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| Khasekhemwy | ||||||||
| unknown till unkown | ||||||||
| 7. Pharaoh of the 2. Dynasty | ||||||||
Pharaonic names:
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Names SourcesActually, Khasekhemwy, the last king of the 2nd Dynasty is the first one again, who was found all over Egypt, indicating, he was actually the one, re-uniting the country. His name appears on vessels, on seals, in different spellings and variants, in short, he was everywhere. And here begin the problems:
Manetho, the Palermo Stone and the Royal Annal
Actually, Menatho, whose writing about the Dynasties was partially based on sources based on the Palermo stone, without being aware of it, because the stone itself was only discovered after Manetho's time, ends up with a reign of 18 years, 2 months and 23 days, while Toby Wilkinson ends up with 17 1/2 years plus. So, this is basically consistent. However, the Palermo Stone dates into the 5th dynasty, Khasekhemwy lived at the end of the 2nd Dynasty. Compared to the length of Egyptian history this appears as a minor time difference, however, there are about 250 years in between and those years had their chaotic moments. Chaotic moments in history tend to change data by propaganda and simple loss of information. Thus, as with almost all dates in those early dynasties, there is no absolute certainty about them.
The Re-Unification of EgyptAs pointed out in the articles about Peribsen and Sekhemib, Egypt was divided before Khasekhemwy. Nevertheless, already under Peribsen, there was a claim of the Upper Egyptian kings to all the country. With Khasekhemwy, we find, by the spread of his name over the country, the royal titulary and a lot of other indications, a untied Egypt at the end af his reign. Actually, we don't know, did he march against Lower Egypt in his first year or in his eighteenth or maybe in his fifth year. Actually, we don't even know how it happened. And as usual, when we know that little, there are a lot of theories:
Family and FriendFrom inscriptions, we know, he had one queen with the name Nimaethap. It appears as if this was his only wife. The couple had two children, Djoser and Hetephernebti. And then, there was someone named Sanakht ...Well, it's time for some explanantions. Sanakht appears for example in Manetho's lists as the real founder of the 3rd dynasty. Which would put him in before Djoser. But in Khasekhemwy's tomb, seals with Djoser's name, not with Sanakht's name were found, indicating, Djoser bureid Khasekhemwy and became king as successor of his father ... but then, Sanakht again appears on relief fragments from Wadi Maghare, on the Sinai. And there, he is depicted in the typical pose of Egyptian kings smashing enemies with his war mace. Which appears to prove, someone names Sanakht was a real king during the third dynasty. But how to position him? Before or after Djoser. Because if he would have ruled before Djoser, then not Djoser but Sanakht was Khasekhemwy's son. Or both ere, but Djoser was the younger brother. Now, lets bring some order in the chaos. We know, Khasekhemwy was king, so we have some kind of anchor point. We know where his tomb is, it's Tomb V in Abydos, the last royal tomb in this necropolis. So, something changed either still at the time of Khasekhemwy or short after his death. At some point, Djoser started to work on his famous step pyramid at Saqqara. But, lesser known, there is also a mastabe in Beit Khallaf, one of two. K1, the bigger one is the one attributed to Djoser, the other one, K2, is attributed to Sanakht. Inside, the remains of a man of 1.90m (74.8 inches) were found. That's tall, even taller back then in comparison when people were smaller on the average. This discovery was connected to an anecdote of Manetho who tells of a king named Sesochris (Manetho used Hellenized names). So, Sanakht was a king, but were in the order of the 3rd dynasty. We know, Djoser married his sister Hetephernebti. This was a dynastic strategy to "keep the royal blood pure" or technically, to avoid later spreading claims on the throne. And by all means, neither Khasekhemwy nor Djoser could know, that Manetho more than two-thousand years later would introduce a dynastic break between them. From their point of view, they were one family, one dynasty, not two. So, if Khasekhemwy married his son and his daughter, he did so to block other claims on the throne. This was usually political, not quite a love marriage. So at this time, and while Khasekhemwy was still alive and ruling (he ruled 18 years, marriages were arranged about 12-13 years of age for the girls), Djoser was clear marked as heir of the throne. Only under this condition, it made sense to marry him with his siter. If there would have been an older brother, Sanakht, it would have been Sanakht who would have been married to the sister Hetephernebti. So, Sanakht wasn't Djoser's older brother. Sanakht also is no ruler between Khasekhemwy aqnd Djoser. Djoser has his seals all over Khasekhemwy's burial. Of course, some claim, that shows only, Djoser perfomred rites at this tomb, not that he buried Khasekhemwy. But significant is here, that there are no seals of Sanakht. So actually, we know, who didn't bury Khasekhemwy and took officially