Narmer was an ancient Egyptian king of the Early Dynastic Period. Probably the
successor to the Protodynastic kings Scorpion and/or Ka, some consider him
the unifier of Egypt and founder of the First Dynasty, therefore the first king
of a unified Egypt. The identity of Narmer is the subject of
ongoing debate, although mainstream Egyptological consensus identifies
Narmer with the First Dynasty pharaoh Menes, who is also credited with the
unification of Egypt, as the first pharaoh. This conclusion is based on the
Narmer Palette which shows Narmer as the unifier of Egypt and the two necropolis
seals from the necropolis of Abydos that show him as the first king of the First
Dynasty. Narmer has been cited as the earliest person whose name is known,
though Iry-Hor likely lived two generations before Narmer.
The approximate date of Narmer/Menes is mostly estimated as close to the 31st or
32nd century BCE, although recent Egyptological literature comprises
estimates of anywhere between the 34th and the 30th centuries BCE.
Reign The famous Narmer Palette, discovered by
James E. Quibell in 1898 in Hierakonpolis, shows Narmer displaying
the insignia of both Upper and Lower Egypt, giving rise to the theory that he
unified the two kingdoms. Since its discovery, it has been debated whether
the Narmer Palette represents a historic event or was purely symbolic. In 1993,
however, Günter Dreyer discovered in Abydos a year label of Narmer depicting
the same event as that on the Narmer Palette which clearly shows that the
Narmer Palette depicts an actual historic event.
The mainstream Egyptological consensus identifying Narmer with Menes is by no
means universal. This has ramifications for the agreed history of ancient Egypt.
Some Egyptologists hold that Menes is the same person as Hor-Aha and that he
inherited an already-unified Egypt from Narmer; others hold that Narmer began
the process of unification but either did not succeed or succeeded only
partially, leaving it to Menes to complete. Arguments have been made that
Narmer is Menes because of his appearance on a mud seal impression
found in Abydos in conjunction with the gameboard hieroglyph for "mn", which
appears to be a contemporary record of the otherwise unattested king.
Another possible theory is that Narmer was an immediate successor to the king
who did manage to unify Egypt, but he adopted symbols of unification that had
already been in use for perhaps a generation.
Two necropolis mud sealings listing kings recently found in the tombs of Den
and Qa'a show Narmer as the founder of the First Dynasty, who was then followed
by Hor-Aha. The Qa'a sealing shows all eight kings of the First Dynasty in the
correct sequence beginning with Narmer. Menes is not mentioned on either list of
kings because at that time the name generally used on the monuments was the
Horus name, while Menes was a personal name.
His wife is thought to have been Neithhotep, a princess of Lower Egypt.
Inscriptions bearing her name were found in tombs belonging to Narmer's immediate
successors Hor-Aha and Djer, implying that she was the mother of Hor-Aha.
Tomb and artifacts Narmer's tomb is composed of two joined
chambers found in the Umm el-Qa'ab region of Abydos. It is located next to
the tomb of Ka, who ruled Upper Egypt just before him.
Narmer is well attested throughout Egypt and southern Canaan. In Egypt his serekh
has been found at 12 sites: three in Upper Egypt, seven in Lower Egypt, and
one each in the Eastern Desert, and the Western Desert.
During Narmer's reign, Egypt had an active economic presence in southern
Canaan. Pottery sherds have been discovered at several sites, both from
pots made in Egypt and imported to Canaan and others made in the Egyptian
style out of local materials. The latter discovery has led to the conclusion that
Egypt's presence in Canaan was in the form of a colony rather than just the
result of trade. While Egypt's presence in Canaan has been explained as the
result of a military invasion, this view is not generally accepted.
Fortifications at Tel es-Sakan dating to this period and almost entirely Egyptian
in construction suggest a military presence, if not a military invasion.
The extent of Egyptian activity in southern Canaan is shown by the
discovery of 33 serekhs on pottery sherds at sites in Canaan dating from
the Protodynastic Period to the beginning of the First Dynasty. Thirteen
of these belong to Narmer, and came from six different sites: Tel Arad, En Besor,
Tel es-Sakan, Nahal Tillah, Tel Erani, and Lod. An additional serekh from Lod
is attributed to Narmer's probable predecessor, Ka. Significantly only one
is attributable to Narmer's successors, to Hor Aha, his immediate successor. The
remainder of the serekhs either have no name on them or have a name not
attributable to any known pharaoh. Narmer's serekh, along with those of
other Predynastic and Early Dynastic kings, has been found at the Wadi
'Ameyra in the southern Sinai, where inscriptions commemorate Egyptian mining
expeditions to the area. During the summer of 1994, excavators
from the Nahal Tillah expedition, in southern Israel, discovered an incised
ceramic sherd with the serekh sign of Narmer. The sherd was found on a large
circular platform, possibly the foundations of a storage silo on the
Halif Terrace. Dated to c. 3000 BCE, mineralogical studies of the sherd
conclude that it is a fragment of a wine jar which had been imported from the
Nile valley to Canaan. After about 200 years of active presence
in Canaan, Egyptian presence peaked during Narmer's reign and quickly
declined after that. Gallery of images
See also List of Pharaohs
Narmer Palette Menes
Thinis Notes
References Bibliography