| Horus name (Serekh name) in hieroglyphs | |||
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srḫ serekh facade (of the palace) | |||
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The Horus name is the oldest known and used crest of ancient Egyptian rulers. It belongs to the "great five names" of an Egyptian pharaoh. However, modern Egyptologists and linguists are starting to prefer the more neutral term: the "serekh name". This is because not every pharaoh placed the falcon, which symbolizes the deity Horus, atop his (or in some cases, her) serekh. [1]
The picture of the Horus name is made of two basic elements: A sitting or walking figure of a certain deity holds a rectangular, ornamental vignette, imitating the floor plan of a palace facade and the royal courtyard. The rectangular vignette is called serekh, after the Egyptian word for "facade". There are countless variations of the facade decor in the serekh. The complexity and detail of the facade decor varied remarkably depending on the object on which it was present. It seems that no strict artistic rules for the design of the serekh itself existed. The name of the pharaoh was written inside the free space that represents the royal courtyard. [2] [3] [4]
The symbolic meaning of the Horus name is still disputed. It seems obvious, at least, that the name of a king was addressed straight to the deity on top of the serekh. In most cases it was the falcon of the god Horus. This is based on the Egyptian tradition and belief[ citation needed ] that a living king was commonly[ vague ] the herald and earthly representative of Horus. [3] A good example is the name of 2nd Dynasty king Raneb. His name was written with the sign of the sun (Râ) and the sign of a basket (néb). Altogether, the name reads "Lord of the sun of Horus", thus integrating Horus as the royal patron into the king's name. [5] Scholars point to the symbolic and expressive strength of the Horus falcon: hovering high in the sky, stretching out his wings widely and seemingly looking over all of Egypt, this heraldic animal represented omnipresence and an outstretching power. Additionally, the names of early dynasty kings show, when translated, an astonishing aggressiveness, which clearly expresses the wish of Egyptian kings to be untouchable and undefeatable, thanks to the god Horus. During the 2nd Dynasty, the serekh names of the kings reveal a rather peace-seeking nature, expressing the wish of the pharaohs to rule over an unwavering world full of order and harmony: the epitheton of the Horus name of King Sekhemib, Per-en-ma'at (meaning "he who achieves Ma'at"), is the clearest early expression of this. As already mentioned, most Egyptian kings favored Horus as their dynastic name patron. [4]
In a few cases, especially during the midst of the 2nd Dynasty, at least two serekh names seem to contradict the Horus tradition. The most prominent example is king Seth-Peribsen. He first replaced the falcon figure of his serekh by the walking animal of the god Seth. Then, his name was written in a plural form, thus being addressed to Seth as well as to Horus. The serekh names of his followers Sekhemib and Khasekhemwy were similarly built. Khasekhemwy went even further and placed both divine figures of Horus and Seth above his serekh, in an attempt to accentuate the dualism of a serekh name. The remarkable behaviours of the 2nd Dynasty kings can possibly be explained by the Egyptian belief that a king represented Horus and Seth in the same ways. Maybe said kings simply wished to express this dualism by willingly changing the appearance of the serekh and replacing divine figures on its top. [3] [4]
As already mentioned, the Horus name is the oldest known and used royal title. Its introduction reaches back to the time of the Naqada II period at 3400 BC, and its development can be observed on objects from Naqada II to the 1st Dynasty. However, at the time of introduction, the serekhs of kings were yet anonymous. Later the name of the king was written beside the serekh or omitted completely. In many cases the serekh lacks the Horus falcon, and in other cases, such as the serekh of king Ka, the serekh seems to be held by Horus upside-down. [1] During the middle and late Naqada III period (3200–3030 BC.), kings started to write their name inside their serekhs. Some of the best-known early examples are the names of Scorpion II and Ka. Under these kings, the serekh was introduced in its final form. [3] During the 1st Dynasty, an odd fashion can be observed: On several clay seals from the Abydene tombs of king Hor-Aha, Qa'a and queen Meritneith, the Horus names of all archaeologically detected kings from Narmer to Qa'a are listed in one single and smooth row. All of these Horus names are missing a serekh. The exact reason for this is unknown, but it demonstrates complexity within the tradition of royal titulary, which is not fully understood even today. [1]
During the introduction and development of the serekh names, three examples of special serekhs are of very special interest to Egyptologists and historians.