over from him. Now, there are other theories. Some believe, there was a king called Mesochris by Manetho and think, he would have maybe ruled between maybe Teti and Huni, later in the third dynasty. And of course, the mysterious Weneg pops up in this discussion, but by all we know, if he was a king, he was an earlier one during the second dynasty. Adn then, some others identify him with Nebka, Teti, Khaba or other pharaohs of the third dynasty. We will come back to this more than often enough, but since this section is dedicated to Khasekhemwy's family, I would like to explore the idea that Sanakht was part of this family. What indicates, he was part of Khasekhemwy's family? First of all, the vicinity in time. Second, a parallity of actions. I mentioned already the mastaba K2 in Beit Khallaf. So, there is a big one, K1, that belongs to Djoser (who was later buried in Saqqara in the step pyramid) and K2, a smaller but not actually small one. That thing is in fact also pretty big. So, Beit Khallaf was, aside of those two mastabas, never royal necropolis. That makes me think, those two mastabas were built at a time, none of them, neither Djoser not Sanakht was king. Prince tombs. Since Egyptians married early, it is highly unlikely any of Khasekhemwy's children were sired only after he ascended to the throne. And he ruled eighteen years. So, would any responsible Egyptian prince wait with starting the construction of his own tomb till the old man dies. The old man seemed to be at good health for most of the time and life wasn't as secure as today, not even for a king. Egyptian nobles, that includes of course princes too, started to build tombs as early as they could and we know from mastaba tombs of nobles of the time, those tombs were often during the construction phase extended the more their owner climbed in rank and wealth. So, here we have two mastabas, one of Djoser of whom we know, he became LATER king and started to build the step pyramid. And one of Sanakht. Two princely brothers, not kingly brothers! And it goes on. West of the step pyramid is another unfinished complex, often labelled as "The Great Enclosure" or by it's Arabic name "Gisr el-Mudir". This area of 600 by 300 meters (1968 by 984 feet) is in fact even bigger than the enclosure around Djoer's pyramid. Between those two structures is another pyramid visible or mostly invisible, is the "buried Pyramid" the unfinished tomb of Sekhemhet, also known as Djoserty. Who was most likely Djoser's son and therefore Khasekhemwy's grandson. Now, we know the architect. His name was Imhotep. He left his name on Djoser's pyramid and on Djoserty's. And now, we are at "friends". Imhotep, counselor, physician, preist, architect and re-organizer of the written Egyptian language, was one of the most remarkable figures in Egyptian history. Probably in all history. As genius as genius gets and then some. To give an impression: He used as first physician in the world some derivate of a penicilline cure on a Theban princess - about 4500 years before Americans discovered penicilline and based merely on empiric observation. No kidding! But he also eanred himself glory as architect. Now, we will later see, that Khasekhemwy's tomb is the first one in which was built with quarry stone in a significant amount. It is not the first in which quarry stone instead of bricks was used, that goes, according to the latest findings, already back to the 1st dynasty. But it was rare and here a wall, there a wall or column. With Khasekhhemwy starts the use of stone in construction in the big style. Alreade Djoser's pyramid is already almost complete stone. And so is the great enclosure. So, same family, same court, same material, same architectural thinking, that smells like the same architect. And yes, the great enclosure is no burial place. The wall was finished, that would have made the construction of a pyramid virtually impossible. But similar enclosures were found in connection to 2nd dynasty tombs for example at Abydos. It is widely assumed, they symbolized a palace, the dead king could take with him to the herafter in the same way, he could take beer and wheat with him. So ... Khasekhemwy, Djoser and probably also Sanakht lived at the change from the second to the third dynasty and while it wasn't really a change of the biological dynasty, it was a political and technological change. Khasekhemwy's tomb and the great enclosure are both 2nd dynasty examples, Djoser is clearly third. So ... who would get a 2nd dynasty style tomb in this phase in Saqqara? Look around in the neighborhood: Djoser's son played laready third dynasty style, but he is part of the neighborhood. Otherwise we find kings from later dynastys, for example Userkaf, on that end of the Necropolis. The other tombs are already further to the South. In other words, we have here two 3rd dynasty tombs from the same family and one hint on a 2nd dynasty burial from the time of the change between 2nd and 3rd dynasty. And the great enclosure is too far from the step pyramid to be part of that complex. And all three structures carry all hallmarks of the same architect, Imhotep. The conclusion is clear: There was a 2nd dynasty tomb planned and maybe even begun. Not a pyramid but one of the subterannean half-mastabas