Scorpion II
Scorpion | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Weha, Selk | ||||||||
Pharaoh | ||||||||
Reign | Uncertain | |||||||
Predecessor | Ka? | |||||||
Successor | Narmer? | |||||||
| ||||||||
Dynasty | Dynasty 0 |
Scorpion II (Ancient Egyptian: possibly Selk or Weha[1]), also known as King Scorpion, was a ruler during the Protodynastic Period of Upper Egypt (c. 3200–3000 BCE).
Identity
Name
King Scorpion's name and title are of great dispute in modern Egyptology. His name is often introduced by a six- or seven-leafed golden
The scorpion
Historical figure
There are several theories regarding his identity and chronological position. Some Egyptologists, such as
Attestations
Macehead
The only pictorial evidence of his existence is the so-called
The
Behind the king (on the left side) two fan bearers follow the king. Left of the fan bearer, bundles of papyrus groves are depicted. Behind these, in the upper section, a group of dancers and a priest are visible; the priest guards a Repw.t-palanquin. The lower section is lost due to damage. The festive parade looks into the opposite direction of the king and his standard bearers; an outstretched complete view reveals that both processions meet each other in the center of the whole macehead relief scene. In this very center, scholars such as K. M. Ciałowicz, E. J. Baumgärtel and T. H. Wilkinson believe that they see the tiny traces of the feet and the coil of the
The uppermost scene on the macehead shows a row of divine standards. Each standard is surmounted by a god (
Ivory tags
Numerous small ivory tags showing the depiction of a scorpion were found. They come from Abydos, Minshat Abu Omar and Tarkhan. Some of them show the scorpion holding the hieroglyphic sign for "nome/garden/land" (Gardiner sign N24) and it is disputed, if this clear sign combination has a deeper meaning: the scorpion could represent King Scorpion II in his role as a ruler of a certain (but unnamed) nome. Some other tags show the scorpion close over a swallow sign, which reads 'the scorpion is great'. One unique tag shows the scorpion holding a long stick, smiting an enemy. Since many of the tags show a shrine with a heron on the roof at the backsite, it is thought that Scorpion II originated from Buto.[12][13][14]
Rock and vessel inscriptions
At Tarkhan and Minshat Abu Omar, several stone and clay vessels were found. They have royal serekhs incarved at their bellies and the reading of the name inside is disputed. Several Egyptologists (including Thomas Schneider, Dietrich Wildung and Herman TeVelde) are convinced that the serekhs present a strongly stylized figure of a scorpion. Others, such as Günter Dreyer and Wolfgang Helck, are not so sure and read it as a sloppily drawn version of the name of King Ka.[12][13][14]
At the second cataract of the Nile, not far from the Nasser-reservoire at Gebel Sheikh Suliman (Sudan), a large rock cutting depicts a big scorpion figure striding over killed enemies. Their death is demonstrated by depicting them standing upside-down and being hit by arrows; two further figures are still holding their own bows and shooting. Thanks to the ostrich feathers and the bows, the enemies can be identified as Nubians, since ostrich feather and bow were the typical attributes for the Egyptians to mark the Nubians. The scorpion faces a human figure with an artificial beard and ceremonial knife in a belt; the figure holds a long cord, to which captured Nubians are tied. The whole scene is interpreted as representing King Scorpion II celebrating his victory against the hostile Nubians.[16][17]
Reign
Political situation
Numerous artifacts with relief decoration and pottery markings made of black ink point to a flourishing trade economy at the time of Scorpion's rulership. For the first time, the inscriptions give the hieroglyphic writings for 'Lower Egypt' and/or 'Upper Egypt'. Therefore, both parts of Egypt slowly started to work together. But, since it seems clear that Egypt was divided into at least two coexisting kingdoms, scholars wonder on which kind of power factor the rulership of protodynastic kings was based. Conquering and warfare had to be economically promoted, warriors and guardians had to be fed. Based on this cognition, scholars such as K. M Ciałowitz, T. H. Wilkinson, Karl Butzer and Michael A. Hoffman point to the irrigation systems, which were founded in huge quantities. Numerous palettes (such as the Hunters Palette, the Libyan Palette, and the Narmer Palette, for example) and the maceheads of Scorpion II and Narmer show depictions of rivers, plants, trees and several different animals (birds, mammals, and fishes) in surprising natural detail. Alongside these motifs, human figures performing agricultural work are depicted. Ciałowitz, Wilkinson, Butzer and Hoffman see the power source of the protodynastic kings in these agricultural developments. Irrigation systems allowed increasing settlements, cattle possessions and vegetable cultivation. The scholars wonder if the kings kept the irrigations scarce on purpose, to ensure their power, influence and wealth.[10][18][19]
