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74-753: The Shekelesh first appears in Egyptian records during accounts of the pharaoh Merneptah 's military campaigns in modern Libya in the closing years of the 13th century BC , as recounted on the Great Karnak Inscription . In the text, the Shekelesh, alongside other clans of the Sea Peoples, are described as auxiliary troops of the Libyan ruler Meryey , and Merneptah recounts he killed between 200 and 222 of them. Nearly thirty years later,

148-516: A "female" crest and thus changed the nbwj name into the nbtj name, the crest of the "Two Ladies" ( Nekhbet and Wadjet ). From Semerkhet to Nynetjer (the third ruler of the Second Dynasty), the nswt-bjtj crest appeared in pair with the Nebty name. Seth-Peribsen (possibly Nynetjer's direct successor) was the first to separate the crests and use the nswt-bjtj crest alone again. He used

222-413: A central figure of the state, the pharaoh was the obligatory intermediary between the gods and humans. To the former, he ensured the proper performance of rituals in the 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 statues . In this iconography ,

296-422: A combination of two words meaning "king". Kahl (2008) attempts a symbolological interpretation of the "sedge" and the "bee" as representing Upper and Lower Egypt, respectively. According to Kahl, the "seal of the sprouting reed", reveals a "rather maternal and protecting function" of the king, and the "seal of the defensive bee" represents "a rather power and strength seeking character". The earliest instances of

370-548: A different passage where he asserts that Darius I was the first ruler of Egypt to be honored as a 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. Genesis Rabbah 89:3 invokes Pharaoh describing himself as

444-480: A place, presumably an island, known as Shikala . Pharaoh Pharaoh ( / ˈ f ɛər oʊ / , US also / ˈ f eɪ . r oʊ / ; Egyptian : pr ꜥꜣ ; Coptic : ⲡⲣ̄ⲣⲟ , romanized:  Pǝrro ; Biblical Hebrew : פַּרְעֹה ‎ Parʿō ) is the vernacular term often used for the monarchs of ancient Egypt , who ruled from the First Dynasty ( c.  3150 BCE ) until

518-459: 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". The Nesu Bity name, also known as prenomen , was one of the new developments from the reign of Den . The name would follow

592-474: 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

666-424: A war crown by many, but modern historians refrain from defining it thus. 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

740-640: 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 BCE) on a fragment from the Karnak Priestly Annals, a religious document. Here, an induction of an individual to

814-610: Is a possibility that the title pr ꜥꜣ first might have been applied personally to Thutmose III ( c.  1479 –1425 BCE), 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 BCE) the title pharaoh was employed as a reverential designation of the ruler. About the late Twenty-first Dynasty (tenth century BCE), however, instead of being used alone and originally just for

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888-591: 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 . 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

962-489: Is an unknown vowel. This would seem to cast doubt on the widespread reading of n(j)-sw.t bj.tj , because a t in this position is preserved in Coptic, and would not have been omitted in cuneiform. Schenkel and Peust (2007) have also questioned the derivation of nswt from swt "sedge", considering the swt -graph to be a borrowed sound rather than the emblem of Upper Egypt. In this case, nsw(t)-bjt(j) would simply be

1036-582: Is archaically read as tj , so that in Old Egyptian the transliteration of the title would be nsw.tj-bj.tj . The spelling sw.t.n in the Old Kingdom was initially interpreted as representing swtn or stn (now deprecated). Kurt Sethe later proposed the interpretation of n-swtj as "belonging to the Sut-plant". The prepositional n is omitted in the spelling sw.tj . The term nswt

1110-487: 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. During the Early Dynastic Period kings had three titles. The Horus name

1184-538: Is the oldest and dates to the late pre-dynastic period. The Nesu Bity name was added during the First Dynasty . The Nebty name (Two Ladies) was first introduced toward the end of the First Dynasty. The Golden falcon ( bik-nbw ) name is not well understood. The prenomen and nomen were introduced later and are traditionally enclosed in a cartouche . By the Middle Kingdom , the official titulary of

