The Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs

Ancient Egyptian pharaohs were considered to be both divine deities

as well as mortal rulers. Throughout the 30+ dynasties in ancient
Egyptian history, it is speculated that some 170 or more rulers reigned
over the great land of Egypt during a three thousand year time span.
The throne of Egypt was primarily intended to be succeeded from
father to son, however in many cases this line of kingship was
interrupted by murder, mayhem and mysterious disappearances.

Pharaohs were the god kings of ancient Egypt who ruled between 3150
B.C. and 30 B.C. (when Rome conquered Egypt). Each time a new
family took control of the throne, a new kingdom began in the history
of this fascinating nation. While rulers often intermarried with
daughters, granddaughters, sisters and brothers to keep the throne
within the family the throne still managed to shift hands multiple
times; creating a dynamic and complex pharonic history.

Pharaoh Bust at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC

Xuan Che - Pharaoh's Bust

Definition: the word pharaoh refers to the title of the ancient Egyptian
kings. The title pharaoh means the great house and refers to the
royal palace.

Thirty-one Dynasties ruled from the Early Dynastic Period to the

Ptolemaic Period. Scholars also include a Dynasty 0 but any kings from
this period are not well represented in the archaeological record. Some
Dynasties ruled at the same time in different areas of Egypt during the
intermediate periods.

10 Famous Pharaohs

Below is a top 10 of the most famous Egyptian pharaohs:

Tutankhamun (aka King Tut) restored the capital to Thebes after the
death of Akhenaten and restored the worship of the old gods. Later
pharaoh's erased his name from some king lists so scholars found his
tomb's goods intact in the 1920s.

Cleopatra VII was the last pharaoh of Egypt who tried to hold off the
Romans under Augustus. She ruled beside three pharaohs including
her young son and was the lover of Marc Antony.

Ramses II ruled during the New Kingdom for either 66 years. He built
all over Egypt and many of his statues and temples are still standing
today. He is probably the most prolific of the ancient Egyptian
pharaohs, siring over 100 children with more than a dozen wives.

Ramses III was the last king of the New Kingdom and is considered the
last great pharaoh. He was murdered by one of his wives.

Hatshepsut ruled during the New Kingdom for around 20 years. She
organized military campaigns and sent out trade expeditions to bring
exotic goods to Egypt.

Akhenaten ruled during the New Kingdom for less than 20 years.
Scholars call him the hieratic pharaoh because he forbade the worship
of the old gods. He built Amarna as the center for the worship of his
god, Aten.

Khufu also known as Cheops, ruled during the Old Kingdom and built
the Great Pyramid.

Djoser ruled during the Old Kingdom and built the first true stone
pyramid, the Step Pyramid.

Thutmose III was the 6th pharaoh of the 18th dynasty. He ruled Egypt
for 45 years and created the largest empire ever in Egypt. Thutmose
was buried in the Valley of the Kings.

Amenhotep III was the son of Thutmose IV and was the 9th pharaoh of
the 18th dynasty. He ruled during the peak of ancient Egypt's power.

Click here for a list of the 25 most famous pharaohs of ancient Egypt

King Tut's sarcophagus

Mary Harrsch - King Tut's Sarcophagus

Symbols of Kingship

Below is a list of some of the symbols used by the pharaoh to show

his/her kingship. Images of the pharaoh show him/her wearing a crown
or headdress with the uraeus (cobra) over the forehead. S/he also had
a bulls tail coming from his/her belt to show personal power and wore
a false beard which was a sign of divinity.

White Crown - the crown of Upper Egypt symbolized control over this
region. The Pharaoh wore it on occasions that concerned only Upper
Egypt. It resembles a tall white mitre or a white bowling pin without a
bottom.

Red Crown - the crown of Lower Egypt that symbolized control over this
region. Pharaoh wore it on occasions that concerned only Lower Egypt.
The bottom of this crown is circular with a tall thin part sticking up at

the back and has a long curl attached to its base.

Psusennes I Golden Mask

Tjflex2 - The Golden Mask of Psusennes I

Double Crown - the combined crown of Upper and Lower Egypt which
symbolized the pharaohs control over them. This crown combined the
Red and White Crowns, with the White Crown inside the Red Crown.

Blue Crown - a headdress made of blue cloth or leather and decorated

with discs of bronze or gold. Pharaoh wore it in battle and during some
ceremonies.

Atef Crown - a white crown decorated with ostrich feathers and topped
by a small sun disc. Pharaoh wore it while performing religious rituals.

Nemes Headdress - a blue and gold stripped head-cloth falling down

both sides of the head, the front of each shoulder and the back. This
headdress is part of some pharaohs death masks and sarcophagi
(coffins) and King Tut wears it in his death mask.

Crook - a blue and gold stripped staff with a hook on one end. Pharaoh
holds it in statues and on sarcophagi, with the flail, crossed over
his/her chest.

Flail - came from a manual threshing device that had a long handle
with a free-swinging stick that farmers used to beat wheat.