Religious and cultic situation
The numerous decorations on the artifacts also depict large numbers of fetishes and standards, surmounted by gods, which reveals an already very complex religion and cult system. Since the standards often guide the battle scenes, battles and conquests might have been seen as cultic events as well. The earliest recognizable gods are Horus, Seth, Min, Nemty, Nekhbet, Bat, and Wepwawet. But it is unknown where these gods had their cultic centers and shrines, because the hieroglyphs depicting the place names were not introduced yet.[10][11][18][20]
Another aspect of cultic and religious beliefs under Scorpion II are the numerous depictions of mythical creatures, such as the
The "winged chimeras" were named Sefer in Egyptian and they represent chaos and violence. They appear on the Two-dogs-palette and on several ivory artifacts. Scholars point to the fact that creatures such as the chimera and the serpopards were of Mesopotamian origin.[10][11][18][20][21]
A further motif of Scorpion's era, that is clearly of Mesopotamian origin, is that of a warrior fighting two lions with his bare hands. He holds one lion in each hand, both at his sides. A similar motif shows the warrior with two giraffes. In later dynasties, this motif became a hieroglyph, registered as Gardiner A38 and Gardiner A39. It reads Qjs and it was used as the emblem of the city of Cusae.[10][11][18][20][21]
Mesopotamian influences under Scorpion II
All listed motifs and emblems, but also tomb architecture and traded items (such as tools, bead collars and cylinder seals) prove a surprisingly strong and extensive influence of Mesopotamian culture and religion to the early Egyptians. This cognition is promoted by the evaluations of architectural developments, visible at burial places such as Minshat Abu Omar, Hierakonpolis and Naqada. The architectural methods used for building complex and stable tombs were clearly copied from Mesopotamian buildings.
It is not fully clarified why the Egyptians fostered their amicable relationship with Mesopotamia so intensively; proponents of the Dynastic race theory believe that the first Egyptian chieftains and rulers were themselves of Mesopotamian origin, but this view has been abandoned among modern scholars.[24][25]
The current position of modern scholarship is that the Egyptian civilization was an indigenous Nile Valley development and that the archaeological evidence "strongly supports an African origin"[26] of the ancient Egyptians.[24][27][28][29] During the rulership of King Scorpion II and his immediate successors, the influence seems to decrease and Egypt begins to foster its own, more independent culture. This surely was a further important step toward Egypt's future as a powerful and wealthy kingdom.[10][11][18][20][21]
-
Hierakonpolisrevetment of Temple basement
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Hierakonpolis cylindrical limestone vase
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Hierakonpolis ivory cylinder with kneeling men, with impression (drawing)
Tomb
The exact burial place of Scorpion II is unknown. There are two tombs that are both seen as candidates. The first one is registered as Tomb B50 and lies at Umm El Qa'ab (close to Abydos). It is a nearly quadratic chamber divided into four rooms by a simple, cross-shaped mud wall. Several ivory tags with scorpion figures were found here. The second one is located at Hierakonpolis and is registered as Tomb HK6-1. It measures 3.5 m × 6.5 m, has a depth of 2.5 m, and is strengthened with mud. Several ivory tags with scorpion figures were found here.[30]
Scorpion's name in popular culture
- William Golding's 1971 novella The Scorpion God is loosely based upon this period of Egyptian history.
- The Scorpion King's name was used in the 2001 film The Mummy Returns, and its spin-offs The Scorpion King (2002), The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (2008), The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption (2012), The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power (2015), and The Scorpion King: Book of Souls (2018). An action-adventure video game The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian based on the franchise was released in 2002.
- The 2007 children's novel Pharaoh by Jackie French deals with events in the court of King Scorpion, and the rivalry between his sons Narmer and Prince Hawk.
See also
References
- ^ Hannig 2006, pp. 225, 790 & 1281.
- ^ Moortgat 1994, pp. 359–371.
