Hor-Aha
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| Hor-Aha | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Africanus: Athôthis Eusebius: Athôthis, Athothis | |||
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| Horus name of Hor-Aha, in hieroglyphs. | |||
| Pharaoh of Egypt | |||
| Reign | Dates unknown, 1st Dynasty | ||
| Predecessor | Narmer or Menes? | ||
| Successor | Djer | ||
| Children | Djer? | ||
| Father | Probably Narmer | ||
| Mother | Probably Queen Nithotep | ||
| Monuments | Temple to Neith at Sais | ||
Hor-Aha is currently considered the second pharaoh of the first dynasty of Ancient Egypt. He lived around the 31st century BC. Roughly translated, "Hor", being a reference to the God Horus, means hawk, whereas "Aha" means fighter.
Around the 32nd century BC his father, Narmer had united Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. Hor-Aha (whose birth name is given as Ity, Hor-Aha being his throne name: 'Horus among the reeds') became Pharaoh at about the age of 30 and ruled until he was about 62 years old.[citation needed] Legend had it that he was carried away by a hippopotamus, the embodiment of the god Seth. Another story has it that Hor-Aha was killed by a hippopotamus whilst hunting, provided that Hor-Aha was the legendary 'Menes'.
There has been some controversy about Hor-Aha. Some believe him to be the same individual as the legendary Menes and that he was the one to unify all of Egypt. Others claim he was the son of Narmer, the pharaoh who unified Egypt. Regardless, considerable historical evidence from the period points to Narmer as the king who first unified Egypt (see Narmer Palette) and to Hor-Aha as his son and heir.
[edit] Further reading
Toby A. H. Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, Routledge, London/New York 1999, ISBN 0-415-18633-1, 70-71
[edit] See also
- Ancient Egypt
- Pharaoh
- First dynasty of Egypt
- Narmer
- Menes
- History of Egypt
- The Greatest Pharaohs
- List of Pharaohs
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