The Egyptian Pharaohs
The pharaoh is the king of ancient Egypt, closely associated with the gods, to the extent of being considered the earthly incarnation of Horus. As the intermediary between humanity and the gods, he is depicted on the walls and pillars of temples paying homage to various deities. Since he cannot be present in all temples, the pharaoh delegates priests to perform the worship rituals. Only the pharaoh, and no one else, can decide to construct or expand places of worship.
The regality of the pharaoh remained unchanged for over 3500 years, uninterrupted even during foreign invasions, which exploited this religious significance to seize power, until the advent of Christianity. The religious figure was never criticized, although there are some negative judgments concerning the pharaohs, particularly those of the Late Period, but also notable figures like Cheops and Pepi II. The entire Egyptian society thus refers to the pharaoh. History is divided into dynasties, and art is adjusted to suit the pharaoh’s tastes. Various social strata are also tied to his policies: they work for him and receive sustenance from him.
At the time of his coronation, the pharaoh assumes five titles:
- The name of Horus, identifying the king as the earthly incarnation of the god Horus. The falcon, the animal with which Horus is represented, along with the lion and the bull, are the animals with which the pharaoh most often identifies. Being Horus, the son of Osiris, starting from the Fifth Dynasty, the king sees an expansion in the meaning of this titulary: after death, the pharaoh becomes Osiris, as well as maintaining his Horus figure.
- Nesut-bity (n-sw-bit), which means "King of Upper and Lower Egypt," recalls the beginning of Egypt’s history. Nesut, represented by the hieroglyph of a reed, means "Lord of the North," while Biti, in hieroglyph a bee, is the "Lord of the South." The first pharaoh to add this name to the royal titulary was Den (First Dynasty). Starting from the Middle Kingdom, this title always encompasses the name of the solar god Ra. The hieroglyphic writing is enclosed by the so-called cartouche, an oval intended to protect the pharaoh's name from evil.
- Nebti, meaning "the two ladies." This term refers to the two protective deities of Upper and Lower Egypt, respectively Nekhbet (vulture) and Uto (cobra). It is not uncommon for the pharaoh to personify in his figure two female and opposing deities. For the ancient Egyptians, only by uniting dualities can one achieve wholeness. This name was first adopted by Semerkhet (Second Dynasty) and probably represents the sovereign's career before his coronation.
- The "Golden Horus Name," or "Name of the Golden Horus," as used in ancient times. This title indicates the falcon nature of the pharaoh, but also the material of which the gods and their depictions are made. The pharaoh was thus the earthly manifestation of the divine beings. Introduced by King Zoser.
- Son of Ra. This was the name given to the sovereign at birth, identifying him as a member of the royal family. His name is associated with many deities, but only in the official titulary is he called "the son of Ra." The various epithets assigned to the king reflect the different expectations of each era. Thus, phrases like "He who enlivens truth and destroys falsehood" or "the Nile of Egypt that inundates the country with its perfection" indicate what the people expected from that pharaoh and absolutely do not represent his personality. There are still other ways in which the pharaoh is named, such as "Lord of the Two Lands," "Lord of the Crowns," and many others. This titulary was formalized during the Fifth Dynasty under Neferirkare. Like the name of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, this name is also enclosed in the cartouche.
Every pharaoh, from the moment of his coronation, presents himself as the one capable of restoring order (Maat). Thus, he has the task of defeating evil to return to a renewed perfection. This is why some pharaohs who did not undertake any military campaigns were still depicted in military actions.
In ancient times, the king was called Neter-nefer. The term "pharaoh" came into common use starting from the New Kingdom, meaning literally "The Great House." The origin of the term indicated the Royal Palace, while only later, with the same appellation, was the pharaoh himself identified.
The way the pharaoh was depicted shows several affinities with the gods. Indeed, in depictions, Egyptians were always drawn clean-shaven, while gods were drawn with a ceremonial beard curved at its end. The kings, for their part, wore a straight artificial beard which became curved only after death, when the king became Osiris. It is worth noting that only the god Ptah was portrayed with the straight beard typical of a living king.
As for the clothing worn by the pharaoh, it is necessary to separate the various historical periods since each had its own characteristics. In the Old Kingdom, the king usually wore a very short kilt called a shendyt. In the New Kingdom, the kings preferred to wear a long, smooth skirt with a sleeveless blouse. During the Sed festival, the pharaoh also wore a short, tight mantle.
However, what unmistakably distinguishes the person of the pharaoh are the crowns. In antiquity, when there was still a division between Upper and Lower Egypt, there were two different crowns.
The first (hedjet) was white, made of soft material, and had a very particular shape. The second (deshret) was red with a flat cap decorated with a curl.
The union of the two crowns gives rise to the crown (pshent) that identifies the pharaoh as the sovereign of united Egypt.
During the New Kingdom, the kings usually preferred a blue crown similar in shape to a helmet and adorned with metal plaques. This type of crown is exclusive to the king, while the others were also worn by the gods. In the Late Period, feathered crowns of various types decorated with horns and cobra-serpents were introduced. Very often, instead of a crown, the pharaoh wore a headdress also decorated with the cobra-serpent of rectangular shape and made of fabric.
The cobra-serpent, according to Egyptian belief, with the fire breath of its venom keeps enemy forces away from the pharaoh. This symbol is what distinguishes the pharaoh from other people even when he is only wearing the wig (in Egypt, the wig was worn indistinctly by men and women of all social classes).
From ancient times, at the height of the belt, the sovereign wore a tied bull's tail that shows the link with the bull. On occasions of priestly functions, this tail was replaced by a panther skin.
Royal footwear is often sandals, as demonstrated by many findings including the fabulous tomb of Tutankhamun.
Among the most important insignia of power that distinguish the pharaoh are undoubtedly the ancient curved pastoral staff and the fly whisk, which was likely a fly swatter.
