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Standings

Dynasties

0 - I ^re - ^Second - ^Third - ^Fourth - ^Fifth - ^Sixth - ^Seventh - ^Eighth - ^Ninth - ^Tenth - ^Eleventh - ^Twelfth - ^XIII - ^XIV - ^XV - ^XVI - ^XVII - ^XVIII - XIX ^e - XX ^e - XXI ^e - ^XXII - ^XXIII - ^XXIV - ^XXV - ^XXVI - ^XXVII - ^XXVIII - ^XXIX - ^XXX - ^XXXI - The Ptolemies

The word pharaoh means the rulers of Egypt during the ancient Egyptian. The pharaoh was both the chief executive, the army chief, the chief magistrate and the chief priest of the ancient Egypt. He is the son of Ra. The word, based on an Egyptian expression, is a biblical borrowing and never served as a title for the kings of Egypt in their time and did not encounter elsewhere in the protocol of Egyptian rulers ^Etymology

Egyptian, Greek, Hebrew

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which may mean "one of the largest houses, unless the last sign is the determinative .

In the Bible , the word "Farao" () refers to the institution rather than a specific monarch. There are two Pharaohs, or kings of Egypt in Genesis : the one that Abraham met , when it comes down to Egypt with his wife and that facing Joseph and his brothers. We also found two in the Exodus : the birth and marriage of Moses - who died in verse 2, 23 - and that of the exodus from Egypt led by Moses the same. A Pharaoh also appears in the books of Kings in the time of Solomon , who married his daughter. In the Second Book of Kings (23, 29-35) and in the Book of Jeremiah (46, 2) , the "Pharaoh Neco" is named. He is identified with Necho II.

Flavius Josephus wrote about this:

"Some people will wonder why all the Egyptian kings, since Minaeos ( Menes ), the founder of Memphis , which preceded by many years our ancestor Abraham, to Solomon, in an interval of more than thirteen hundred years, were called Pharaoh (Pharaths) so I found it necessary to dispel ignorance and to clarify the origin of the name, to say here that among the Egyptians Pharaoh signifies king. I believe that at birth they received other names, but when they became kings, they were given the title refers to their power in the national language. Thus the kings of Alexandria , first known as other names were given to their accession to the throne name of Ptolemy , according to one of the first king. Similarly, the Roman emperors , having carried any other names at birth are called Caesar , as they have from their primacy and rank, and drop the names given to them by their fathers. That is why, I suppose, Herodotus of Halicarnassus , when he says that after Minos, the founder of Memphis, there were three hundred and thirty kings of Egypt, does not indicate their names because they were called the generic name of Pharaoh. "

- Flavius Josephus.

"Pharaoh" and Champollion

Charles Rollin's Ancient History published in 1730, the rulers of Egypt are kings. Pharaoh is also absent in the monumental work of scholars of Bonaparte , the Description of Egypt published in 1821. For LP Segur , Pharaoh is an Egyptian king who gave his daughter in marriage to Solomon , king of Israel.

A search of books published in France before the ^eighteenth century , shows that the term pharaoh was only used in contexts of biblical inspiration . French, Pharaoh was thus confined to the texts on religious themes. In other text, the ruler of Egypt was a king.

Jean-Francois Champollion was the first to use the word outside the biblical context. Since the publication in 1814 of Egypt under the Pharaohs, "Pharaoh" is used by the authors as the title of the kings of Egypt. In 1822, in Letter to Mr. Dacier is "king" is used. It does, however, never found equivalence between per-AA and Pharaoh, but he resumed the use of pharaoh after 1822. Champollion never gave an explanation for the use of this barbarism.

Use of the pharaoh by the Egyptians of the dynastic period

In 1856, Emmanuel de Rouge offered a satisfactory answer when Egyptian pharaoh comes from the word to designate the governmental palace (pr- ). Starting with Akhenaten , Pharaoh hieroglyphics used to designate the king. No lack of titles and designations, on what grounds he Akhenaten Pharaoh used to describe themselves, it remains a mystery. This may be by indulgence in the army, the priesthood and the administration already using this word in their own securities or has he seen in pre- the starting point of his religious teachings, its influence.