on the way to something bigger. Chances are, this one was built for Sanakht. He had obviously his princely first tomb next to Djoser. But it appeared, he died before this tomb was finished and thus, he was buried in K2 in Beit Khallaf. Adding all this together, chances are, Sanakht was not a later pharoh but a younger borther and maybe for a time, co-ruler of Djoser. By all means, Khasekhemwy had just united the kingdom again. People like Khasekhemy, Imhotep, Hesy-Ra and Merit-Ptah (also polymaths and physicians) serving as counselors at Djoser's and probably already Khasekhemy's court, were sworn to uphold this new unity. The last tihng, any of them would have provoked would have been a splitting of throne claims. And Khasekhemwy, who had done the job for many years must have known, how hard it was for just one king to rule this now double sized kingdom. The idea of a co-rulership appears under these aspects logical and consistent with the two mastabas in Beit Khallaf and the great enclosure plus the step pyramid in Saqqara. Thus, as it looks to me, the story is not so dramatic as stealing thrones form each other (some novels were based on that idea), but far more pragmatic in a Khasekhemwy and Djoser style. Which means, Khasekhemwy and Nimaethap had in fact three kids, or lets say surviving kids: Djoser, Sanakht and Hetephernebti.
Building and more buildingKhasekhem's name is on a fort in Nekhem. Nekhen is better known as Hierakonpolis, the old capital of the predynastic and early dynastic times in Upper Egypt. Now, actually, this is another enclosure and similar to other enclosures. Thus, several authors insist, it had no military function and was rather a pendant to the enclosures found in the necropolis of Abydos. The idea is, they served rituals of kingship and burial cults.This idea has more than oen catch. First of all, Egypt and in later phases also Meroe/Nubia, was full of similar enclosures. They served a number of purposes, mostly depending on where they were. An enclosure in a necropolis served really probably ritualistic purposes. But Khasekhemwy's "is not part of a necropolis. There are tombs around, but those are all from pre-dynastic times, at the time, Khasekhemwy had this enclosure built, about a five-hundred years old. So, what Khasekhemwy did was building a big rectangular wall basically into the desert. The problem is, form my point of view, that the number of available structures was limited. What could Egyptians have built to fortify a place. In Khasekhemwy's times? Well, they hadn't as of yet developed the technology to build tovers. Building in multiplatform scenarios occured for the first time with Djoser's step pyramid. So, the only choice was a wall. Egyptian forts in Nubia, thousand year later were also just walls with some huts inside. And since the huts were light buiilds from reed mostly, nothing of them was left to be found. Bottom line: Not the fact of a rectangular wall but the place tells us about the purpose. Now, there was a second "Fort" at Abydos. That one is bigger than Nekhen and evidence of two chapels, benches, incense and beer jars were found. So, well, this time, the rectangular structure sits in the middle of a necropolis and the evidence points out ritualistic use. Which makes sense because the dead godkings those sacrifices were made to were buried nearby, a factor not applying to Nekhen. The logic is here a little too simplified. Churches have walls, my home has walls, nevertheless, my home is no church. Walls serve a lot of purposes. Some supect, he could have been even the one ordering the construction of the Gisr el-Mudir in Saqqara, the afore mentioned great enclosure. The reason is simple. He was second dynasty, the construction is in its style second dynasty and it looks as if Imhotep had his fingers in it. Now, Imhotep had his fingers also in the construction of the step pyramid. This part is no prove for anything. But while a younger borther of Djoser would have had reason to build at Saqqara because that is where Djoser built, Khasekhemwy had no reason. His burial is in Abydos. Saqqara became only active necropolis again after he was already dead. So why would he built there? The last especially notable construction connected to Khasekhemwy is el-Kab or known as Nekheb in ancient times. Nekheb was a center in the early dynastic period, some remains of temples are still visible and became mostly important in times of the 18th dynasty and again in the Ptolemaeic period. At the end of the 2nd dynasty, the time of Khasekhemwy, Nekheb wasn't noteworthy at all while opposite on the other side of the Nile, Hierankonpolis (Nekhen) was a growing city. Khasekhemwy had alread built the enclosure at Nekhen, so why did he built also on the other side of the Nile? Actually, it made no sense or wouldn't, if the enclosure on the other side would be ritualistic in its purpose. But it makes of course sense for a military troop in any kind of bastion next to a river to have a foothold also on the other side. Basically, Egypt is a small stripe of land and a lot of desert to both sides. At Khasekhemwy's time, predacious nomads were still a problem and those came from the desert. And not noteworthy translates for a real leader often also to "unused - yet".