The pharaoh's day was meticulously planned. He was surrounded by a magical aura: if someone approached him, it had to be done in proskynesis, i.e., prostrated, kissing the earth. The priest Rawer, who lived during the Fifth Dynasty under King Neferirkare, recounts in his tomb at Giza that he was accidentally hit by the king's club during a ceremony. The pharaoh had to declare the casualness of the gesture and, consequently, the impunity of the priest, thus sparing his life.
The person representing the pharaoh fully embodies the role. In this way, art is influenced to represent the pharaoh not as he is in reality, but as an ideal figure to emphasize his uniqueness. All pharaohs, such as Ramses II who reigned for over 66 years, were always represented in their full youthful vigor despite their advanced age. Even towards the end of the Twelfth Dynasty and during the reign of Akhenaton, the figure of the pharaoh, which no longer followed the classical canons, was the result of a different conception of royalty.
Unfortunately, there are no autobiographies of pharaohs, but only two texts in which the sovereign speaks to the son designated for his succession. These two texts are the Teaching of Merirkare and the Teaching of Amenemhat I for his son Sesostris I. To Merirkare the father speaks of living with internal and external enemies at the palace and advises indulgence because he thinks that the use of words is more convincing than punishments, while Amenmhat I describes the attempt to kill him and the difficulties encountered in defending himself from the betrayals of his advisers. Other texts directly related to the pharaohs are some letters transcribed in the tombs or on the steles of officials. Among these are distinguished the letter of Pepi II, who writes to the chief of the expedition in Nubia Herkhuf, and the letter of Amenophis II to the official in charge of dealing with the Nubians. Original documents are the cuneiform tablets from Tell El-Amarna from the period of Amenophis III and Akhenaton.
Many details regarding the physical appearance of the pharaoh are derived from the examination of royal mummies. Thus it can be stated with certainty that Thutmose III was 1.62 m tall and had delicate features, Amenophis III tended towards obesity and, in old age, was afflicted with toothache, Siptah had to overcome childhood paralysis which, however, left clear traces, and Ramses V died young due to smallpox.
There are also stories that can help understand the personality of the pharaoh. One example is the account of the Battle of Kadesh at the temple of Abu Simbel where Ramses II is depicted as the great protagonist of the fight against the Hittites. Great personalities certainly included Amenophis III and his son Akhenaton, while equally well-documented is the story of Ramses IV: he, who was not a prince since his family was not in power, became pharaoh after the death, perhaps not natural, of Queen Tausret and the ascent to the throne of his grandfather Sethnakht, following the death of his father Ramses III. It seems that the name of his successor Ramses III was long undecided, thus giving rise to violent internal conspiracies that culminated in the assassination of the pharaoh. The culprits, who supported the candidacy of Prince Pentaur, were discovered and prosecuted, and so Ramses IV could ascend the throne. His reign focused on fighting corruption and consolidating peace. The scant wealth enjoyed by Egypt at that time allowed the pharaoh to complete only his own tomb. As for the pharaohs of the Old Kingdom, there are not enough sources to accurately outline the personality of the sovereigns. Some later works such as the Westcar Papyrus, Neferti, and the Teaching for Kagemni from the Middle Kingdom, describe Snefru as a good pharaoh who reigned in the sign of understanding and harmony. In complete contrast was his son Cheops, who is described as a tyrant.
The royal bride played a fundamental role in the succession to the throne: from her and her descendants depended the succession to the throne and, in the absence of a reigning pharaoh, she had the possibility of reigning when the heir was a minor. In the history of the dynasties, there were cases where a woman ascended to the throne and ruled stably: Meritneith (First Dynasty), Sebeknefrura (at the end of the Twelfth Dynasty), Hatshepsut (Eighteenth Dynasty), and Tausret (at the end of the Nineteenth Dynasty).
Merneith reigned after the death of Uagi, whom she was probably married to, awaiting the coming of age of Den, who was probably her son. She had two royal tombs, steles, and statues built for herself. However, she did not assume the name of Horus and did not date her reign, so for scholars, she is not to be considered a pharaoh in full effect.
Nefrusobek ascended to the throne after the death of her brother Amenemhat IV, who probably had no male heirs. There are many testimonies regarding the woman-pharaoh like a bust preserved at the Louvre that portrays her in female clothes but with the insignia of the pharaoh. She defines herself as the "Female Horus" thus assuming all the characteristics of the male pharaoh.
Hatshepsut is the most famous female ruler of Egypt. During her years of reign, she progressively lost her feminine standards and had herself represented as a man. Her reign lasted more than 20 years and was characterized by the coregency with Thutmose III.
Tausret, who was already queen and therefore enjoyed great privileges, reigned after the death of her son Siptah.
From the eighth to the sixth century BC, the office of the "divine bride" was introduced. They reigned in place of the king and determined the succession to the throne through adoption. They did not marry and assumed the title of brides of the god Amon. Although not an actual royalty, they invested many prerogatives of the pharaoh.
The problem of succession was resolved in various ways: the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom and the sovereigns of the New Kingdom adopted the system of coregency where the hereditary king joined the reigning pharaoh in waiting to take his place. During the Ramesside period, this position was assigned the title of "generalissimo." In other periods characterized by foreign dominations, the succession to the king was resolved in different ways: the Libyans fragmented the country into small kingdoms that were entrusted to members of the royal family, while the Ethiopians made the pharaoh in power succeed the brother and, later, the nephew. The Ptolemies preferred to return to the system of coregency, preferably pairing the pharaoh with a female figure. Overall in Egyptian history, the system that guaranteed the best results was undoubtedly the classic succession from father to son. According to tradition, no generation was to be skipped; thus there were cases, such as that of Merenptah, where the successor was the fourteenth son of the predecessor Ramses II. The heir to the throne was usually chosen among the direct descendants of the great wife. In the absence of children, the successor was chosen among the children of the other wives. In the case where the pharaoh died prematurely or, as in the case of Akhenaton, had only female daughters, the successor was chosen among the brothers and sons-in-law who were considered as blood sons.
In the Old Kingdom, the role of vizier was also held by a son of the pharaoh, while other administrative positions were entrusted to members of the royal family.
