King Menes
Who is King Menes?
“King Menes” is the founder of the 1st dynasty in the history of ancient Egypt and
the last king of the predynastic period (6000-3150 BCE). In 3150 B.C, he was able
to unify both upper and lower Egypt as shown on the legendary Narmer Palette.
His name means “The One Who Endures” and his reign lasted for 62 years.
He married a princess to consolidate his power, princess Neithhotep of Naqada.
Many believe he inherited the throne from the god of victory and protection Horus.
Egypt During the Era of King Menes
King Menes (Narmer)
Before that period Egypt was divided into two kingdoms; Upper Egypt in the
South and Lower Egypt in the north, and there was a crowned king for each
part and a series of wars between them, until “King Menes” the king of lower
Egypt put an end to that and defeated the king of upper Egypt and crowned
himself as a king of the two lands both upper and lower Egypt and created the
first centralized monarchy. After the unification of both lands, “King Narmer”
changed the capital of Egypt to be in Abydos. He sends many military expeditions
King Menes
all across Egypt and neighboring countries such as Cannan and Nubia. He built
new cities like the city of Memphis, a new wave of urbanization spread through
ancient Egypt and a great deal of attention were put to developing the art of writing.
He is noted for developing the notion of luxury as the Egyptians created many lavish
hobbies to fill their time after uniting the land such as sports, brewing beer,
carving, sculpting, cultivating gardens, and various others.
What is Narmer Palettes?
“King Menes” commemorated the victory of upper Egypt over lower Egypt in his
famous pallet called Narmer Palette which is made out of shiest and discovered
from Hyracnopolice {El Kom El Ahmar } about 22 Km East of Cairo. This palette has
been transferred to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo then moved to the Grand Egyptian
Museum so starts your trip to Egypt by visiting the museum and watching the palette.
What is King Narmer’s Palette Consists of?
Narmer Palette consists of two sides called recto and verso, on both sides,
we can see the name of King Narmer is written in a small square as “Ne3Rmer“,
the name is protecting from both sides by the famous face of the Cow Hathor
the deity of love, harmony, and motherhood.
On “The Verso” side of the palette Narmer is Menes wearing the red wicker war crown
of upper Egypt which indicated that all of Egypt has fallen under his control.
The largest engravings on the palette are two men interweaving serpentine necks
of unknown beasts called serpopards. At the bottom of the palette is king is shown
as a bull breaking through the walls of the city with horns and trampling his enemies
King Menes
beneath his hooves. There is also a priest wearing leopard skin following four divine standards.
On the other side of the palette, “The Recto” is one complete cohesive of Narmer
with his army gathering about to strike down an enemy captured by the hair, and
beneath his top feet are two men either dead or attempting to escape his wrath,
plus behind the king, there a bald servant holding his sandals while in front
of him the sky god Horus watching and blessing king Narmer’s victory by bringing many enemy prisoners.
Both sides of the palette decorated with animal heads at the very top with
cows and bulls that associated with the goddess Hathor of celebration and joy
which showed as a cow or a woman with a cow’s ears and the bulla symbol of the king’s strength and vitality.
achievements of King Menes
When Egypt unified, king Narmer instituted religious practices formalized beliefs,
his reign so prosperous he ruled for about 26 years. “King Narmer”
cared so much about hobbies and develop them like carving, sculpting,
and sports. It’s important to mention that Egypt flourished a lot under his reign.
Where Tomb of King Menes Founded?
His tomb found at Um Qa’ab nearby Abydos in upper Egypt. It is consisting of
two joined champers it built out of mud bricks. The tomb holds two
necropolis seals that prove his identity as the ruler of the first dynasty.