Tomb VBy measures of architecture and technology, Khasekhemwy's tomb is not special. It is, in its basic idea a second dynasty tomb, subteranean, with a main burial chamber, some storage rooms and mainly a long stretched tunnel with siderooms. But in this case, demosntrating the greatness, the meaning of this king who re-united Egypt, this "typical" grew into the humungous. The whole structure is trapezoid and about 70m long (230 feet) and at the northern end 17m (56 ft) wide. At the southern end, it is still 10m (33ft) wide. The central burial chamber is almost completly constructed form quarry stone and was for a long time considered the oldest mason work in the world, but latest discoveries found, that already in 1st dynasty tombs occasionally stone was used. Not for the complete construvtion though.The whole was divided in a total of 58 rooms. Grave robbers plundered the tomb already in ancient times, but it was so big, they overlooked still a lot of items as mentioned earlier. Beads, pottery, exquisite stone vessels, copper and flint tools and last but not least, the king's scepter made from gold and sard. Of course, it doesn't look like a scpeter of a medieval king in Europe. This one is more of a stick, actually a copper core surrounded by copper, gold and carnelian beads. Anyway, the archaeologically interesting parts are the vessels and tools, that give us some insight into the technology of the time. Tomb V is the last royal tomb build in Abydos/Umm el Qa'ab. Only in the sixth dynasty, Pepi I would built a funeral chapel there again which would, over uncounted phases of building develop into the great Osiris Temple and only in the 18th dynasty New Kingdom pharaohs would built more chapels. With Khasekhemwy, the history of Abydos as royal necropolis was finished for a long time. His son built his pyramid at Saqqara and so did his probably grandson. Why? The reason, why Manetho wrongfully assumed, there was a new, the third dynasty, is easy to see from the hindsight. Egypt changed. After generations of division, it was one kingdom again. Things were difficult, a new adminsitration had to be organized able to govern the whole country. New letters, a whole new script was developed to make writing, one onf the most important things for any form of administration, easier and faster. The House of Life became the first university of the world, if we take the term at its original meaning. Writing, adminstration, even politics and history were taught as well as medicine, mathematics and architecture. It was necessary, because they had to build a nation and in this case, that meant literally building. The 3rd dynasty is a leap forward in every aspect and of course, we all heard the names connected to this leap, mainly Djoser, the first pyramid-builder (who actually built nothing, but he paid for it) and Imhotep, his chancellor, architect and doctor of all things. But the base for that leap was created by Khasekhemwy, who not only re-united the country, but who was the one getting Imhotep on the court in the first place. The raise of Egypt to its first time as ancient superpower begun with Khasekhemwy who laid the foundantion, just like Sekhemib had probably laid the foundation for Khasekhemwy's military strength. But because the result became only visible under Djoser, it was the son, not the father, who gained glory for the history books. Khasekhemwy was forgotten for a long time. He, who had founded the united Egypt was still a second dynasty king and while he literally created the third dynasty (which was actually the same by mere biological matters), he didn't become part of what he had started. His tomb is old, traditional, by architecture, technology and also by the choice of its location in Umm al Qa'ab. After his death, new traditions begun and it was in almost all aspects a break. To change the royal necropolis to Saqqara was only one part of tht break, a demonstration, something new had begun - right after the old times died with Khasekhemwy. | ||||||||
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