- ^ ISBN 3-7278-1486-1, pp. 151–154.
- ^ Hannig 2006, p. 455.
- ^ Assmann 2003, p. 91.
- ^ ISBN 0-415-18633-1, pp. 38, 56 & 57.
- ^ Menu 1996, pp. 339–342.
- ^ "The Narmer Palette", The Ancient Egypt, archived from the original on June 15, 2006, retrieved September 19, 2007.
- ^ Shaw & Nicholson 1995, p. 254.
- ^ ISBN 83-7188-483-4, pp. 97–98.
- ^ a b c d e f g Elise Jenny Baumgärtel, Ludwig David Morenz: "Scorpion and Rosette and the Fragment of the Large Hierakonpolis Macehead". In: Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde (ZÄS), Vol. 93. Akademie-Verlag Berlin 1998, pp. 9–13.
- ^ ISBN 3-491-96053-3, p. 276.
- ^ ISBN 0-946897-44-1, pp. 259–263.
- ^ a b Peter Kaplony: Die Inschriften der ägyptischen Frühzeit. Bd. 2 (= Ägyptologische Abhandlungen. Bd. 8, 2). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1963, p. 1090.
- ^ Wildung 1981, obj. 36.
- ^ Kaiser & Dreyer 1982, p. 70.
- ^ Needler 1967, pp. 87–91.
- ^ ISBN 0-7100-0495-8, pp. 312–326.
- ISBN 3-8316-0699-4, p. 16.
- ^ ISBN 0-5200-7488-2, pp. 67, 97–113.
- ^ ISBN 0-6312-1787-8, pp. 240–242.
- ^ Redford, Donald B. Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times. (Princeton: University Press, 1992), p. 22.
- ISBN 9781444333503.
- ^ ISBN 0415186331.
- ISBN 978-0-691-24409-9.
- ^ Smith, Stuart Tyson (1 February 2001). Redford, Donald (ed.). "Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt - Volume 3 p.28".
- ISBN 0807845558.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link - ^ Zakrzewski, Sonia R. (2007). Population continuity or population change: Formation of the ancient Egyptian state. Highfield, Southampton: Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton.
- ISBN 0936260645.
- ^ Michael Allan Hoffman: "Before the Pharaohs: How Egypt Became the World's First Nation-State". In: The Sciences. New York Academy of Sciences, New York 1988, pp. 40–47.
Sources
- ISBN 978-3-77-052681-9.
- Hannig, Rainer (2006). Großes Handwörterbuch Ägyptisch-Deutsch: (2800–950 v. Chr.): die Sprache der Pharaonen. Kulturgeschichte der antiken Welt (in German). Vol. 64. Mainz: Philip von Zabern. ISBN 978-3-80-531771-9.
- Kaiser, Werner; Dreyer, Günter (1982). "Umm el-Qaab: Nachuntersuchungen im frühzeitlichen Königsfriedhof. 2. Vorbericht". Mitteilungen des Deutschen archäologischen Instituts (MDAIK). Abteilung Kairo. (in German). 38. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern. ISBN 978-3-80-530552-5.
- Menu, Bernadette (1996). "Enseignes et porte-étendarts". Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale (in French). 96. Cairo: Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale: 339–342.
- Moortgat, Anton (1994). "Die Goldrosette – ein Schriftzeichen?". Altorientalische Forschungen (in German). 21. Berlin: Institut für Orientforschung: 359–371.
- Needler, Winifred (1967). "A Rock-drawing on Gebel Sheikh Suliman (near Wadi Halfa) showing a Scorpion and human Figures". Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt. 6. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns: 87–91. JSTOR 40000735.
- Shaw, Ian; Nicholson, Paul (1995). The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt. London: The British Museum Press. ISBN 978-0-71-411909-0.
- Wildung, Dietrich (1981). Ägypten vor den Pyramiden – Münchner Ausgrabungen in Ägypten (in German). Mainz: Philipp von Zabern. ISBN 978-3-80-530523-5.
Bibliography
- Clayton, Peter A (2006). Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28628-0.
- Edwards, IES (1965). "The Early Dynastic Period in Egypt". In Edwards, IES; et al. (eds.). The Cambridge Ancient History. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press.
External links
- Media related to King Scorpion II at Wikimedia Commons