Sunday, October 26, 2008
King Menes
The Pharaoh I chose to write about is King Menes, also known as King Narmer, or King Meni. He ruled from 3346 bc to 3327 bc. He was the 1st Pharaoh of Egpyt, as well as the founder of the 1st Dynasty. At first he ruled North Egypt. Then he conquered South Egypt and united them both.
For a long time,Menes was considered as imaginary as the god-kings who preceded him. He was the one to unite the red and white crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt. After,Menes had an idea. If the colors of the crown were so important,why not invent a new crown? He created the Double Crown,which was a mix of white and red. Luckily for him,his idea worked. The people of Upper and Lower Egypt respected the Double Crown and then they called their land "The Two Lands". Over time the two lands became known as Egypt.
Since nobody liked Menes they called him an eponym,which means that the people of Memphis had forgotten who built their city,invented a builder for their city's name,and declared it the work of the King named "Memphes or "Menes". He was the one to build the city so the people who called him eponym were wrong. Memphis was one of his leading cities which is why he is named Menes. The people who called him eponym were known as learned men. These learned men didn't want Menes to be their pharaoh.
Technically King Menes has 4 different names and they are Scorpion,Narmer,Aha,and Menes. Nobody knows where he got all of his names from except the name Menes. All theories on Menes are probably based on very little evidence. He ruled over 5000 years ago. Archaelogists revealed that his mothers name was Neithotepe.
When he died at the age of 63, he then had to be mummified. Whenever a pharaoh dies they get mummified which was a very long process. Depending on how fast the priest that wrapped him worked depended on how long it would take to be completely mummified. The normal amount of time it would take would be about 70 days. If the priest made any mistakes the Egyptians would probably be-head him. He would have to be very careful when he was working.
Nobody knows exactly how he died. That still remains a mystery. Legend has it he was killed by a hippopotamus. Others believe that he was attacked by wild dogs and crocodiles in a place called Faiyum. King Menes was buried in a tomb in Saqqara, located in Memphis.
For a long time,Menes was considered as imaginary as the god-kings who preceded him. He was the one to unite the red and white crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt. After,Menes had an idea. If the colors of the crown were so important,why not invent a new crown? He created the Double Crown,which was a mix of white and red. Luckily for him,his idea worked. The people of Upper and Lower Egypt respected the Double Crown and then they called their land "The Two Lands". Over time the two lands became known as Egypt.
Since nobody liked Menes they called him an eponym,which means that the people of Memphis had forgotten who built their city,invented a builder for their city's name,and declared it the work of the King named "Memphes or "Menes". He was the one to build the city so the people who called him eponym were wrong. Memphis was one of his leading cities which is why he is named Menes. The people who called him eponym were known as learned men. These learned men didn't want Menes to be their pharaoh.
Technically King Menes has 4 different names and they are Scorpion,Narmer,Aha,and Menes. Nobody knows where he got all of his names from except the name Menes. All theories on Menes are probably based on very little evidence. He ruled over 5000 years ago. Archaelogists revealed that his mothers name was Neithotepe.
When he died at the age of 63, he then had to be mummified. Whenever a pharaoh dies they get mummified which was a very long process. Depending on how fast the priest that wrapped him worked depended on how long it would take to be completely mummified. The normal amount of time it would take would be about 70 days. If the priest made any mistakes the Egyptians would probably be-head him. He would have to be very careful when he was working.
Nobody knows exactly how he died. That still remains a mystery. Legend has it he was killed by a hippopotamus. Others believe that he was attacked by wild dogs and crocodiles in a place called Faiyum. King Menes was buried in a tomb in Saqqara, located in Memphis.
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