The first example is the serekh of a protodynastic king known as "Double Falcon". The serekh of this particular king has a top that is sharply bent inwards at the very middle. The inside of the serekh is filled with a great many little dots. This makes the upper part of the serekh look like the hieroglyphic sign of a two-topped mountain, the sign for "desert" or "foreign land". A further curiosity of Double Falcon's serekh are the two falcon figures, each one resting on one corner atop the bent serekh and facing each other. Egyptologists and historians are convinced that this unusual king's name has a deeper meaning. Most possibly it points to Lower Egypt and Sinai, since Double Falcon's name has been found only at these two sites. [6]
A second unusual serekh is that of King Hor-Aha. It shows the Horus falcon reaching into the serekh with his claws and holding a mace and a shield, forming the word Aha, meaning "fighter of Horus". The arrangement is intriguing, because normally the Horus falcon and the hieroglyphs inside the serekh were out of reach and independent of one another. The motive and deeper meaning of Aha's serekh are unknown.
The third examples of unusual serekhs are those of several queens, including the serekh of queen Meritneith. For a long time it was believed by scholars that the royal title of a serekh was reserved for male rulers only. For this reason, it was long thought that Meritneith was a man, until mud seal impressions revealed the female title mwt nesw ("mother of (the) king"). The tomb stela of Meritneith also proved the true gender of this queen. Thus, queen Meritneith was the first Egyptian female ruler who was allowed to use the serekh. However, her serekh is surmounted by the standard of the goddess Neith, not by a falcon figure. A similar case is that of the famous queen Hatshepsut of the 18th Dynasty. She also used a serekh, and like queen Meritneit, had long been thought by scholars to have been a man. [7] [8] Another queen, Sobekneferu of 12th Dynasty, also used a serekh. She was the first female pharaoh to use the full royal titulary. [9] Another possible female pharaoh might have been queen Khentkaus I of 4th Dynasty. Nonetheless, these cases show that exceptions in the gender allocation of the serekh as a royal title were always possible. In fact, the Ancient Egyptians seemed to have no bigger problems with being ruled by a woman. [7] [8]
Khasekhemwy was the last Pharaoh of the Second Dynasty of Egypt. Little is known about him, other than that he led several significant military campaigns and built the mudbrick fort known as Shunet El Zebib.
Hotepsekhemwy is the Horus name of an early Egyptian king who was the founder of the Second Dynasty of Egypt. The exact length of his reign is not known; the Turin canon suggests an improbable 95 years while the ancient Egyptian historian Manetho reports that the reign of "Boëthôs" lasted for 38 years. Egyptologists consider both statements to be misinterpretations or exaggerations. They credit Hotepsekhemwy with either a 25- or a 29-year rule.
Qa'a was the last king of the First Dynasty of Egypt. He reigned for 33 years at the end of the 30th century BC.
Sanakht is the Horus name of an ancient Egyptian king (pharaoh) of the Third Dynasty during the Old Kingdom. His chronological position is highly uncertain, and it is also unclear under which Hellenized name the ancient historian Manetho could have listed him. Many Egyptologists connect Sanakht with the Ramesside cartouche name Nebka. However, this remains disputed because no further royal title of that king has ever been found; either in contemporary source or later ones. There are two relief fragments depicting Sanakht originally from the Wadi Maghareh on the Sinai Peninsula.
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 convention used to set apart the royal name in ancient Egyptian iconography, predating the later and better known cartouche by four dynasties and five to seven hundred years.
Hor-Aha is considered the second pharaoh of the First Dynasty of Egypt by some Egyptologists, while others consider him the first one and corresponding to Menes. He lived around the 31st century BC and is thought to have had a long reign.
