Narmer Macehead
Encyclopedia
Nekhen
Nekhen was the religious and political capital of Upper Egypt at the end of the Predynastic period...
.) It is dated to the reign of king Narmer
Narmer
Narmer was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period . He is thought to be the successor to the Protodynastic pharaohs Scorpion and/or Ka, and he is considered by some to be the unifier of Egypt and founder of the First Dynasty, and therefore the first pharaoh of unified Egypt.The...
whose serekh
Serekh
In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a serekh is a rectangular enclosure representing the niched or gated façade of a palace surmounted by the Horus falcon, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name...
is engraved on it. Today it is kept at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
Motifs
The macehead may represent the dynastic marriage of the victorious NarmerNarmer
Narmer was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period . He is thought to be the successor to the Protodynastic pharaohs Scorpion and/or Ka, and he is considered by some to be the unifier of Egypt and founder of the First Dynasty, and therefore the first pharaoh of unified Egypt.The...
, pharaoh of Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt is the strip of land, on both sides of the Nile valley, that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan north to the area between El-Ayait and Zawyet Dahshur . The northern section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Sohag is sometimes known as Middle Egypt...
with Nithotep or Neithhotep A
Neithhotep
Neithhotep was the first queen of ancient Egypt, cofounder of the First dynasty, and is the earliest woman in history whose name is known. The name Neithhotep means "[The Goddess] Neith is satisfied".- Biography :...
, a princess of the defeated Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt is the northern-most section of Egypt. It refers to the fertile Nile Delta region, which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet Dahshur, south of modern-day Cairo, and the Mediterranean Sea....
. Narmer wears the red crown
Deshret
Deshret, from ancient Egyptian, was the formal name for the Red Crown of and for the desert Red Land on either side of Kemet, the fertile Nile river basin. The end has a curly wire on it, that represents the proboscis of a honey bee. Deshret or DSRT also represents the insect known as the honeybee...
of Lower Egypt and over him hovers the protective vulture, Nekhbet
Nekhbet
In Egyptian mythology, Nekhbet was an early predynastic local goddess who was the patron of the city of Nekheb, her name meaning of Nekheb...
local goddess of Nekhen
Nekhen
Nekhen was the religious and political capital of Upper Egypt at the end of the Predynastic period...
, the religious and political capital of predynastic Upper Egypt . Behind the princess appears a proto-Nine bows
Nine bows
The nine bows is a term used in Ancient Egypt to represent the traditional enemies of Egypt. The peoples covered by this term changed over time, as enemies changed, and there is no true list of the nine bows...
, which in later times represented the enemies of Egypt.
The Narmer macehead is better preserved than the Scorpion macehead and has had various interpretations. Nowadays the opinion is, like for the Palette, that the events depicted on it records the year it was manufactured and presented to the temple, a custom which is known from other finds at Hierakonpolis, rather than great occasions like Narmer's Heb Sed festival or marriage to a possible Queen Nithotep, a theory of earlier scholars, among them Petrie.
On the left side of this macehead we see a king wearing the Red Crown (deshret) sitting under a canopy on a dais, covered in a long cloth or cloak. He is holding the flail and above the canopy a vulture hovers with spread wings, possibly the deity Nekhbet. Directly in front of him is another dais or possibly litter on which sits facing him a cloaked figure. This figure has been interpreted as a princess being presented to the king for marriage, though it could also represent a deity. The dais is covered by a bowlike structure and behind it are three registers. In the center register attendants are walking or running behind the dais. In the top register an enclosure with what seems like a cow and a calf might symbolise a nome or the goddess Het-Hert (Hathor) and her son Heru (Horus), deities associated with kingship since earliest times. Behind the enclosure four standardbearers approach the throne. In the bottom register, in front of the fanbearers, are seen what looks like a collection of offerings.
On the center part of the macehead, behind the throne with the seated king there is a figure just like the supposed sandalbearer from the Narmer palette, likewise with the palmette sign above its head. He is followed by a man carrying a long pole. Above him three men are walking, two of them likewise carrying long poles. The serekh displaying the signs for Narmer can be seen above these.
The top field to the right of the center field shows a building, perhaps a shrine, with a heron perched on its roof. Below this, an enclosure shows three animals, probably antelopes. This has been suggested as signifying the ancient town of Buto, the place where the events described on the macehead might have taken place. An interesting discussion of these can be found here.
It has been debated whether Narmer was the last king of Dynasty 0 or the first king of Dynasty I and if he preceded or was contemporary with 'Scorpion' or even the same person. It is also questioned if he is the same as Manetho's Menes or perhaps even the ruler Aha. What is perhaps most important to look at in this problematic chronology is that the reign of Narmer came before Den and Qa'a, we must also remember that dynasties as such did not come around until over two thousand years later. Apparently Den and Qa'a seem to have themselves placed Narmer as their predecessor and founder at least when it comes to the royal burial grounds at Abydos
Abydos, Egypt
Abydos is one of the most ancient cities of Upper Egypt, and also of the eight Upper Nome, of which it was the capital city. It is located about 11 kilometres west of the Nile at latitude 26° 10' N, near the modern Egyptian towns of el-'Araba el Madfuna and al-Balyana...
. In this context it has to be said that Narmer is so far unattested by monuments at the Saqqara necropolis, though he is much more attested than his predecessors in other archaeological material.
External links
- http://www.philae.nu/akhet/FirstArtefacts.html