In ancient Egypt, the designation of the heir was not predetermined so all the pharaoh's sons were educated in the same way. Among them, the heir to the pharaoh was chosen, while the others became his advisors. The same procedure was applied for the succession of high officials. The education of the heirs was given by the Palace school (Khep) where the designation of the educator was of great importance. It was the pharaoh himself who decided, based on his trust, who to entrust with the education of the children. The basis of the teaching was the knowledge of writing which allowed the learning of ancient texts. Sports education was also practiced, which included activities such as archery, swimming, and general military training. Amenophis II, the "sporty king," was very proud of his performance, which he left very detailed testimonies of, judged much superior to those of the soldiers of his army.
The figure of the pharaoh is characterized by both a human aspect and a divine one. He is a man who holds the function of a god, is the intermediary between men and gods. In the official titulary, the pharaoh is a god or is the son of a god, while among the epithets the pharaoh is the image of a god or is loved or favored by the gods. The Westcar Papyrus, from the Middle Kingdom, tells of the direct descent of the kings of the first five dynasties from the solar god Ra, while later, as in the Ramesside period, the pharaoh is defined as the son of Seth, who has no children, for the warrior affinity with the same god. In the Teaching for Merikara, all men are defined as the image of god. Thus in the Thirteenth Dynasty, the definition "living image of Ra on earth" takes hold, Amenophis III is for Amon-Ra "my beloved son, generated from my body, my image, whom I have elected on earth."
Amenemhat III, in the loyalist instructions, is defined as Sia, Ra, Hapi, Khnum, Montu, Bastet, and Sekhmet to cover the different aspects of his role. The pharaohs also had themselves represented as animals such as the bull, the lion, and the falcon to which others were added over time. Chephren was the first to create the myth of the king protected by the falcon (depiction of Horus), a myth that lasted until the end of the pharaonic era. Nectanebo I, in addition to sharing Chephren's idea, even called himself "the Falcon." Ramses II was often portrayed with attributes of the falcon even if, in this case, the pharaoh intended to refer to the solar god Ra-Harakhti. The god with which the pharaoh is most often portrayed is undoubtedly Ra. While in the first three dynasties it is poorly documented, from the Fourth Dynasty onward Ra plays an increasingly important role. Many pharaohs will assume names derived from epithets of Ra and, next to their pyramids, will build a sanctuary dedicated to the same Ra. With the pyramid texts, Ra becomes the dominant god of the afterlife.
Amenophis III was the first to identify with Ra while still alive. Until now, only after death did the pharaoh, who became Osiris, become a god, but from this moment on, the pharaoh will be venerated as a god even while he is alive. Amenophis III will have two temples built in Nubia, those of Soleb and Sadeinga, where it was possible to worship his person and his wife, Queen Teie. Following in the same footsteps will be Tutankhamun (temple of Faras) and Ramses II (various temples including Abu Simbel). The people truly believed that the pharaoh was a god. Wars were officially undertaken only for defensive reasons.
Starting from the Middle Kingdom, the king proclaims himself governor of all lands. In the New Kingdom, Egypt greatly expands its kingdom, conquering regions such as Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and much of today's Sudan. The expansion of the borders is comparable to the expansion of the temples and existing buildings that in Egypt was practiced by almost all the sovereigns. In fact, a pharaoh, who had the task of bringing something new to the country, could also simply expand existing constructions. A classic example of this conception is the temple of Karnak which was "touched up" by various pharaohs for over 2000 years. On the same plane is the habit of replacing the cartouches of the predecessors with those of the reigning king. Even with this system, the king brought novelty and thus progress. During the New Kingdom, there was a continuous expansion and development of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings that increased in halls, pillars, and innovations in the realization of decorations and sarcophagi. The evolution had a stopping point at the beginning of the Twentieth Dynasty. The tombs, in fact, reached such dimensions that it was impossible to design larger ones. Therefore, stratagems were resorted to, such as that of Ramses IV who had to give up some halls to be able to use wider corridors in order to obtain a still appreciable result.
At the base of life in Egypt is the Maat, that is, the order by which harmony among things is ensured. The pharaoh must guarantee order. Thus, the works that he will build must not disturb the balance of nature. In the social sphere, respect for the Maat ensures fair judgment for all without any distinctions. Respect for the order of things and social equality did not prevent the pharaoh from rising as a figure different from other men. This was allowed to the pharaoh who, to achieve such recognition, appealed to his divine nature.
The pharaoh was never a judge, but punishments could not be carried out without his consent.
The same pharaoh had the power to appoint the high priests thus limiting the influence of the clergy and preventing an hereditary renewal of the position.
The figure of the pharaoh in the history of ancient Egypt has always enjoyed great privileges without ever transforming his politics into oppression. Egypt is one of the longest-lasting civilizations humanity has known, and the great fascination it exerted also involved foreign rulers who rose to government during periods of crisis. None of them indeed tried to transform the customs of this country, but, on the contrary, they married the traditions making themselves accepted more or less willingly by the people.
Known examples are those of Alexander the Great, the Ptolemies, and the Ethiopian rulers who had themselves depicted on temples intent on bringing gifts to the gods. All Egyptian history was conditioned by the respect for the Maat of which the pharaoh was the guarantor.
The most famous pharaohs
KHUFU, KHEPHREN, AND MYCERINUS
Khufu
Khufu, whose real name was Khnum-Khufui (Khnum protects me) or, more simply, Khufu, is the second pharaoh of the 4th Dynasty. Son of Snefru and then his successor, he is currently remembered for his majestic tomb: the Pyramid of Khufu or Great Pyramid. His father, who reigned over Egypt for about twenty years, from 2590 to 2567 B.C., was a sovereign famous for his kindness and therefore beloved by the people.