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For other Egyptologists, this statement goes back to the time of Ramses II or Ramses III ^{Use of "Pharaoh" for the Egyptians to modern times}

The Theban necropolis called Biban el Molouk that we translate as "the valley of kings ".

In the eighteenth ^century , Pharaoh was reported by the consul of Louis XIV in Egypt as a term of abuse. H. Fischer reports that it is still a derogatory term for the Egyptians of our time, an equivalent of "devil". The word is used at least since the ^sixteenth century in the name of the ichneumon , rat of the pharaohs.

In the book Frederick Cailliaud of 1821 Trip to the Oasis of Thebes, a type of shellfish found on the Red Sea is called "shell of Pharaoh." In this book, the author never uses the word pharaoh, but it is true that the story does not lend itself, like everyone else he talks about Valley of the Kings. In his later books, travel to Meroe published in 1826-1827, it uses the title before the name of Pharaoh king. Between the two publications, Champollion had found the key to Egyptian writing his mistake and entered the modern tradition.

Titulary

The pharaohs wore titulature composed of five names, Titulature complex occurred during the Old Kingdom.

For the ancient Egyptians, the name ( ren ) brings to life the thing it designates. Hence the importance attached to the pharaohs who called them names and tenacity with which they made those hammering a disgraced predecessor. In the early days of the Pharaonic institution, while the royal title included only the single name of Horus , it was written inside a serekh representing the king's palace and could be interpreted as a symbol of magical protection. Subsequently, with the appearance of the titular complete the last two royal names were protected by the cartridge , oval magic was originally a rope tied to one end , being reserved for the serekh Horus name in large dedicatory inscriptions arranged in columns.

Moreover, the king was still called "Her Majesty" (Hemef):

with often added to his name, formula optative:

Example titulature

Titulature of Ramses II on a lintel of the pillared hall of Karnak

Titulature of Sesostris ^I. :

The Horus nkhmessout.

One of two mistresses nkhmessout.

The Golden Horus nkhmessout.

The King of Upper and Lower Egypt Kheperkare, given life like Re.

The Son of Ra Sesostris gifted of all life, all power, all stability and any health, living forever.

History

It is difficult to date precisely the start of the pharaonic history, as evidence from this period are few and mingle with the dawn of history (and writing). Egyptian tradition was of Menes (Narmer in Greek), the unifier of the country (then divided into two kingdoms) and the first human pharaohs after following the reign of Horus. Archaeological evidence, such as the Narmer Palette , seem to confirm the country's unification around -3200, but Egyptologists believe that the institution could it be earlier pharaohs.

The last pharaoh Aboriginal Nectanebo II (-358/-341) of the ^XXX Dynasty. Roman emperors assert themselves the legitimate successors of the pharaohs, but we agree that the ultimate representative of the Pharaonic institution itself is the last Ptolemy , Caesarion ( Ptolemy XV ), the son of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra.

Chronology

The earliest available complete timeline was established by the Hellenized Egyptian priest Manetho , who Ptolemy II (-282/-246) was asked to write in Greek a history of Egypt. His work implies that the Egyptians kept in the temple archives of the royal lists dating back to the origins of the Egyptian monarchy.

There are still short of providing a list of kings and classified into thirty dynasties, grouped in the period Thinite the Late Period. The criteria for the classification of Manetho we do are not known, but in any event it compulsive Egyptian sources, although the concept of dynasty he uses does not match the one we practice in the West. Indeed, the dynasties of Manetho unrelated to the bond of blood but with the home town of the founder of the dynasty pharaoh who serves in the majority of cases of dynastic capital. It is therefore primarily throughout the history of Egyptian dynasties Memphis ( Old Kingdom ), Herakleopolitan ( First Intermediate Period ), Theban ( Middle and New Kingdom ), originating Avaris (period Hyksos during the ^fifteenth and ^sixteenth dynasties ), Tanite ( New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period ).

