Pharaoh

After Djoser of the third dynasty, pharaohs usually were depicted wearing the Nemes headdress, a false beard, and an ornate kilt

Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods.^[1] In antiquity this title began to be used for the ruler who was the religious and political leader of united ancient Egypt, only during the New Kingdom, specifically, during the middle of the eighteenth dynasty. For simplification, however, there is a general acceptance among modern writers to use the term to relate to all periods.

Meaning "Great House", it originally referred to the king's palace, but the meaning loosened over the course of Egyptian history until it became interchangeable with the traditional Egyptian word for king, nswt. Although the rulers of Egypt generally were male, king and pharaoh also were used on the occasions when a female ruled. Initially, the rulers were considered the sons of a cow deity, Bat and eventually Hathor, and they occupied her throne to rule the country and officiate in religious rites. There is evidence that the ruler may have been sacrificed after a certain period of time in the earliest rituals, but soon was replaced by a specially selected bull. Later in the culture, the pharaohs were believed to be the incarnations of the deity Horus in life ^[2], and of Osiris in death. Once the cult of Isis and Osiris became prominent, pharaohs were viewed as a bridge between the god Osiris and human beings and after death, the pharaoh was believed to unite with Osiris. The royal line was matrilineal, and a relationship with the royal women through birth or marriage (or both) determined the right to rule. The royal women played important roles in the religious rituals and governance of the country, sometimes participating alongside of the Pharaoh.

Etymology

pharaoh "pr-`3" in hieroglyphs

The term pharaoh"الفرعون" ultimately was derived from a compound word represented as pr-`3, used only in larger phrases such as smr pr-`3 'Courtier of the High House', with specific reference to the buildings of the court or palace itself.^[3] From the twelfth dynasty onward the word appears in a wish formula 'Great House, may it live, prosper, and be in health', but again only with reference to the royal palace and not the person.

The earliest instance where pr-`3 is used specifically to address the ruler is in a letter to Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) in the mid-eighteenth dynasty (1550-1292 BC) which is addressed to 'Pharaoh, all life, prosperity, and health!.<sup>[4]</sup> This may be be contrasted with Hatshepsut, who ruled before him in the same eighteenth dynasty, who never had pr-`3 among her titles.

From the nineteenth dynasty onward pr-`3 on its own was used as regularly as hm.f, 'His Majesty'. The term therefore evolved from a word specifically referring to a building to a respectful designation for the ruler, particularly by the twenty-second dynasty and twenty-third dynasty. By this time, the Late Egyptian word is reconstructed to have been pronounced *par-ʕoʔ whence comes Ancient Greek φαραώ pharaō and then Late Latin pharaō. From the latter, English obtained the word "Pharaoh". Over time, *par-ʕoʔ evolved into Sahidic Coptic prro ⲡⲣ̅ⲣⲟ and then rro (by mistaking p- as the definite article prefix "the" from Ancient Egyptian p3).

A similar development, with a word originally denoting an attribute of the ruler eventually coming to refer to the person, can be discerned in a later period with the Arabic term Sultan.

Regalia

Ramesses II in hieroglyphs
praenomen or throne name
nomen or birth name

Following unification, the ruler of Egypt wore a double crown, created from the Red Crown of Lower Egypt and the White Crown of Upper Egypt. In certain situations, the pharaoh wore a blue crown of a different shape. Typically, all of these crowns were adorned by a uraeus, bearing the patron deities of the two united Egypts, the Two Ladies, which was doubled during the twenty-fifth dynasty.

After the third dynasty, the pharaoh also wore a striped headcloth called the nemes, which may be the most familiar pharaonic headgear. The nemes was sometimes combined with the double crown, as it is on the statues of the late pharaoh, Ramesses II, at Abu Simbel.

The pharaoh often was depicted as wearing a false beard made of goat hair during rituals and ceremonies.^[5]

Egyptologist Bob Brier has noted that despite its widespread depiction in royal portraits, no ancient Egyptian crown ever has been discovered. Tutankhamun's tomb, discovered largely intact, did contain such regal items as his crook and flail, but not a crown. It is presumed that crowns would have been believed to have magical properties. Brier's speculation is that there were religious or state items a dead pharaoh could not retain as a personal possession which, therefore, had to be passed along to a successor.

Titles

Their names changed as the rulers assumed the throne. By the Middle Kingdom, the official titulary of the ruler consisted of five names;^[6] for some rulers, only one or two of them may be known. Secrecy and euphemisms protected religious secrets and religion and governance were inexorably interwoven in Ancient Egypt.

Sculpture of a pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty, Hatshepsut - Altes Museum in Berlin Germany

Surviving historical records confirm that Hatshepsut, one of three great female rulers of later Egyptian dynasties that include Sobeknefru and Twosret, assumed the typical titles for rulers. No word comparable to the contemporary term, Queen Regnant, existed in the Ancient Egyptian language. Also notable is Nefertiti who was made co-regent (the pharaoh's equal) during the reign of Akhenaten.^[7] Some scholars further suspect that her "disappearance" coincides with the seating of Smenkhkare on the throne after Akhenaten's death, making Nefertiti (as Smenkhkare) yet another woman who became pharaoh in Ancient Egyptian history. Although not typical, there are instances of women who were pharaoh during very early dynasties, even during the Polemic dynasties before being absorbed into the Roman Empire—and its last ruling pharaoh was Cleopatra VII.