1258-496: Is used in reference to the king, but not as a title placed before a royal name. A rare variant form spells nswt as nzw . In the Amarna Period , an Akkadian cuneiform transliteration of the title is recorded, as in-si-bi-ya , representing a Late Egyptian pronunciation of approximately [ɪnsəˈβiːjaʔ]. Schenkel (1986) cites a reconstruction of an older Egyptian form, based on the cuneiform, as *jinsiw-bījVt , where V

1332-464: Is used when describing offices that were responsible for economic duties such as the Khetemty-bity for "seal bearer of the bjtj-king". A military interpretation, depicting the bee in reference to its sting, has also been proposed. The strongest evidence supporting this conclusion comes from the pyramid texts of king Unas and Teti of the late Fifth and early Sixth Dynasty . In these texts,

1406-413: Is written by the hieroglyphs representing a sedge , representing Upper Egypt ( 𓇓 Gardiner M23) and a bee , representing Lower Egypt ( 𓆤 L2), each combined with the feminine ending t ( 𓏏 X1), read as nsw.t and bj.t respectively; the adjectival nisba ending -j is not represented in writing. During the first three dynasties, the prenomen was depicted either alone or in pair with

1480-531: The Tanhuma , in commentary on Ezekiel 29:9, Pharaoh is said to have proclaimed himself as lord of the universe. Pharaoh is represented as a heretical figure who presents himself as divine, and these texts then claim that his claims were exposed when he had to go to the Nile to relieve himself. nswt-bjtj The prenomen , also called cartouche name or throne name ( Ancient Egyptian : 𓆥 nswt-bjtj "of

1554-527: The First Dynasty . The was -scepter is shown in the hands of both kings and deities. The flail later was closely related to the heqa -scepter (the crook and flail ), but in early representations the king was also depicted solely with the flail, as shown in a late pre-dynastic knife handle that is now in the Metropolitan museum, and on the Narmer Macehead . The earliest evidence known of

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1628-712: The Narmer Palette . The white crown of Upper Egypt, the Hedjet , was worn in the Predynastic Period by Scorpion II , and, later, by Narmer. This is the combination of the Deshret and Hedjet crowns into a double crown, called the Pschent crown. It is first documented in the middle of the First Dynasty of Egypt . The earliest depiction may date to the reign of Djet , and is otherwise surely attested during

1702-679: The Nebty name . Semerkhet was the first pharaoh who devoted his prenomen to the Two Ladies . From Pharaoh Huni , the probable last king of the Third Dynasty onward, the prenomen was encircled by the cartouche (the elongated form of the shen ring ). The nswt-bjtj title is recorded from the time of the First Dynasty. It is conventionally paraphrased as "Dual King" or "King of Upper and Lower Egypt", but its literal interpretation would be "[He of] sedge [and] bee". The t hieroglyph (X1)

1776-561: The Pschent , 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 , Nemes , Atef , Hemhem crown , and Khepresh . At times, a combination of these headdresses or crowns worn together was depicted. The word pharaoh ultimately derives from the Egyptian compound pr ꜥꜣ , * /ˌpaɾuwˈʕaʀ/ "great house", written with

1850-483: The Second Dynasty . The inscription, which names the "administrator of the desert and general Ankhenity", further reads wpwt nswt meaning "[commissioned] by order of the nswt king". A similar factum is found in words describing royal actions. The word wḏ nswt , for example, means "royal decree". A third symbolic and also practical meaning of nswt lies in its use to express and accentuate relationships in

1924-485: The Sedge and Bee ") of ancient Egypt , was one of the five royal names of pharaohs . The first pharaoh to have a Sedge and Bee name was Den during the First Dynasty . Most Egyptologists believe that the prenomen was a regnal name . The first part of the title, ni-su , seems to have referred to the eternal institution of kingship itself. It was, in fact, the word for "king" in expressions[.] The word bjt , on