There are also some contemporary chronologies of Pharaonic Egypt as the Turin Papyrus , the Palermo Stone , or the a href = "Liste_d 27Abydos%" title = "List of Abydos"> list of rule by the temple of Abydos dating to Seti ^I.. However, these documents are to be used with caution because we do not know the criteria for choosing or ranking who are behind. Some pharaohs were absent from the list of Abydos ( Hatshepsut , Akhenaten and Tutankhamun in particular).

In books on ancient Egypt, one can find some differences in the dates of reigns, mainly due to the dating method used by the ancient Egyptians.

The Egyptians divided the year into three seasons: Inundation (Akhet) Germination (Peret) and Heat (Shemu), followed by five additional days or epagomenal. Each season had four months of thirty days each. Originally, the beginning of the Akhet coincided with the heliacal rising of Sothis takes place, according to the Julian calendar, July 19. However, since the solar year has 365 days and six hours - and not 365 days - this difference of six hours led to an increasing gap between the calendar year and solar year: so that the season began Akhet several times in winter. Added to that the Egyptians did not use absolute dating. The events were dated from the years of the reign of Pharaoh, P. ex. Year 2, ^3rd month of ^Akhet, 2nd day under the Majesty of King Doe.

Every 1,460 years, the beginning of the Egyptian civil year (July 19 in the Julian calendar) coincides with the heliacal rising of Sothis, that is to say the appearance of the star at sunrise. This coincidence struck the Egyptians, who consignrent, including 139 of our era. This last provides a benchmark and allows an absolute dating of reigns: in year 9 of Amenhotep ^I, for example, there was also coincidentally the start of the calendar year and the heliacal rising of Sothis; year 7 thus correspond to -1545.

Nevertheless, the establishment of an absolute dating is a real headache for Egyptologists , not only, to be exact, it will determine the location of the observation of the heliacal rising of Sothis, but again, the Middle Empire , Year 1 of a king corresponded to the beginning of the calendar year that followed his accession to the New Kingdom reign of Year 2 beginning 365 days after the date of arrival, and finally, the Late Period he began the day of the heliacal rising of Sothis after accession, one year of the reign can be thus reduced to a few days.

Obs.: - The spelling of names is different depending on whether or transliterates hieroglyphics that we use the name given by the Greeks. For example, the pharaoh Amenhotep (name copied from the ancient Egyptian) is identical to Amenophis (Greek name). Moreover, in some names, there is anterior displacement of the honorary name of the god, but the habit that we also retain the name as known without anterior displacement of the first Egyptologists, so Raneb and Nebra is the same character, a King of the ^Second Dynasty.

List of pharaohs

Related Articles: Pharaohs chronologically and alphabetically pharaohs.

It is impossible to provide an accurate list of kings who succeeded to the throne of Egypt for 3000 years, as the information we received were fragmentary. In addition, there are time differences between the Egyptian sources, which explains why, in the lists of rulers established by Egyptologists, some realms overlap rather than follow. Finally, some troubled periods of history have left gaps, sometimes voluntary, in the timeline.

Despite this, most of the pharaohs, and, it seems, the most important pharaohs in history, are fairly well known.

Pharaoh's Legitimacy

Ra , the sun of the universe and men on earth, withdrew to the sky gods, leaving the leadership of the world, then to semi-divine kings and monarchs finally to humans, the pharaohs, who are his son and representative on earth.

The legitimacy of the pharaoh is based on divine ancestry. According to Egyptian mythology , in the body of Pharaoh would flow from a divine blood of his ancestor, the god Horus. Pharaonic function is by divine right and is transmitted by blood.

That is why the heir to the crown must be born of the Great Royal Wife. Itself being of divine ancestry, it allows the future to be Pharaoh, by his mother and his father, of divine origin. If it comes from a concubine, he married his half-sister born of the Great Royal Wife. Mythology also provides examples of incest , with Geb and Nut , or Osiris and Isis in the same vein, some intermarriage between Pharaoh and his daughter or his daughters. Such unions are certified including Akhenaten and Ramesses II. So both the interests of ensuring the legitimacy of the heir to the throne and will emphasize the divinity of Pharaoh who said the royal prerogative of incest, because that is a prerogative that 'question. Indeed, it appears that marriages between brother and sister are rarely practiced by ordinary mortals, although such unions are subject to any statutory prohibition and that, in civil society, the terms "brother" and " sister, "when a union, must be included in the second degree, in most cases, such as terms of endearment.

