Qa'a
Qa'a | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Biénechês, Óubiênthis, Víbenthis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Horus Bird | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Father | Umm el-Qa'ab | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dynasty | 1st Dynasty |
Qa'a (also Qáa or Ka'a) (literal meaning: "his arm is raised"[1]) was the last king of the First Dynasty of Egypt. He reigned for 33 years at the end of the 30th century BC.
Identity
Manetho calls Qa'a Biénechês and gives him a reign of 26 years according to the version preserved by Sextus Julius Africanus.[2] Other versions of copies of Manetho's epitomes give other hellenized names such as Óubiênthis for versions by Eusebius and Víbenthis by Armenian versions of Eusebius.[3][4][2]
Family
The parents of Qa'a are unknown, but it is thought that either his predecessor Anedjib or Semerkhet was his father, since it was tradition to leave the throne to the eldest son. If Manetho suggested correctly (remembering the tradition), Semerkhet was the father.[4]
Reign
There is not much known about Qa'a's reign, but it seems that he reigned for a long time (around 33 years). Several stone vessel inscriptions mention a second Sed festival for Qa'a, which points to at least 33 years of reign. The first festival was usually not celebrated before 30 years of reign, and subsequent festivals could be repeated every third year. The Palermo Stone only mentions the year of coronation and some usual cultic events that were celebrated under every king. The numerous ivory tags dating to his reign also mention only typical arrangements, such as depicting and counting burial offerings and personal possessions of the king. Several mastaba tombs of high officials date into Qa'a's reign: Merka (S3505), Henuka (burial unknown), Neferef (burial also unknown) and Sabef (buried in the royal necropolis of Qa'a).[5][6]
End of reign
Despite Qa'a's long and prosperous reign, evidence shows that after his death, a dynastic war between different royal houses began over the newly empty throne. In the tomb of the high official Merka, a stone vessel with the name of a king
Tomb
Qa'a had a fairly large tomb in
The tomb of one of Qa'a's state officials at Saqqara—a certain nobleman named Merka—contained a stele with many titles. There is a second Sed festival attested. This fact plus the high quality of a number of royal steles depicting the king implies that Qa'a's reign was a fairly stable and prosperous period of time.
A number of year labels have also been discovered dating to his reign at the First Dynasty burial site of
See also
References
- ^ "Qa'a | Ancient Egypt Online".
- ^ a b "LacusCurtius • Manetho's History of Egypt — Book I".
- ^ Peter Clayton: Chronicle of the Pharaohs. Thames & Hudson Ltd, 1994. p.25
- ^ ISBN 3-447-02677-4, page 124.
- ^ P. Lacau, J. P. Lauer: La Pyramide a Degeres IV, Inscriptions Gravees sur les Vases. Cairo 1959, page 12.
- ^ ISBN 0-415-18633-1, page 81–83.
- ISBN 978-3447108768
- ^ G. Dreyer et al., MDAIK 52,1996, pp.71-72, fig. 25, pl. 14a
- ^ B. Porter and R.L.B. Moss. Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings, V. Upper Egypt: Sites. Oxford, 1937, pg 81