1998-605: The Septuagint , Koinē Greek : φαραώ , romanized:  pharaō , and then in Late Latin pharaō , both -n stem nouns. The Qur'an likewise spells it Arabic : 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 from Egyptian along with the -n ending from Greek. In English,

2072-569: The Shikalayu ( Hittite : 𒅆𒅗𒆷𒅀𒌋 ši-ka-la-ia/u-u ) mentioned by the Hittite king Šuppiluliuma II in a letter to the governor of Ugarit . Per Šuppiluliuma, the Shikalayu were ones "who dwell/live on ships", and, given his wordage, seemed to be largely a mystery to the Hittites. Given their association with ships, these scholars conclude the Shikalayu were a pirate group who hailed from

2146-639: The Sicels , who are known to have inhabited Sicily during the Sea Peoples' conquests, although the Sicals are often identified with the Tjeker, another group of the Sea Peoples. Today, it is still uncertain where the Shekelesh originated from, and if they indeed embarked from Sicily, it is similarly debated whether or not Sicily was their original homeland, or if they were originally settlers which came from some other location. The Shekelesh have also been identified with

2220-519: 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. The red crown of Lower Egypt, the Deshret crown, dates back to pre-dynastic times and symbolised chief ruler. A red crown has been found on a pottery shard from Naqada , and later, Narmer is shown wearing the red crown on both the Narmer Macehead and

2294-681: The annexation of Egypt by the Roman Republic 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 . The earliest confirmed instances of "pharaoh" used contemporaneously for a ruler were a letter to Akhenaten (reigned c.  1353 –1336 BCE) or an inscription possibly referring to Thutmose III ( c.  1479 –1425 BCE). In

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2368-433: The bjt and nswt group of signs, both titles actually mean "sealbearer of the king". However, when used separately and in mere economic contexts, the titles could have a more specific meaning, for example sḏꜣwtj-bjtj can be read as "sealbearer of the king of Lower Egypt" and sḏꜣwtj-nswt as "seal bearer of the king of Upper Egypt". A unique case seems to be the birth name of the Third Dynasty king Huni: his name contains

2442-403: The nbtj crest separately, too, but peculiarly, the name "Peribsen" was used in all crests. The final form of the title nswt-bjtj was introduced during the reign of king Horus Den , the fifth ruler of the First Dynasty, and was then adopted by all subsequent kings. At the time of the introduction of the nswt-bjtj crest both groups were already in use separately. The single sign group nsw.t

2516-466: The nswt crest beside the signs for ḥw meaning "utterance" or "appointment" or ḥwj for "smiting" or "beating". Secondly, both sign groups could be used either alone or together to designate the personal property of the pharaoh or an order of him. The former usage is similar to that of the hieroglyph of the sitting falcon while an example of the latter is found in a rock inscription in Sinai dating to

2590-474: The nswt-bjtj crest for the first time with the title Sa-Rē (Egyptian: zȝ-rˁ "son of Rē"). This title followed the cartouche as an emendation of the birth name. King Neferirkare Kakai , the third ruler of the Fifth Dynasty, was the first who separated the nswt-bjtj - and the sa-rê crest and turned them into two different, independent names: nomen and prenomen . Now the title sa-rê introduced

2664-678: 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 in his original 1933 publication of this stela. Shoshenq I

2738-475: The Egyptian ruler Djoser , was cast as having had his mother as the Mesopotamian goddess Ninsun alongside his father, the previous human ruler of Uruk. Another Mesopotamian example of a god-king was Naram-Sin of Akkad . 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),

2812-686: The Khat headdress, has been commonly depicted on top of the Nemes. The statue from his Serdab in Saqqara shows the king wearing the nemes headdress. Osiris is shown to wear the Atef crown, which is an elaborate Hedjet with feathers and disks. Depictions of kings wearing the Atef crown originate from the Old Kingdom. The Hemhem crown is usually depicted on top of Nemes , Pschent , or Deshret crowns. It

