Hotepsekhemwy

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Hotepsekhemwy
Bedjatau, Bedjau, Boethos, Bochus
Raneb
Royal titulary
Horus name
Hor-Hotepsekhemwy
Hr.-htp-sxm.wj
Horus, reconciliation of the two powers
G5
R4S42S42
Nebty name
Sehotep-Nebty
S.htp-nbt.j
He who pacifies the Two Ladies
G16S29R4


Bas are satisfied[2]
HASHG30R4
Z2		 V11AG7


Giza Writing Board (6th dynasty)
Bedjatau
Bḏ3-t3.w
The smelter[1][3]

<
D58U28U30G43
>
Nomen
Nisut-bitj-Nebty-Hotep
Nsw.t-btj-nbt.j-htp
King of Upper- and Lower Egypt, he of the Two Ladies, the satisfied
G39N5
M23
X1		 L2
X1		 G16R4
Children
Raneb ?
BurialGallery Tomb A, Saqqara (?)
Dynasty2nd Dynasty; starting c. 2890 BC.

Hotepsekhemwy is the

early Egyptian king who was the founder of the Second Dynasty of Egypt. The exact length of his reign is not known; the Turin canon suggests an improbable 95 years[4] while the ancient Egyptian historian Manetho reports that the reign of "Boëthôs" lasted for 38 years.[5] Egyptologists consider both statements to be misinterpretations or exaggerations. They credit Hotepsekhemwy with either a 25- or a 29-year rule.[6]

Name sources

Cartouche name of Hotepsekhemwy in the Abydos King List (cartouche no. 9).

Hotepsekhemwy's name has been identified by archaeologists at

Raneb.[1][7][8][9]

The

Seth.[1][10][11]

From the reign of Hotepsekhemwy onward it became a tradition to write the Horus name and the Nebty name in the same way. It is thought that some kind of philosophic background affected that choice, since the Horus name reveals a clearly defined, symbolic meaning in its translation. Horus- and nebty names being the same might also indicate, that the Horus name was adopted after ascending the throne.[1]

Family

The name of Hotepsekhemwy's wife is unknown. A “son of the king” and “priest of Sopdu” named

Raneb), it is uncertain whose son Perneb really was.[12][13]

Identity

Bone cylinder inscribed with the serekh of Hotepsekhemwy.

Hotepsekhemwy is commonly identified with the

hieroglyphic signs used to write "Hotep" in its full form are very similar to the signs of a pottery kiln and a chick in hieratic writings. The signs of two Sekhem sceptres were misread as a leg and a drill. A similar phenomenon might have occurred in the case of King Khasekhemwy, where the two sceptres in the Horus name were misread as two leg-symbols or two drill-signs. The Abydos king list imitates this Old Kingdom name form of “Bedjatau”. The names "Netjerbau" and "Bau-hetepju" are problematic, since Egyptologists can't find any name source from Hotepsekhemwy's time that could have been used to form them.[1][14][15]

Reign

Little is known about Hotepsekhemwy's reign. Contemporary sources show that he may have gained the throne after a period of political strife, including ephemeral rulers such as

George Reisner point to the tomb of king Qaa, which was plundered at the end of 1st Dynasty and was restored during the reign of Hotepsekhemwy. The plundering of the cemetery and the unusually conciliatory meaning of the name Hotepsekhemwy may be clues of a dynastic struggle. Additionally, Helck assumes that the kings Sneferka and Horus Bird were omitted from later king lists because their struggles for the Egyptian throne were factors in the collapse of the first dynasty.[1][10][16]

Seal impressions provide evidence of a new royal residence called "Horus the shining star" that was constructed by Hotepsekhemwy. He also built a temple near

white crown is a symbol of Upper Egypt. This is thought to be another clue to the origin of Hotepsekhemwy's dynasty, indicating a likely source of political power.[1][17] Egyptologists such as Nabil Swelim point out that there is no inscription from Hotepsekhemwy's reign mentioning a Sed festival, indicating the ruler cannot have ruled longer than 30 years (the Sed festival was celebrated as the anniversary marking a reign of 30 years).[18]

Entrance to the gallery tomb beneath the Unas passway.

The ancient Egyptian historian Manetho called Hotepsekhemwy Boëthôs (apparently altered from the name Bedjau) and reported that during this ruler's reign "a chasm opened near Bubastis and many perished". Although Manetho wrote in the 3rd century BC – over two millennia after the king's actual reign – some Egyptologists think it possible that this anecdote may have been based on fact, since the region near Bubastis is known to be seismically active.[5]

Tomb

The location of Hotepsekhemwy's tomb is uncertain. Egyptologists such as Flinders Petrie, Alessandro Barsanti and Toby Wilkinson believe it could be the giant underground Gallery Tomb A beneath the funeral passage of the Unas-necropolis at Saqqara. Many seal impressions of king Hotepsekhemwy have been found in these galleries.

Egyptologists such as Wolfgang Helck and

Raneb, as several seal impressions of this ruler were also found there.[9][19][20][21][22]

The more accepted theory is that Hotepsekhemwy and his son

Raneb
shared Tomb A.

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 3-447-02677-4
  2. ISBN 0-900416-48-3
    , vol. 1
  3. ISSN 1687-1510, p. 27–52, issue 1, Online (PDF; 11 MB)
    .
  4. ISBN 0-900416-48-3
    ; page 15 & Table I.
  5. ^
    ISBN 0-674-99385-3
    , page 37–41.
  6. ^ Dietrich Wildung: Die Rolle ägyptischer Könige im Bewusstsein ihrer Nachwelt. Teil 1: Posthume Quellen über die Könige der ersten vier Dynastien; Münchener Ägyptologische Studien, Volume 17. Deutscher Kunstverlag, München/Berlin, 1969. page 31-33.
  7. ^ Guy Brunton: Qau and Badari I, with chapters by Alan Gardiner and Flinders Petrie, British School of Archaeology in Egypt 44, London 1927: Bernard Quaritch, Tafel XIX, 25
  8. ^ Gaston Maspero: Notes sur les objets recueillis sous la pyramide d'Ounas in: Annales du Service des Antiquités de l'Egypt (ASAE) Vol. III. Kairo 1902, pages 185–190.
  9. ^
    ISBN 90-429-1730-X
    , page 28–29.
  10. ^
    ISBN 978-3-7001-6668-9
    ; page 126–127.
  11. ISBN 0-500-28628-0
    , page 26.
  12. ISBN 0-415-18633-1
    , page 296.
  13. ISBN 3-447-00052-X
    , page 96 as Obj. 367.
  14. ^ Edward Brovarski: Two Old Kingdom writing boards from Giza. In: Annales du Service des Antiquités de l´Egypte, Vol.71, 1987, Table 1
  15. ISBN 3-491-96053-3
    , page 134.
  16. ^ Dietrich Wildung: Die Rolle ägyptischer Könige im Bewußtsein ihrer Nachwelt. page 36–41.
  17. ISBN 0-415-18633-1
    , page 285 & 286.
  18. ^ Nabil M. A. Swelim: Some Problems on the History of the Third Dynasty. Archaeological Society, Alexandria 1983, (Archaeological and Historical Studies 7). page 67-77.
  19. ^ Alessandre Barsanti in: Annales du service des antiquités de lÉgypte - Súppleménts; Volume II. Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, Kairo 1902. page 249–257.
  20. ISBN 0-415-18633-1
    , page 83 & 84.
  21. ISBN 90-04-04269-5
    , page 21–32.
  22. ^ Peter Munro: Der Unas-Friedhof Nordwest I. Von Zabern, Mainz 1993, page 95.

External links

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