He was buried at Dashur in a pyramid with a peculiar shape that is identified as the final experiment before the construction of the famous pyramids of Giza. Certainly, Khufu did not inherit his father's good and charitable character since, during his reign, he was distinguished by his ruthlessness and selfishness. Thus, while the fame of Snefru was handed down for millennia, Khufu was snubbed by historians of the time and even by Herodotus who wrote about him in a very severe manner. His government was therefore centered on tyranny and personal ambition. He did not hesitate to sacrifice his people and, even, his family affections. Herodotus wrote about him:
“There was no treachery that Khufu did not commit, he closed the temples and forced all Egyptians to work for him, sending them to quarry stones in the mountains of Arabia and to transport them to the Nile, where other unfortunate people received them and dragged them to the Libyan mountain. Every three months, one hundred thousand men were employed in this work and, just to build the ramp on which the stones were to be dragged, it took ten years and the construction of his pyramid cost another twenty years of torments to the Egyptian people.”
And then:
“Khufu, exhausted by these expenses, reached the infamy of prostituting his own daughter in a place of perdition and ordering her to obtain from her lovers the sum needed to complete the works.”
The Greek historian, claiming to report the stories of the priests of Memphis, added that Khufu's daughter, in addition to carrying out her father's orders, wanted to leave a monument in her memory and therefore demanded from each of her lovers, in addition to the money, a stone. These numerous stones allowed her to build “that pyramid that is now in the middle, in front of the Great Pyramid, and that has a pick and a half on the side (about 16 meters).” Herodotus's judgment is corroborated by a collection of stories from the Middle Kingdom that depict Khufu as a proud and evil pharaoh. Moreover, Herodotus, speaking of the pyramids of Giza, states that Khufu and Khephren were so evil that the Egyptians used to call their pyramids as those of Filitis, a shepherd who used to graze his animals right in that area. Auguste Mariette, a great Egyptologist of the last century and the creator and first director of the Cairo museum, as well as the discoverer of the necropolis of Saqqara, said that “it would have been much better for history and for Egyptology that historians like Herodotus, capable of lightly reporting such infamous gossip about Khufu, had never set foot in Egypt.” In the Westcar Papyrus, we read of a pharaoh, Khufu, who loves to be told wonderful stories of the reigns of his predecessors, but is completely indifferent to the value of human life. In the fourth story of the same Westcar Papyrus, it is told that Khufu, in search of the secret chambers of the sanctuary of the god of wisdom and writing Thoth, meets the magician of Meidum, Djedi, “a man of 110 years who eats 500 loaves, half a whole ox, and drinks a hundred pitchers of beer.” To Djedi, as we read, to test his magical wisdom, Khufu proposes to behead a prisoner, just to see if the magician, as he boasted, was capable of reattaching his head. Djedi, outraged, responds that he is not willing to do anything of the kind, because “this is forbidden for the flock of God.”
Khufu, perhaps due to his wickedness, is the least known and represented pharaoh of the Old Kingdom. Of him was found, in 1903 by Flinders Petrie, only an ivory statuette of 9 cm that depicts him sitting on a cubic throne, dressed in a shendyt skirt, and with the red crown of Lower Egypt on his head. More precisely, Petrie, during some excavations, first found only the body and then, after 6 or 7 days of research, the head. Petrie, sure that that was the missing head, attached it to the rest of the statuette. His memory, since even his mummy was not found, and his fame are therefore solely linked to his tomb, the Great Pyramid, the largest monument in all of Egypt, the only one of the seven wonders of the world to still be intact. His cartouches, confirming his architectural mania, are found in the ancient stone quarries and mines of the Sinai from where he had copper and turquoise extracted. It is said he also wrote a book, "the book of knowledge," in which the future was predicted, but which, unfortunately, was lost.
Khephren
Khephren statueOf the reign of Khephren, like that of his father Khufu, very little is known. The only traces of this pharaoh are given by the writings of Herodotus and by his monuments. The second pyramid of Giza and the Sphinx are attributed precisely to Khephren.
The ascent to the throne of Khephren is not clear. Khephren did not succeed his father Khufu directly because, before him, the throne of Egypt was occupied by his brother Dedefra, who, however, reigned only 8 years. Upon the death of Dedefra, whether due to natural causes or not, Khephren became pharaoh. It seems that the royal family was divided between two types of politics: one of Dedefra, more innovative, and the other of Khephren who followed in the footsteps of Khufu. As partial confirmation of this situation, there are the words written by Herodotus who does not skimp on unedifying adjectives for Khephren.
Khephren is also attributed to the sphinx temple and the funeral road leading to his pyramid. These two structures are the only ones still existing of the three pyramids.
Of this pharaoh has come down to us a stunning statue in which the king is seated on the throne and has on his head the god Horus in the form of a falcon. This masterpiece was found at Giza, in the lower temple, and was one of the 23 statues that adorned the temple. Each of these statues was made with different materials and therefore of different colors.
Mycerinus
Mycerinus (in Egyptian Men-kau-ra) succeeded important governments of the Old Kingdom like those of his great-grandfather Snefru, his grandfather Khufu, and his father Khephren, especially from an architectural standpoint.
This is because, to build their own pyramids, Khufu and Khephren had exhausted all the state's resources, leaving the Egyptian people in famine, and, fearing revolts, had closed all the temples. Certainly, the heaviest legacy was that of Snefru, the unforgettable pharaoh who in Egypt was even worshipped as the true incarnation of Ra, who understood the needs of the people and had launched the most courageous reforms in their favor.
First of all, Mycerinus reopened the temples, which had been closed for a full twenty-seven years, and then began work on the construction of his funeral temple. Herodotus, in the second book of his Histories, tells how Mycerinus' firstborn son died, and after him, his only daughter who, Herodotus claims, even hanged herself after having had an affair with her father.
Mycerinus, perhaps out of remorse, even because the handmaidens who had handed over the daughter to the father had their hands cut off by order of the queen, had a wooden cow built inside which he had the unfortunate girl buried, ordering her to be worshipped as a deity.
Herodotus in his writings says:
“The rest of the cow is covered with a purple mantle, while the tail and head are gilded with a very thick layer of gold, while between the horns a gold disc is depicted. The cow is not standing straight but is bent on its knees and is brought out from the mortuary chamber every year, when the Egyptians beat themselves for the god that here I do not name, as, according to what the priests say, the dying daughter asked Mycerinus, as a last wish, to see the sun once a year.”