2886-514: 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

2960-460: 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 . Also, every member of the administration acts only in the name of the royal person, by delegation of power. From the Pyramid Texts , the political actions of the sovereign were framed by

3034-557: The Shekelesh are mentioned within the exploits of Ramesses III , where they, along with the Peleset , Tjeker , Denyen , and Weshesh , are described as forming a foothold in the Amurru kingdom during the 8th year of his reign. Ramesses, per his inscriptions, vanquished the coalition, and portrays himself leading a glorious procession of captured Sea Peoples as prisoners. In 1867, Egyptologist and philologist Emmanuel de Rougé identified

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3108-409: The Shekelesh as coming from Sicily , given the phonetic similarities of the two names. Joining him was fellow Egyptologist François Chabas , in 1872. The following year, the identification was disputed by Gaston Maspero , who believed the Shekelesh were Anatolian in origin, instead opting to identify them with the ancient city of Sagalassos . In 1928, Eduard Meyer proposed an identification with

3182-480: The archives and placed under the responsibility of the vizier , applied to all, for the common good and social agreement. 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

3256-400: The country or attacking others when it was believed that this would contribute to Maat, such as to obtain resources. During the early days prior to the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt , the Deshret or the "Red Crown", was a representation of the kingdom of Lower Egypt, while the Hedjet , the "White Crown", was worn by the kings of Upper Egypt. After the unification of both kingdoms,

3330-513: The deities were made of gold and the pyramids and obelisks are representations of (golden) sun -rays. The gold sign may also be a reference to Nubt, the city of Set. This would suggest that the iconography represents Horus conquering Set. 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

3404-534: 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. The only explicit classical Greek source which describes the divinity of Pharaoh is contained in the writings of Diodorus Siculus in the 1st century BCE, who in turn relies on Hecataeus of Abdera as his source of information. Diodorus slightly contradicts himself in

3478-518: 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

3552-451: 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. 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

3626-431: The god over the Nile river. In Exodus Rabbah 10:2, Pharaoh boasts that he is the creator and owner of the Nile. God is then said to have responded to this statement by challenging the Pharaoh over who owns the Nile, as God proceeds to create a disaster by bringing forth frogs from it that consume Egypt's agriculture. In other midrashic texts, Pharaoh asserts himself as the creator of the universe and even of himself. In

3700-461: The goddess Nut is described as a "swarm of bees, encircling and devouring the king's enemy". Three different uses for the nswt-bjtj group of signs are known. First, they represented the highest level of command, for the king himself as well for his subjects. Thus, every title of an official containing the nswt - or bjt signs gave the holder the highest executive authority. Examples of such titles are sḏꜣwtj-bjtj and sḏꜣwtj-nswt . Despite using

3774-407: 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). 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

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3848-465: 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. The few Sumerian exceptions to this would post-date the origins of this practice in ancient Egypt. For example, the legendary king Gilgamesh , thought to have reigned in Uruk as a contemporary of

3922-401: The king were expressed with titles such as smr-nswt meaning "friend/courtier of the king" and rḫ-nswt for "favorite of the king". This kind of expression dates back to the First Dynasty, with the titles mry nsw , "beloved of the king", and ꜥnḫ-mrr-nsw , "living for and beloved by the king", appearing during the reign of Djet . Both titles are rare and might point to elite positions held by

3996-418: The king", represented the royal household and/or the palace of the king. Semerkhet , the seventh ruler of the First Dynasty , introduced the famous Nebty name as a complementary counterpart to the nswt-bjtj crest. Semerkhet's predecessor, Anedjib , had introduced the nbwj name as a heraldic emendation. But nbwj (meaning "the two lords") seemed to include the wrong gender. Semerkhet seemed to seek for

4070-419: 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 . A scepter was found in a tomb at Abydos that dates to Naqada III . Another scepter associated with the king is the was -sceptre . This is a long staff mounted with an animal head. The earliest known depictions of the was -scepter date to

4144-410: The name of Re . The nomen often followed the title, Son of Re ( sa-ra ), or the title, Lord of Appearances ( neb-kha ). 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