The royal lineage of Ancient Egypt was traced through its women and a pharaoh had to be from that lineage or marry a member of the lineage if coming from without. This was the reason for all of the intermarriages in the royal families of Egypt and why foreign invaders married royal Egyptian queens and princesses, to assure the succession of their progeny. Many times, offspring of concubines and minor wives needed to marry a royal princess to advance to the throne and be approved by the religious leaders of the temples. At least once in historical records, the queen of a pharaoh who died while ruling, invited a foreign ruler to send a son to marry her and become the pharaoh because there was no member of the royal house who could qualify and she had no sons.

During the eighteenth dynasty (sixteenth to fourteenth centuries B.C.) the title pharaoh was employed as a reverential designation of the ruler. About the late twenty-first dynasty (tenth century B.C.), however, instead of being used alone as before, it began to be added to the other titles before the ruler's name, and from the twenty-fifth dynasty (eighth to seventh centuries B.C.) it was, at least in ordinary usage, the only epithet prefixed to the royal appellative.^[8] For instance, the first dated instance of the title pharaoh being attached to a ruler's name occurs in Year 17 of Siamun on a fragment from the Karnak Priestly Annals. Here, an induction of an individual to the Amun priesthood is dated specifically to the reign of Pharaoh Siamun. This new practice was continued under his successor Psusennes II and the twenty-first dynasty kings. Meanwhile the old custom of referring to the sovereign simply as Per'o continued in traditional Egyptian narratives.

The Biblical use of the term reflects Egyptian use with fair accuracy. The early rulers always are mentioned under the general title Pharaoh, or Pharaoh the King of Egypt; but personal names begin to appear with the twenty-second dynasty, although the older designation still is used, especially when contemporary rulers are spoken of. The absence of proper names in the first books of the Bible is no indication of the late date of their composition and of writer's vague knowledge of Egyptian history, rather to the contrary. The same is true of the use of the title pharaoh for rulers earlier than those of the eighteenth dynasty, which is quite in keeping with Egyptian use at the time of the nineteenth dynasty.

Pharaohs in the Bible

The first pharaoh of Egypt mentioned by name in the Bible is Shishaq (probably Sheshonk I), the founder of the twenty-second dynasty and a contemporary of Rehoboam and Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:40; 2 Chronicles 12:2 sqq.). The title pharaoh is prefixed to his name in the Great Dakhla stela—as in Pharaoh Shoshenq—which dates to Year 5 of his reign.

2 Kings 17:4 says that Hoshea sent letters to 'So, King of Egypt', whose identification still is not certain. He has been identified with Osorkon IV, who was a minor king at Tanis who ruled over a divided Egypt, with Tefnakht of Sais and Pi'ankhy.^[9]

Taharqa, who was the opponent of Sennacherib, is called King of Ethiopia (2 Kings 19:9; Isaiah 37:9), and hence is not given the title pharaoh, which he bears in Egyptian documents.

Last are two kings of the twenty-sixth dynasty: Necho II, who the Bible says defeated Josiah (2 Kings 23:29 sqq.; 2 Chronicles 35:20 sqq.), and Apries or Hophra, the contemporary of Sedicous (Jeremiah 44:30). Both are styled as pharaoh in Egyptian records.

See also

• List of Pharaohs
• Egyptian chronology - Conventional Egyptian chronology
• History of Egypt
• Monarch
• Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
• Pharaoh of the Exodus

References

Bibliography

• Sir Alan Gardiner Egyptian Grammar: Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs, Third Edition, Revised. London: Oxford University Press, 1964. Excursus A, pp. 71-76.
• Brier, Bob. PhD. History of ancient Egypt (Audio). The First Nation in History. The Learning Company. 2001.

Sources and external links

• "Pharao". Catholic Encyclopedia. (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company. 
• Rulers of Egypt - Archaeowiki.org
• Egyptian Royal Genealogy
• Digital Egypt for Universities
• Mummies of the Pharaohs at James M. Deem's Mummy Tombs site.
• The Coronation of Pharaoh

This article incorporates text from the entry Pharao in the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.

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Notable ancient Egyptian rulers Early Dynastic rulers Narmer · Hor-Aha · Djer · Khasekhemwy Old Kingdom rulers Djoser · Sneferu · Khufu · Khafra · Menkaura · Sahure · Pepi II Middle Kingdom rulers Mentuhotep II · Amenemhat I · Senusret I · Senusret III · Amenemhat III · Sobekneferu Second Intermediate rulers Khendjer · Neferhotep I · Sobekhotep IV · Ay · Nebiriau I · Apophis · Sobekemsaf II · Intef VII · Seqenenre · Kamose New Kingdom rulers Ahmose I · Hatshepsut · Thutmose III · Amenhotep III · Akhenaten · Tutankhamun · Seti I · Ramesses II · Ramesses III Third Intermediate rulers Psusennes I · Siamun · Shoshenq I · Osorkon II · Shoshenq III · Osorkon III · Piye · Tefnakht · Shabaka · Taharqa Other rulers Psamtik I · Necho II · Ahmose II · Nepherites I · Nectanebo I · Ptolemy I · Ptolemy II · Ptolemy XIII · Cleopatra VII Consorts Tetisheri · Ahhotep I · Ahmose-Nefertari · Ahmose · Tiye · Nefertiti · Ankhesenamen · Nefertari · Mark Antony Court officials Imhotep · Weni · Sobeknakht II · Ahmose-Ebana · Ineni · Senenmut · Rekhmire · Yuya · Maya · Yuny · Bay · Manetho · Pothinus