As if that were not enough, an oracle from the city of Buto had predicted that he would live only six years, dying in the seventh. Mycerinus was convinced that the gods were angry with him and then decided to send some messengers to the sanctuary of Buto “complaining and making accusations against the god, reminding him that his father and uncle, who had closed the temples and had not cared for the gods, but had oppressed men as well, had lived a long life, while he was reserved a very short life.” The oracle responded that he had shortened his life himself by going against the will of the gods, who had decided for Egypt 150 years of tribulation. Khufu and Khephren understood this, while he, by reopening the sanctuaries, had somehow hindered the divine will... In that era, the sense of the religious was deeply felt (the pharaohs spent about 30% of the entire annual wealth to import the precious green incense, to be burned in religious ceremonies) so Mycerinus had no choice but to resign himself to his fate or somehow refute the prophecy. And so he did. Clinging to this last hope, he mobilized all the artisans of Egypt to manufacture a huge amount of lamps and, when the shadows of the evening fell, he had them all lit and, instead of sleeping, indulged in revelry.
Herodotus wrote:
“He wandered through the marshes and the woods, rushing to the places they told him were the most pleasant and beautiful. He had devised all this intending to prove that the oracle was false: the six years, in fact, had become twelve because he had turned the nights into days.”
According to Egyptologists, Mycerinus, the fourth pharaoh of the 4th Dynasty, reigned about 28 years, until 2533 B.C., and of him, in addition to the pyramid, numerous statues remain.
Thutmosi III
Thutmose III was the pharaoh who expanded Egypt's borders more than any other. During his reign, he undertook 17 military expeditions. The war between Egypt and Mitanni was inevitable. On the walls of Karnak, Thutmose III inscribed the triumphal events that led to the pharaoh's victory: initially, in the years 22-23, he led an expedition to conquer the city of Megiddo followed by the cities of Yenoam, Nuges, and Meherenkaru, which allowed him to approach the Mediterranean; in the next three expeditions, from the years 22 to 24, Thutmose III limited himself to controlling the area by collecting tributes and requisitioning the grain harvests of the Megiddo plain; in the final phase, from the years 29 to 33, the pharaoh launched the decisive attack. He conquered the city of Giahy after weakening it and depriving it of fruits and harvests and then advanced to Kadesh reaching Syria by sea. In the year 33, the Egyptian army directly confronted the Mitanni enemies on the banks of the Euphrates. For this occasion, Thutmose III built special riverboats that allowed him to cross the river, defeat the enemy, and conquer additional cities. At this point, the pharaoh decided to stop, setting the northern boundary at the city of Niya where he indulged in elephant hunting for some time. Later, there were 9 military expeditions aimed at reducing the military strength of the Mitanni in Naharina. During the last of these campaigns, in the year 34, Thutmose III had to suppress a revolt in Giahy. The following year, the pharaoh returned to Syria to confront a Mitanni coalition again, bringing yet another striking victory. After this battle, the Hittites were also forced to pay tributes to Egypt. A new military campaign was conducted to suppress some revolts of the Shosu Bedouins, but it was in the year 42 that Thutmose III faced his sixteenth battle against the Mitanni who were allied with the Phoenician princes. The confrontation occurred in Giahy and ended with the heavy defeat of the Asiatics, who would not make their presence felt for about a decade.
Egypt, following the numerous battles, reached the peak of its expansion: it extended from the Euphrates in the north to the fourth cataract in present-day Sudan. Thutmose III was so feared by his enemies that they often came to the palace to honor him with gifts and tributes in an attempt to placate his animosity.
His reign was a continuous struggle from the beginning when, despite being the legitimate heir to the throne even though still very young, he had to endure the power of Queen Hatshepsut, who saw herself as the legitimate owner of the power left by Thutmose II. Upon the death of Hatshepsut, Thutmose III was finally able to assume the role of pharaoh. To begin with, he ordered the erasure of all traces left by the hated Hatshepsut whom he considered a usurper. Even in the mortuary temple of Deir el-Bahri, Thutmose III replaced his cartouches with those of the queen.
Thus, Thutmose III was free to vent his anger on the enemies he faced from time to time, but at the end of his many victories, he usually left alive the leaders of the enemy peoples whom he sometimes had escorted home by his soldiers. He then returned to Egypt with the sons of the defeated leaders to whom he provided an Egyptian education, enabling them to return to their lands as administrators of the Egyptian government.
The life of Thutmose III is not just a tale of battles and conquests. The pharaoh was an avid reader of ancient texts, making him an educated and far-sighted man. He was also passionate about botany, so much so that he had his famous "gardens" carved on a wall of the Karnak temple.
The splendid tomb of Thutmose III is decorated like an unrolled papyrus. It depicts the journey of the sun at night and the obstacles it must overcome to rise again in the morning as a metaphor for the journey the pharaoh must undertake to reach the afterlife.
Akhenaton
The religious revolution towards monotheism began with Amenhotep III, the father of Akhenaton, who started to oppose the clergy of Amun by introducing the god Aton, equated with Ra. Aton, considered divine since the reign of Thutmose IV, was thus placed on the same level as Amun.
To signify this shift, Amenhotep III, nicknamed "the philanderer" because he reportedly had 365 different women each year, built a magnificent palace at the desert's edge, which he named "the splendor of Aton." Here, Akhenaton (or Ekhnaton) was born, taking his father's name, Amenhotep, at birth. During these years, Egypt was at its peak of expansionism, and the pharaoh's court experienced a period of splendor. Art flourished so impressively that Amenhotep III was dubbed "The Magnificent." The young heir, at the age of 12, was married to a girl, possibly a cousin, named Nefertiti ("the beautiful one who comes from afar"), who was two or three years younger, to ensure a successor to the throne sooner. Upon Amenhotep III’s death, Queen Teie assumed power in her son's name. The coronation of Amenhotep IV, the second-born of Amenhotep III, took place at Karnak amid peaceful relations with the clergy. In the second year of his reign, the young pharaoh changed his name from Amenhotep, meaning "peace of Amun," to Akhenaton, signifying "Aton is satisfied." Akhenaton, who did not believe in an afterlife, appointed himself as the revealer of Aton to mankind, declaring himself the son of Aton and trying to convince his subjects to also believe in this sole god, the sun god, and thus in himself. Consequently, political power coincided with religious power. Around the sixth or seventh year of his reign, Akhenaton, aiming to validate his creed, decided to abandon the then-capital Thebes, which he felt was too tied to the worship of Aton, in favor of a new capital dedicated to Aton. After much wandering, in the fourth year of his reign, Akhenaton believed he had found the ideal site for the construction, in the years 5 and 6, of the new city named Akhetaton, meaning "the horizon of the sun god." The horizon of the sun god was symbolized by the solar disc enclosed between two mountains, and right between the mountains surrounding the plain were two separated by a crevice from where the sun rose.
