Menes is the name of the Egyptian king credited with founding the
First dynastyThe first dynasty of Ancient Egypt is often combined with the second dynasty under the group title, Early Dynastic Period of Egypt. At that time the capital was Thinis.-Rulers:Known rulers, in the History of Egypt, for the First Dynasty are as follows:...
, sometime around 3100 BC. Menes was seen as a founding figure for much of the history of Ancient Egypt, and was possibly a mythical founding king similar to
Romulus and RemusRomulus and Remus are considered to be the traditional founders of Rome, appearing in Roman mythology as the twin sons of the Vestal Virgin Rhea Silvia, fathered by the god of war, Mars...
for
Ancient RomeAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
.
Ancient Egyptian legend credits a pharaoh by this name with uniting
Upper and Lower EgyptAncient Egypt was divided into two regions, known as Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. To the north was Lower Egypt where the Nile stretched out with its several branches to form the Nile Delta. To the south was Upper Egypt, stretching to Syene. The two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt were united c....
into in a single, centralized monarchy. However, his name does not appear on extant pieces of the Royal Annals (Cairo Stone and
Palermo StoneThe Palermo Stone is a large fragment of a stela known as the Royal Annals of the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. It contains records of the kings of Egypt from the first dynasty through to the fifth dynasty....
), which is a now-fragmentary king's list that was carved onto a stela sometime during the
Fifth dynastyThe Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Old Kingdom.-Rulers:Known rulers, in the History of Egypt, for the Fifth Dynasty are as follows:...
. He typically appears in later sources as the first human ruler of Egypt, directly inheriting the throne from the god
HorusHorus is one of the oldest and most significant of the deities in the Ancient Egyptian religion who was worshipped from at least the late Predynastic period through to Greco-Roman times. Different forms of Horuses are recorded in history and these are treated as distinct gods by Egyptologists...
. He also appears in other, much later, king's lists, always as the first human pharaoh of Egypt. Two king's lists of the
19th dynastyThe Nineteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt was one of the periods of the Egyptian New Kingdom. Founded by Vizier Ramesses I, whom Pharaoh Horemheb chose as his successor to the throne, this dynasty is best known for its military conquests in modern Israel, Lebanon, and Syria.The warrior kings of the...
(13th century BC) call him
Meni, the 3rd century BC Egyptian historian Manetho called him
Menes, and the 5th century BC Greek historian
HerodotusHerodotus of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "Father of History" in Western culture. He was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
referred to him as
MinMin is an Ancient Egyptian god whose cult originated in predynastic times . He was represented in many different forms, but was often represented in male human form, shown with an erect penis which he holds in his left hand and an upheld right arm holding a flail...
.
Menes is also credited with the foundation of
MemphisMemphis was the ancient capital of the first nome of Lower Egypt, and of the Old Kingdom of Egypt from its foundation until around 2200 BC and later for shorter periods during the New Kingdom, and an administrative centre throughout ancient history....
, which he established as the Egyptian capital. According to
ManethoManetho was an Egyptian historian and priest from Sebennytos who lived during the Ptolemaic era, ca. 3rd century BC. Manetho wrote the Aegyptiaca...
, Menes reigned for 62 years and was killed by a
hippopotamusThe hippopotamus or hippo is a large, mostly plant-eating mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae...
.
Archeological evidence
The discovery of the
Narmer PaletteThe Narmer Palette, also known as the Great Hierakonpolis Palette or the Palette of Narmer, is a significant Egyptian archeological find, dating from about the 31st century BC, containing some of the earliest hieroglyphic inscriptions ever found. It is thought by some to depict the unification of...
in the late 19th century depicting the hitherto unknown pharaoh
NarmerNarmer was an Egyptian Pharaoh who ruled in the 31st century BC. Thought to be the successor to the predynastic Kings Scorpion or "Selk" and/or Ka, he is considered by some to be the unifier of Egypt and founder of the First dynasty, and therefore the first king of all Egypt...
, possibly pre-dating Menes, wielding the symbols of both Upper and Lower Egypt, cast doubt on the traditional account. The general scholarly consensus is that Narmer and Menes (or his successor
Hor-AhaHor-Aha is considered the second pharaoh of the first dynasty of Ancient Egypt in current Egyptology. He lived around the thirty-first century BC...
) are in fact the same person. Others hold that Menes inherited an already-unified kingdom from Narmer; still others believe that Menes completed a process of unification started either unsuccessfully or only partially successfully by Narmer. In any case, while there is extensive archeological evidence of there being a pharaoh named Narmer, the only indisputable evidence for Menes is an
ostraconAn ostracon is a piece of pottery , usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In archaeology, ostraca may contain scratched-in words or other forms of writing which may give clues as to the time when the piece was in use...
which contains his name under the Nebty symbols. There is a general suspicion that Menes either was a name of Narmer, Narmer's predecessor, or of Narmer's successor,
Hor-AhaHor-Aha is considered the second pharaoh of the first dynasty of Ancient Egypt in current Egyptology. He lived around the thirty-first century BC...
.
Some people also believe that this may have been a legend created by the Egyptians to tell what happened. Others think that Narmer may have been the father of Menes.
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