Cartouche - loop of rope with a knot on one end that contained some of
the pharaohs names in hieroglyphic inscriptions. It symbolized that
which the sun encircles and meant that the pharaoh ruled everything
the sun encircled. Discover more about cartouches...

Serekh - written sign for kingship resembling a palace and containing

one of the pharaohs names.

Life of the Pharaoh

Sarcophagus of King Tutankhamun

Tiffany Silva - Sarcophagus of Tutankhamun

The crown prince began training to become the pharaoh as a young

child through a series of lessons. Many of these lessons focused on
building physical strength because the pharaoh often fought at the
head of his army. Princes went to the royal stables where they learned
how to ride and break wild horses. They also ran long foot races to
build endurance and went on hunting and fishing expeditions.

Inheritance of the throne usually passed from a father to his eldest son
but there were exceptions. Sometimes, a brother would become the
next pharaoh after the previous kings dead if there was no son to
inherit. If the only heir was a woman, her husband could become the
next pharaoh. Sometimes, a high official became pharaoh after the
previous king's death. Some records state that some crown princes,
who out lived their father, did not become pharaoh but the reason for
this is not known.

Coronation

A new pharaoh always attended the burial of his/her predecessor and

the coronation of a new pharaoh began on the first day of a new
season. During many dynasties a new pharaoh's coronation began
after the death of his/her predecessor. In some dynasties the old
pharaoh presided over his/her successors coronation before his/her
death.

The coronation was not a single event but a collection of ceremonies

and festivals that could last an entire year. For this reason, the
coronation year was not counted as part of the years a king reigned.
The first year of a reign began after the coronation ended.

Baptism of Pharaoh

doris_pemler - Baptism of the Pharaoh, part of the coronation rituals

List of Coronation Ceremonies and Festivals

Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt: a ceremony that was the

symbolic reunification of the Two Lands of Egypt.

Egyptian Ritual Figure

Peter Roan - Ancient Egyptian Ritual Figure

Appearance of the king: a ceremony held after assuming the throne

and repeated every two years thereafter. It had three steps:

Pharaoh appeared wearing the White Crown as king of Upper Egypt.

Pharaoh appeared wearing the Red Crown as king of Lower Egypt.

Pharaoh appeared wearing the Double Crown as king of Upper and

Lower Egypt.

Sed Festival: meant to restore the pharaohs vital life force but the
details of its events are not well documented. It was first held during
the coronation and the pharaoh repeated it during the thirtieth year of
his/her reign. After this point, the pharaoh held it every three years but
some preformed it more often.

Sokar Festival: a celebration involving the construction of a sacred boat

that the pharaoh pulled to the Nile or a sacred lake. After its
celebration during the coronation year, this festival took place every
six years. Sokar was a god of the underworld and a guardian of royal
cemeteries.

Names and Duties of Pharaoh

After becoming pharaoh, the king received four new names besides
his/her birth name. The first name was the Horus name which scribes
wrote inside a serekh. The Nebty name showed the pharaoh had the
protection of the patron goddesses of the Two Lands and the pharaohs
rule of both lands. The Golden Horus name emphasized the pharaohs
divinity.

Scribes wrote the final two names inside cartouches. The Prenomen
was the pharaohs coronation name and the one people knew him/her
by in antiquity. The Nomen was the pharaohs given name and it is the
name scholars use today with a numeral added if necessary.

As an example, here are the five names of Ramesses II:

Ramses II statue

Roberto Venturini - Ramses II statue

Horus name: Kanakht Merymaat

Nebty name: Mekkemetwafkhasut

Golden Horus name: Userrenput-aanekktu

Prenomen: Usermaatre-Setepenre

Nomen: Ramesses (meryamun)

As king, the pharaoh had many duties that were civic and religious.
The people saw him/her as the living Horus and the son of Ra. They
believed only pharaoh could sacrifice to the gods but this belief
lessened over time. Only the pharaoh could appoint the priests to
serve the gods in his/her place. The people believed that s/he became
Osiris after death and would continue to help his/her people in the
afterlife.

Pharaoh was the commander-in-chief of the army and the highest

judge in the land. The people saw the pharaoh as essential for keeping
their lives in balance and keeping harmony in Egypt. As the living
embodiment of Maat, the pharaoh ensured that order and justice
existed in Egypt.

Burial of Pharaoh

Mummification and burial held an important place in Egyptian life. The

Egyptians believed the body's preservation guaranteed the souls
survival in the afterlife. The pharaoh began building his/her tomb soon
after assuming the throne. The locations and types of tombs built
changed over time and when the countrys capital moved. Tombs
contained decorations of the pharaohs journey in the afterlife and
texts from the Book of the Dead.

Decorated SarcophagusBaptism of Pharaoh

doris_pemler - Baptism of the Pharaoh, part of the coronation

ritualsBaptism of Pharaoh

doris_pemler - Baptism of the Pharaoh, part of the coronation rituals

the famous pharahos