At the heart of the capital, Akhetaton, which was to house between 20,000 and 50,000 people, the Temple of Aton was built, serving also as the royal palace. The palace floor was designed with figures of Asian and Nubian warriors (enemies of Egypt) so that they were trodden on by the pharaoh even in moments of rest. The 14 steles that bordered the city and temples formed a series of perfect rectangles that proportionally reproduced the surface area of Amarna (the current name of the area where Akhetaton was located). The steles recorded the dimensions of the city and a pledge never to cross them. The new capital was a spectacular array of colors, with walls, floors, and ceilings painted or adorned with colorful mosaics. Faced with a revolution of this magnitude, the people remained loyal to the ancient gods, rejecting the new monotheistic cult. After 10 years of power, Akhenaton issued an edict demanding the desecration of all the ancient gods: the clergy of Amun was dispersed, the temples closed, and the assets confiscated. Everywhere in Egypt where the name of Amun appeared, it was systematically chiseled away. Royal enforcers were unleashed throughout the country to hammer and erase the name of the god of Thebes from temples, steles, tombs, papyri, and all other inscriptions. This break with tradition also manifested in other areas: for instance, artists were left free to express their thoughts, allowing them to produce works of stunning humanity. After 17 years of rule, Akhenaton disappeared. This disappearance remains a mystery today. Some believe there was a conspiracy against him, though this is poorly supported by the many uncertainties regarding the identity of his successor. Many scholars believe that this successor was Smenkhara, Akhenaton's son or brother, while others suggest that behind the name Smenkhara hides his wife Nefertiti, who would have ruled until the ascension of Tutankhamon, possibly her son. Other studies talk about Smenkhara as co-regent with Akhenaton in his final two years following Nefertiti's death, which occurred in the 14th year of Akhenaton’s reign. The same sources speak of a separation between Nefertiti and Akhenaton, possibly occurring two years before Nefertiti’s death. Akhenaton's tomb was placed to the east of Akhetaton, perfectly aligned with the Temple of Aton. In their depictions, Akhenaton and Nefertiti are portrayed nude, with Nefertiti depicted in battle and dressed in the symbols of the pharaoh, while Akhenaton is shown alone when interceding with the sun god Aton. The self-deification was considered Akhenaton's true affront to tradition. Only in the Old Kingdom were pharaohs considered gods, but later, already by the Fifth Dynasty, the pharaoh lost this divine characteristic. With the death of Akhenaton, traditional cults were also reestablished. From then on, Akhenaton would be referred to as "the enemy"; his name was erased from the annals, and the city of Akhetaton was destroyed along with the works made in honor of Aton. Ay, then the Grand Vizier, issued an edict associating Akhenaton's name with every negative event. This edict also listed all of Akhenaton’s errors. His name would not be spoken again until 1917 AD when Tomb number 55, dating from the era of Tutankhamon and built in honor of a close relative, was discovered in the Valley of the Kings. It is impossible to determine the name of the deceased since both the sarcophagus and the wall inscriptions were chiseled away. The only clues came from the study of the skulls of Tutankhamon and the unknown. According to experts, the comparison revealed a direct kinship, probably first degree. Many believe that this is the tomb of Akhenaton, whose body was moved to the Valley of the Kings by Tutankhamon, while others think the unknown deceased is Smenkhara.
The depiction of Akhenaton is different from that of other pharaohs. While other rulers were portrayed with perfect physiques to reinforce their demi-god status, Akhenaton was depicted by the artist Bak with a thin, elongated face and a large belly. These artistic peculiarities are a subject of scholarly debate. Many argue that, given his revolutionary policies, Akhenaton wanted to be represented this way to emphasize the break from the past; others simply claim that Akhenaton's image was deliberately made less appealing after the failure of his project and his subsequent reputation as a "heretic"; another theory suggests that the pharaoh was homosexual, hence his image was assimilated to that of a woman; Zaki Hawass also notes that the combination of male and female body traits was meant to signify Akhenaton's importance as an intermediary between the god Aton and the people; according to other sources, the pharaoh's distended belly was a representation of the swollen corpse of Osiris; another hypothesis is that Akhenaton was ill, and the disproportions were the result of his disease, while an opposing view holds that the largeness of the pharaoh's belly was a symbol of prosperity.
The Treasure of Akhenaton
In 1952, inside a cave near Qumran in Palestine, scrolls made of copper were found narrating the existence of a fabulous treasure belonging to the Egyptian pharaoh. This treasure would have consisted of gold ingots, silver coins, and amphorae filled with jewels and precious stones, located in some ancient site in Palestine. Its value is estimated at 64 tons of silver and 26 tons of gold. Robert Feather asserts that in the scrolls, by selecting some Greek letters here and there, the name of Akhenaton is written. Furthermore, Feather claims, the scrolls state that the treasure was originally located in the region of Amarna but, following the death of Akhenaton, the assassination of Smenkhara, and the premature disappearance of Tutankhamon, it was moved to a safe location by Jewish mercenaries. It took 200 years before it was rediscovered by Moses, who then took it with him to Palestine. During the journey, Moses abandoned part of it along the banks of the Nile.