4218-589: The new name and it was also placed in a cartouche. During later times, pharaohs often used both names, prenomen and nomen, in cartouches, which sometimes led to confusion amongst Egyptologists in the past. The reason for the confusion was differences between the royal names presented by the ancient historian Manetho and the Ramesside king lists, such as the Abydos King List, the Saqqara Table and

4292-458: The other hand, more properly referred to the ephemeral holder of the position. In this way, both the divine and the mortal were referenced in the phrase, along with the obvious dual division of the northern and southern lands. For these reasons, the translation "Dual King" is preferred today. Others think that it originally represented the birth name of the rulers. The term "of the Sedge and Bee"

4366-559: 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 BCE, during the declining Third Intermediate Period ) it was, at least in ordinary use, the only epithet prefixed to the royal appellative. From the Nineteenth dynasty onward pr-ꜥꜣ on its own, was used as regularly as ḥm , "Majesty". The term, therefore, evolved from

4440-610: 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. Such descriptions continued and were designated to Alexander the Great after his conquest of Egypt, and later still for the rulers of the Ptolemaic Kingdom that succeeded Alexander's rule. Descriptions of the divinity of the Pharaoh are much more infrequent in sources from Classical Greece . One Ptolemaic-era hymn describes

4514-423: 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,

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4588-405: 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

4662-429: The reign of Den . 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 . 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

4736-464: The royal family. Originally the nswt crest expressed a direct blood link with the pharaoh, for example in the titles sꜣ-nswt for "son of the king" and mwt-nswt for "mother of the king". At some point during the Fifth Dynasty however, the titles for son or daughter of the king became honorific and were given to high officials and courtiers alike. Indirect kinships and mere acquaintances with

4810-456: 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 BCE), that is addressed to "Great House, L, W, H, the Lord". However, there

4884-438: 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. 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

4958-399: 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. This legislation, kept in

5032-656: The term was at first spelled "Pharao", but the translators for the King James Bible revived "Pharaoh" with "h" from the Hebrew. Meanwhile, in Egypt, *[par-ʕoʔ] evolved into Sahidic Coptic ⲡⲣ̅ⲣⲟ pərro and then ərro by rebracketing p- as the definite article "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". As

5106-545: The title bearers. Finally, similarly to the nswt crest, the bjt crest also expressed royal authority. For example, a "seal-bearer of the bjt -king" was - alongside the direct relatives of the king - the only one allowed to touch, count and seal the personal possessions of the pharaoh. When used singly or combined with other symbols, nswt and bjt received advanced meanings in Egyptian heraldry, especially when connected with administrative and/or economic institutions. The sign group pr-nswt , for example, meaning "house of

5180-634: The two biliteral hieroglyphs pr "house" and ꜥꜣ "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 onward, the word appears in a wish formula "Great House, May it Live, Prosper, and be in Health ", but again only with reference to

5254-476: The use of bjt date back to the time period corresponding to queen Merneith 's possible rule, between the reigns of Djet and Den in the mid First Dynasty. Honey was used in Ancient Egypt as food, medicine, table offering in temples and shrines and as an important trade ware. Additionally, the bee sign might have had the meaning of "wealth, affluence". This might explain as to why the bjtj crest

5328-588: Was already in use under king Djer, the third king of the dynasty and maybe even under king Hor-Aha, his predecessor. The sign group bj.t appeared slightly later, during the reign of Den. An interesting background is the symbolic implementation of nswt with the White Crown of Upper Egypt and bjt with the Red Crown of Lower Egypt. King Djedefre , the third ruler of the Fourth Dynasty, combined

5402-474: 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. 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

5476-636: 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 *[parʕoʔ] in the Late Egyptian language , from which the Greek historian Herodotus derived the name of one of the Egyptian kings, Koinē Greek : Φερων . In the Hebrew Bible , the title also occurs as Hebrew : פרעה [parʕoːh] ; from that, in

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