Lack of male heir, or when the new king is still a very young child (Thutmose III), the function can fall to a woman of divine blood ( Nitokris , Hatshepsut , Taousert ) rather than a man who does ll'est no, she is custodian until the transmission to her husband, which does not mean that the monarchical legitimacy rests solely on marriage to a girl with blood.

Pharaonic lines were never able to endure, they were regularly interrupted by invaders or by coups. As pharaoh whose legitimacy was questionable or challenged could legitimize his seizure of power by arguing that it had been intended by the deity. The god marked his choice by a sign, a prodigious birth (the kings of the ^Vth dynasty , Hatshepsut of the ^XVIIIth Dynasty ), a dream of the lucky ( Thutmose IV ) at the foot of the Great Sphinx , or an oracle ( Horemheb , Alexander the Great ).

After thirty years of reign, the Pharaoh celebrated his first jubilee, the Sed-festival , to regenerate its forces and show the people that he was still capable of governing the country.

The birth of a pharaoh

Shown high reliefs of the temple of Deir el-Bahari , the divine birth of the future Queen Hatshepsut ( ^Eighteenth Dynasty ) is a theology of kingship very important later found to Amenhotep III ( Dynasty ^XVIII ) and Ramesses II ( XIX ^th Dynasty ). When Amon wants to generate His heir land, it is for Thoth , the god of knowledge, and indeed his scout to ensure that Queen Ahmose, wife of Thutmose ^I. , is worthy to carry within it the future pharaoh. Then Amon takes the features of the present king:

"So Amun, the god magnificent lord of the thrones of the Two Lands, turned and took the appearance of His Majesty, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt akhperkar (Tuthmosis ^I.), husband of the queen. He found her as she slept in the beauty of his palace. "

Mating takes place when divine:

"After he was approached closely and she raved to contemplate his glory (nfrw = f) God, behold the love of Amon entered his body. The palace was awash with the perfume of the god all the scents were those of Punt. (...) Words spoken by Amun, lord of the thrones of the Two Lands: (...) While Khene-met-imen-Hatshepsut (Spawn of Amun, First Ladies of Nobles) is the name of that girl j 'I put in your body. It will exercise this beneficent kingship in this entire country. "

Amon then gives Khnum , the divine potter, order to shape the child and his ka. When the royal wife gave birth to the future queen, she is surrounded by a Ennead of gods, arranged in three rows of three. The child is presented to Amun that promises earthly royalty, he entrusted breastfeeding Hathor , the divine nurse.

Notes

Jacques Briend, The Pharaohs in the Bible. King's power, authority of God in The World of the Bible, Special Issue Fall 2006, p. 47
Hans Wolfgang Helck , band 2
K. Sethe , p. 33: als mit dem Ganzes determiniert Zeichen des Hauses.
Genesis 12, Genesis 12
Exodus 2, Ex 2
2 Kings 23, 2R 23
Jeremiah 46, 46 Jr
L.-P. Segur, Ancient and Modern World History p. 47, 1822
F. Chantelouve, Pharaoh's Tragedy (1574), Pierre de Ronsard , Helen Sonnet (1578), Theodore Agrippa d'Aubigne , the tragic (1616); Benignus Bossuet Jacques , Universal History (1681), Ch Of Brushes, worship gods favorite (1760)
According to Ch Desroches Noble, Queen mysterious , P. 134.
AH Gardiner , Egyptian Grammar, p. 74.

Bibliography

(De) Hans Wolfgang Helck Die Prophezeiung of Nfr.tj Kleine gyptische Text, Wiesbaden 1992 (reprint ^2nd ed.) ;
(De) Kurt Heinrich Sethe , Erluterungen zu den gyptischen Lesestcken, Darmstadt, 1976 ;
(By) Alan Henderson Gardiner , Egyptian Grammar, Oxford University Press, 1973 ;
Christiane Desroches Noble , Queen Hatshepsut mysterious, Pygmalion, 2002 .