Tutankhamon
The name Tutankhamun is linked to the most fabulous discovery in Egypt. His tomb was indeed found intact by Howard Carter in 1922. The images of the fabulous treasure and the legend of the pharaoh's curse went around the world. However, the story of Tutankhamun as a pharaoh is not as well-known, so below we narrate the essential points.
Around 1300 BC, when Egypt knew its greatest splendor and political stability, Pharaoh Akhenaton (or Amenhotep IV, or Ekhnaton), who transformed the religion into a monotheistic one recognizing a single god, Aton, ascended to the throne. He also moved the capital from Thebes to Amarna, founding a new city he called Akhetaton. From his marriage to Nefertiti, Pharaoh Akhenaton had six daughters who enjoyed the deepest love of their father.
Unfortunately, to continue his dynasty, it was necessary to have a male heir, which he had with a lesser wife named Kyia. This son was called Tutankhaton. When Akhenaton died, his only male child was just 10 years old. The regent Ay proclaimed Tutankhaton pharaoh in 1336 BC. The people, the old nobility, and the clergy, opposed to the pharaoh's monotheistic policy, took advantage of the young successor's age to impose some changes through the powerful Ay. Tutankhaton was thus forced to change his name to Tutankhamun.
Tutankhamun married his half-sister Ankhesenamun, previously called Ankhesenpaaton, and the marriage between the two was very happy and full of love. On the back of Tutankhamun's throne, the pharaoh and his wife Ankhesenamun are depicted with only one sandal at their feet. This signifies how the two young people had promised each other eternal love in good (foot with the sandal) and in bad (bare foot). The young pharaoh was assisted in his governance by the grand vizier Ay, who proclaimed himself so to better control the kingdom. Ay, who supported Akhenaton's opponents, restored the old polytheistic religion and returned the capital to Thebes. The beautiful Ankhesenamun, wife of Tutankhamun, became pregnant twice but failed to provide the young husband with an heir. The first time she miscarried a daughter at seven months of pregnancy and the second a son at five months. The unfortunate vicissitudes of the young couple benefited Ay, who gained more and more power, especially due to the lack of a legitimate heir to the throne. At the age of 20, Tutankhamun died under still mysterious circumstances. Many scholars today hypothesize that Tutankhamun was murdered by Ay because he intended to resume the cult of Akhenaton. Supporting this suspicion is the discovery by the famous radiologist Richard Harrison, who managed to X-ray the great pharaoh's skull revealing a deep fracture on the left side, likely caused by a blunt object. His assistant R. C. Conolly, examining a tiny tissue fragment, established the young sovereign's blood type as AZ subgroup MN. The tomb of Tutankhamun, given the pharaoh's premature and sudden death, was made in less than seventy days and even the embalming of the corpse was hurried. From the inscriptions present, the grand vizier Ay is depicted celebrating the funeral of the pharaoh already dressed in the insignia and honors of the future pharaoh. For this reason, the beautiful wife of Tutankhamun, Ankhesenamun, remaining a widow and childless, secretly asked the Hittite King Shuppiluliuma to give her a son in marriage to be crowned pharaoh. Seeing the not exactly peaceful relations between the two peoples, he initially refused, but then, subjected to the continuous entreaties of Ankhesenamun, he consented to the marriage and sent one of his sons, Zannanza, to Thebes. Ay became aware of Ankhesenamun's plan and ordered the future groom to be killed as soon as he crossed the border. Ankhesenamun was thus forced to marry Ay himself, who thus became the new pharaoh. At this point, the traces of Ankhesenamun are lost. Her image is no longer represented anywhere and the place of pharaoh's wife is taken by Ay's first wife, suggesting that Ay, having achieved his goal, had her eliminated. Not yet satisfied and perhaps for fear of being discovered, Ay erased every trace that led back to his predecessor. Ay died after only three years of rule. His tomb was found, emptied of everything. The Tomb of Tutankhamun, however, has reached us almost intact because, above it, other tombs were built thus hiding and protecting it.
The Trumpets of Tutankhamun
Among the many mysteries and curses surrounding the death of Tutankhamun, the story of the so-called "Trumpets of Tutankhamun" must be added.
Found inside the tomb of the famous pharaoh, they were brought to England where, in the BBC studios, an attempt was made to record their sound. Only one of the trumpets was successfully played. The protagonist of this event was James Tappern, a trumpeter of the British army, who managed to play a sequence of three notes: C, G, and C (an octave above). The sound was recorded, but the trumpet was severely damaged. Immediately after the recording of this sound, the BBC's equipment mysteriously malfunctioned for a week before it returned to normal operation. Before Tappern, it seems that the trumpet was played by Professor Kirby of the University of Johannesburg without the addition of modern mouthpieces. This system would require strong air pressure, making the intonation of the notes very difficult to achieve.
The Mysteries of Tutankhamun's Death
The death of Tutankhamun is shrouded in mystery. For many, his premature disappearance is proof that the young pharaoh was murdered. As previously stated, some examinations of Tutankhamun's skull revealed the presence of a hole likely caused by a foreign object. The calcification of this hole further confirms this theory. Tutankhamun may thus have been killed perhaps because he decided to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Akhenaton. But by whom? The main suspects, according to scholars, are Ay, his successor to the throne, and Horemheb, successor to Ay and powerful military leader. The disappearance from history of Ankhesenamun, the young wife of Tutankhamun, casts further doubt on the natural end of Tutankhamun's reign. On the contrary, two American scholars, Woodward and Griggs, after analyzing the pharaoh's mummy, state that the death was caused by a genetic disease that had afflicted Tutankhamun's family for many years. This disease would have been generated by the consanguineous marriages among the members of the royal family.