Khaba was a pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, active during the 3rd Dynasty of the Old Kingdom period. The exact time during which Khaba ruled is unknown but may have been around 2670 BC, and almost definitely towards the end of the dynasty.
Iry-Hor was a predynastic pharaoh of Upper Egypt during the 32nd century BC. Excavations at Abydos in the 1980s and 1990s and the discovery in 2012 of an inscription of Iry-Hor in Sinai confirmed his existence. Iry-Hor is the earliest ruler of Egypt known by name and is sometimes cited as the earliest-living historical person known by name.
Nebra or Raneb is the Horus name of the second early Egyptian king of the 2nd Dynasty. The exact length of his reign is unknown since the Turin canon is damaged and the year accounts are lost. Manetho suggests that Nebra's reign lasted 39 years, but Egyptologists question Manetho's view as a misinterpretation or exaggeration of information that was available to him. They credit Nebra with either a 10- or 14-year rule.
Senedj was an early Egyptian king (pharaoh), who may have ruled during the 2nd Dynasty. His historical standing remains uncertain. His name is included in the kinglists of the Ramesside era, although it is written in different ways: While the Abydos King List imitates the archaic form, the Royal Canon of Turin and the Saqqara King List form the name with the hieroglyphic sign of a plucked goose.
Seth-Peribsen is the serekh name of an early Egyptian monarch (pharaoh), who ruled during the Second Dynasty of Egypt. His chronological position within this dynasty is unknown and it is disputed who ruled both before and after him. The duration of his reign is also unknown.
The royal titulary or royal protocol is the standard naming convention taken by the pharaohs of ancient Egypt. It symbolised worldly power and holy might, also acting as a sort of mission statement for the duration of a monarch's reign.
Semerkhet is the Horus name of an early Egyptian king who ruled during the First Dynasty. This ruler became known through a tragic legend handed down by the historian Manetho, who reported that a calamity of some sort occurred during Semerkhet's reign. The archaeological records seem to support the view that Semerkhet had a difficult time as king and some early archaeologists questioned the legitimacy of Semerkhet's succession to the Egyptian throne.
Sekhemib-Perenma'at, is the Horus name of an early Egyptian king who ruled during the 2nd Dynasty. Similar to his predecessor, successor or co-ruler Seth-Peribsen, Sekhemib is contemporarily well attested in archaeological records, but he does not appear in any posthumous document. The exact length of his reign is unknown and his burial site has yet to be found.
Neithhotep or Neith-hotep was an ancient Egyptian queen consort who lived and ruled during the early First Dynasty. She was once thought to be a male ruler: her outstandingly large mastaba and the royal serekh surrounding her name on several seal impressions previously led Egyptologists and historians to the erroneous belief that she might have been an unknown king. As the understanding of early Egyptian writings developed, scholars learned that Neithhotep was in fact a woman of extraordinary rank. She was subsequently considered to be the wife of unified Egypt's first pharaoh, Narmer, and the mother of Hor-Aha.
Djeseretnebti is possibly the name of an ancient Egyptian queen. Since this name appears without any queen‘s title, Egyptologists dispute the true meaning and reading of this name.
Sneferka was an early Egyptian king who may have ruled at the end of the 1st Dynasty. The exact length of his reign is unknown, but thought to have been very short and his chronological position is unclear.
Horus Bird, also known as Horus-Ba, may have been a pharaoh who may have had a very short reign between the First and Second Dynasty of Egypt. Horus-Bird's burial site is unknown.
Horus Sa was a possible early Egyptian pharaoh who may have reigned during the Second or Third Dynasty of Egypt. His existence is disputed, as is the meaning of the artifacts that have been interpreted as confirming his existence.
The Nebty 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 Egyptian word nebty.
Ancient Egyptian titulary | ||
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| Royal titulary |  | |
| Religious titulary | ||
| Courtly and administrative titulary | ||
