wooden inner chamber, much more elaborate than those of his predecessors Aha and Narmer and other kings from Dynasty 0 so far known. Djer’s burial area also includes 300 retainer graves, more than do the earlier ones. Fragments of at least a dozen vessels of Syro-Palestinian origin were found in the tomb, confirming trade contacts between Egypt and its neighbors. Although the tomb had been robbed, Flinders Petrie discovered an arm near the entrance, still wearing four bracelets. Three of these were composed of gold, amethyst, turquoise and lapis beads, the fourth consisting of 13 gold and 14 turquoise alternating plaques, with a pair of gold cone end pieces. The arm has been lost, but the bracelets are now in the Cairo Museum. Ivory and wood labels are best direct evidence for the existence of Djer, since writing was still in its early stages. One example is an ivory label found at Saqqara. A Horus-falcon surmounts the serekh containing the king’s name. Small figures advance to the serekh carrying offerings, while a mummy, or perhaps a statue, follows. Others carry a fish, a bird and a great spear to the falcon. At the other end of the label, two figures are shown, one whose arms appear to be drawn back or pinioned, and another apparently plunging a knife into the first. The figure wielding the knife also holds some sort of vessel, perhaps to catch the flowing blood. Another ivory label includes characters for two ships, the sign for "town" and Djer’s name in the serekh. The label may record a visit to the Delta cities of Buto and to Sais. Merytneith, or Merneith Around this time MerytNeith, or Merneith, meaning "Beloved of Neith," seems to have taken the throne, either to rule alone after Djer, or perhaps after his successor Djet, as regent for her son Den, if she was Djet’s wife. On a clay seal impression the names of the early kings from Narmer to Den are inscribed, and MerytNeith is given the title of "King’s Mother." At this time the Queens, or more properly, Great wives, since there is no word for "queen" in the Egyptian language, bore the titles "She who unites the Two Lands" and "She who sees Horus and Set." The inclusion of the name Neith, or Nit, goddess of Sais in the Delta, would seem to indicate that MerytNeith at least had strong northern connections. A later necropolis seal belonging to Qaa, last king of the first dynasty, omitted MerNeith’s name from the list of kings. MerytNeith was buried at Abydos and the building associated her reign at Saqqara, with 41 subsidiary or servant graves, indicates the pomp and solemnity generally accorded to the King. Horus Djet King Djet, the Horus Cobra, used the name sign of the serpent. His stela is now in the Louvre, and shows his name sign shows the rearing serpent, suspended in the sky above fortified battlements. Djet may have had a short reign, less than 20 years. All that is known about him was that an expedition made its way to the Red Sea and perhaps beyond. His tomb lies at Abydos. The building at Saqqara formerly attributed to his reign is now thought to be that of a noble named Sekhem-kha, whose sealings were found in the debris. The room was originally paneled in wood, inlaid with strips of gold plating. The building itself was surrounded by a low platform on which were mounted some 300 bulls’ heads modeled in clay with the actual horns. The same display is made around the tomb of Queen Her-Neith, perhaps Djer’s consort who was buried after the reign of King Djet. Horus Den Djet was followed on the throne by Den, Horus who Strikes, also called Udimu. Den probably had a long reign, since he possibly celebrated not one but at least two Sed-festivals or jubilees. His chancellor was Hemaka, known from the discovery of his tomb at Saqqara. Hemaka’s tomb was particularly rich, yielding artifacts such as inlaid gaming discs and a wooden box containing the oldest papyrus to survive from Egypt. Den’s throne name, or nisu-bity (literally meaning "the sedge and the bee,") was Semti. This was the first time this title was used. For the first time the Double Crown, that is, the Red and White Crowns together, is shown being worn by the king. Like Djer, Den too was thought of as a physician, and a prescription recorded in the Ebers medical papyrus is attributed to him. One of the medical studies thought to date from this time had to do with the treatment of fractures. The name Smti was written with the sign for high desert or foreign land, perhaps reflecting his preoccupation with the northeast frontier. Den apparently campaigned to the East. Five labels record military activity in southern Palestine, though perhaps at least some of these expeditions may have been symbolic. The Palermo Stone records that in Year x+2 of his reign Den smote the Iwnw, a word usually indicating the nomads of the eastern or western deserts. Eight years later the annals record the destruction of a possibly Asiatic locality named Wt-k3. Another innovation of this reign was the use of stone in tomb-making, as his tomb possessed a granite pavement, and granite blocks supported the wooden roof. Horus Anedjib After Den came Enezib, or Anedjib, "Safe is his heart," who according to the Saqqara king list was named the first king of united Egypt. There may have been a dynastic struggle between north and south (an event which seems to have happened on and off during the Early Dynastic period ever since Narmer "unified" Egypt. Anedjib adopted the "Two Lords" title, anticipating Khasekhemwy in the 2nd Dynasty. He may have had a long reign, since two stone vessel fragments from Saqqara and Abydos make reference to a Sed festival. For all that, little is known of this king. Though his own tomb was modest compared to those of Den and Djet, Anedjib installed sixty-four servants in subsidiary graves. But he was quite possibly overthrown, his name on stone vases erased, probably by his successor Semerkhet. Horus Semerkhet Manetho records that in the reign of King Semerkhet, meaning "Thoughtful Friend," a great calamity came to Egypt. It has been suggested that he was a usurper with a dubious title to the kingship, though he was the first to use the "Two Ladies" or nbty name, of Irynetjer. His tomb at Abydos contained a number of stone vessels originally inscribed with the name of Anedjib, that were re-inscribed for Semerkhet. However, stone vessels from Djoser’s Step Pyramid in the 3rd Dynasty are inscribed with the kingly sequence of Den-Anedjib-Semerkhet-Qaa; that is, Semerkhet’s name was not omitted, as was Merneith’s name later on, for example (or Hatshepsut’s as a New Kingdom example.) Semerkhet reigned for only nine years. Though the royal annals preserved a complete record of his reign, the events listed are nothing more than the biennial royal progress (if that is the correct interpretation of the "following of Horus," of ritual "appearances of the king," and of dedicating divine images. Trade continued between the Near East and Egypt, evidenced from fragments from 10 or 11 imported Syro-Palestinian vessels found in Semerkhet’s tomb, and from a grave dated to the same period, found at Abusir, in the form of a painted, handled flask typical of Early Bronze Age vessels also from Syro-Palestine. Horus Qa’a Qa’a, meaning "His Arm is Raised," succeeded Semerkhet, and was the last king of this 1st dynasty and reigned for 26 years. Qaa built the last tomb and funerary enclosure at Abydos until the last two kings of the 2nd Dynasty returned to build their own tombs there. Several large mastabas at North Saqqara are dated to his reign, and a fragment of a siltstone bowl from Saqqara which mentions the king’s second Sed-festival, suggesting Qaa’s reign may have been a long one. Year labels discovered at his tomb record events from the royal progress to the collection of timber, from the foundation of a religious building to the celebration of cultic festivals, such as the running of the Apis bull and the festival of Sokar. A rock-cut inscription near the city of el-Kab in Upper Egypt shows Qaa’s serekh facin a figure of the regnal goddess Nekhbet.

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