In addition to the mysteries related to the death of Tutankhamun, there are others concerning his tomb: how was it possible to prepare such a splendid tomb in such a short time? A very interesting hypothesis is promoted by Nicholas Reeves. He argues that it was the new pharaoh Ay who took care of, as was customary, the dignified burial of his predecessor. The 9 years of reign were not sufficient to prepare a new tomb, so Ay decided to adapt one for Tutankhamun. Reeves' research indicates that the tombs of Akhenaton and Nefertiti were the most suitable to house the body of Tutankhamun. The treasures of these two tombs were therefore transferred to that of Tutankhamun. In the tomb of the young pharaoh, statuettes with distinctly feminine features and inscriptions erased and adapted to the name of Tutankhamun were found. The famous golden mask, upon careful examination, shows a crack between the face and the headdress. This, according to Reeves, demonstrates that the mask was originally that of Akhenaton, from which the face was removed to apply that of Tutankhamun. In this way, Nicholas Reeves explains how it was possible to prepare the tomb of the pharaoh within the 70 days necessary for the mummification of the body.
Ramesse II
Ramses II was born in Memphis around 1290 BC. His father, Pharaoh Seti I, had four children, two males and two females. Ramses II was the second-born son who became the heir to the throne after the death of the firstborn. During his youth, Ramses II was put in charge of a military unit by his father and was given a harem. When Seti I died, Ramses II was 25 years old.
Ramses II ascended to the throne of Egypt in 1279 BC and is considered one of the "greats of history." His reign lasted until 1212 BC, and at 67 years, it is one of the longest in the history of Egypt. He became famous as a great warrior king but not only that: he constructed grandiose works unmatched in both quantity and grandeur. He lived until the age of 97, accompanied by 5 or 6 royal spouses who, along with secondary wives for a total of 77 wives, gave him 169 children. His favorite wife, Nefertari, whose name means "the beautiful among the beautiful," was honored with a temple, numerous statues, and an extraordinary tomb. He was very skilled at turning his partial victories into grand realizations of his projects. Ramses II, who shared the kingdom with his father Seti I from childhood, completed the construction of the temple of Abydos that his father had started. Then, embracing a propensity that had already shown itself during the reign of Ramses I, he moved the capital from Thebes to Pi-Ramesses (the ancient Avaris), in the Delta area, making it the new capital of the country. The figure of Ramses II became eternal both for his civil constructions and military enterprises in which he emerged victorious. The first conflict was against the "Sea Peoples" who had long threatened the Delta coasts. Ramses II defeated them and enlisted them into the Royal Guards. He then fought victorious battles in Byblos, in Asia Minor, and in Amurru, but the most fierce and dangerous enemy remained the Hittite king Muvatalli, who had his stronghold in Kadesh, in northern Syria. In the fifth year of his reign, Ramses II decided to gather all his forces and attack the Hittites. After the famous battle of Kadesh, the situation beyond Egypt's borders changed drastically. Taking advantage of the conflict between the Egyptians and Hittites, the Assyrians seized most of the Mitanni kingdom, establishing themselves along the banks of the Euphrates where they threatened both the Egyptians and the Hittites. Finding themselves threatened by the same danger, Ramses II and the new Hittite king Hattusil, brother of Muvatalli, signed a peace treaty. The Egyptians would retain control of the regions of Asia Minor, while the Hittites ruled over northern Syria. In addition to agreeing on non-aggression between the two armies, a pact of mutual assistance in case of attack by other peoples was anticipated. To seal these agreements, they released each other's political prisoners, and Ramses II took a Hittite princess as a wife. The treaty was soon rendered moot by the arrival of a second wave of Indo-European populations that overwhelmed the Hittites.
After the famous battle of Kadesh, Ramses II was deified like his father and, to commemorate the achievement, he had a majestic temple built at Abu Simbel.
In addition to Abu Simbel, there are testimonies of the reign of Ramses II all over Egypt. Among them are famous the Ramesseum, or the temple of a million years, on the plain of Thebes, the great hypostyle hall of the temple of Amun at Karnak which was however completed, his own grandiose tomb in the Valley of the Kings, and the recently famous and still under excavation, tomb KV5, always at Biban el-Muluk, which he wanted for his numerous children. Ramses II, like other pharaohs, appropriated statues and monuments from his predecessors by having his cartouche carved on them. Fearing that his constructions might also be credited to others in the future, he had his cartouche engraved on every statue that represented him at belt height.
To realize the many constructions he ordered, he sent many men to search for materials, including his son Khamuaset, traces of whom also exist in the pyramid of Menkaure at Giza. It is thought that part of the granite that covered the pyramid was "recycled" by Ramses II for his purposes, and it is thanks to Khamuaset that we can attribute the pyramid to Menkaure today.
Ramses II, who was defined as "the builder," left his kingdom to his son Merenptah, who followed his father's policies with good results.
The Battle of Kadesh
When Ramses II, during the fifth year of his reign, decided to attack the Hittites of King Muvatalli, he could count on an army of about 200,000 infantry, 400 warriors, and about 200 chariots. The army was divided into four groups: the division of Amun led by the pharaoh, the division of Ra, the division of Ptah, and the division of Seth at the rear. Ramses II's plan was to reach the battlefield near Kadesh with the four divisions, which would attack the Hittites in waves, while a fifth division coming from the sea would catch the enemy by surprise and surround and definitively defeat them.
Some Hittite informants revealed Ramses II's plan to Muvatalli, who thus decided to launch an attack on the Ra division during the march, thus leaving the pharaoh isolated and undefended. The Hittites attacked the Egyptians as anticipated, sweeping away the completely unprepared Ra division.
Ramses II was informed of the vile Hittite attack and decided to face the enemy.
At this point, history states that the armies confronted each other, losing significant units. The two kings mutually decided to suspend military initiatives and signed a peace agreement. Egyptian chronicles of the time recount how Ramses II decided to face the Hittite army alone. Now surrounded by the enemy, the pharaoh invoked the help of Amun, who stood by his valiant son and allowed him to heroically withstand the overwhelming Hittite power until the arrival of the rear militias, which, in the meantime, had crossed the Orontes River.
The peace treaty was stable and lasting. Between the Egyptians and Hittites, there were friendly relations confirmed by numerous letters, visits by various Hittite kings to Egypt, and two marriages contracted between Ramses II and two Hittite princesses.
This battle will be remembered as one of the most important in antiquity. The two sovereigns propagated their memorable victory to their peoples.
