More on the Pharaohs

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More about the Pharaohs

Much of what we know about the Pharaohs comes from the Egyptian priest and historian Manetho.

He is the founder of the Dynastic system, which we still use, and recorded information on Egyptian history.

Sadly, there are no complete works of Manetho found till now - but due to the fact that he was so popular that many other ancient historians quoted his work.

Also, a lot of information comes from the intricate tombs of the kings themselves, or the tombs of others. Their mummies give biological evidence to accompany the artifacts.

But mostly, what has helped a lot in defining the chronology are The King Lists...

The Egyptian King Lists

Most of the information on ancient Egyptian rulers was available only in fragments and in different areas.

The fragments of information that give clues to who ruled when include the Palermo Stone, which lists kings starting from the pre-dynastic period till the middle of the 5th dynasty. Parts of the Palermo Stone can be found in the Palermo Museum in Italy and some in the Cairo Museum.

Other King Lists include:

The Royal List of Karnak which is now in the Louvre Museum in France; it lists many kings from the first till the 17th Dynasty.

The Royal List of Abydos can still be seen in the Temple of Seti I, and lists kings from the first until Seti himself.

A duplicate of the above, called The Abydos King List can be seen in the British Museum - where you can also see the Rosetta Stone (which provides even more information).

The King's Symbols

The King had to be able to rule a united Egypt. He had to maintain the unity between Upper and Lower Egypt. Upper and Lower Egypt had some differences between the people and the customs - so as the king of both, he wore the double crown and carried the crook and flail.

Here are the symbols of each side...

Upper Egypt's White Crown "Hedjet", Lotus, and Vulture:

Lower Egypt's Red Crown "Deshret", Papyrus, and Cobra:

And Finally the Combined Crown "Shemty" of Upper and Lower Egypt:

The Pharaohs were also given Horus names, since they were his reincarnations on Earth.

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