Ka (king)

Name of Ka
Name of the Ka on a shard from Abydos.
Horus name	Hor-ka Ḥr. (W) -k3 Ka of Horus Hor-Sechen Ḥr. (W) -sḫn Hugged by Horus

King Ka (Egypt. Hor-ka or Hor-sixen ) was an Egyptian ruler ( Pharaoh ) of the predynastic period (so-called 0th Dynasty ), who lived around 3100 BC. Ruled. In the prehistory of the Egyptian Empire, King Ka was one of those rulers who were able to achieve a temporary unification of the empire , although it must remain open which areas were exactly united by King Ka, since the Egyptian Empire was divided differently at his time.

Numerous artefacts and written documents have been preserved from King Ka himself, through which valuable knowledge could be gained about cultural, economic and political changes from his time. His exact chronological position, however, remains unclear, as does how long he ruled.

Found location

Ka is best known for numerous inscriptions on vessels, but also for rock carvings. Besides the kings Narmer and Scorpio II , he is the best attested ruler of the pre-dynasties, also outside of Egypt. His name was found on objects at Tell Ibrahim Awad in the Nile - Delta , in Helwan (in Memphis ) and Tarkhan . Other finds come from the excavation areas at Tell Erani and Nahal Tillah in the southwest of the Levant .

Name and identity

Seal imprint of the Ka, from Abydos; British Museum , London

Reading the name of this ruler is problematic. There are vessel inscriptions on which the name seal and hieroglyph both point in the same direction and a reading as "Ka" is possible. But there are also vessels on which the Serech is executed the right way round, but the supposed Ka symbol is definitely upside down, which is why a reading as “sixes” is also considered. But it has also been suspected that “Ka” could be the Ka name of Narmer. Precisely because the reading of the name hieroglyph is so uncertain, the Egyptologist Ludwig D. Morenz suggests the name "King Open Arms " as a neutral reading .

Ka is the early dynastic ruler of Egypt, under whom the royal serech finally prevailed as a name seal, although some rulers before him used the serech now and then. Under Ka, the tradition of leading the falcon of Horus as the divine patron of Serech was also consolidated.

Ka's exact chronological position can only be estimated so far. Evaluations of the writing on vessels and the architectural dating of his possible burial site in Abydos allow the assumption that Ka either ruled at the same time as King Scorpio II and Narmer or was their immediate predecessor.

Reign

Vessel carving with the name of Ka

Vessel with the name of the Ka, from Abydos; British Museum, London

Vessel with the name of the Ka, from grave 261 in Tarchan; Petrie Museum, London

The first cultural and ideological changes and innovations are already evident under Ka . In state ideology, the latter express themselves not only through the increased amalgamation of various districts and small states, but also through the increasingly complex and intensive agricultural and commercial economy. Under Ka, the first offices and hierarchies have developed that bring effective and reliable cooperation and functionality with them. More and more provinces and principalities merged and expanded . Apparently they recognized the unsurpassed benefit in cohesion and growing strength. Ideological changes can be seen in the evidence of extensive barter between the minor kingdoms. Vessels with typical Upper Egyptian decorations were found in the Nile Delta and vice versa. This permanent exchange between the kingdoms, motivated not only economically but also ideologically, ultimately led to a standardization of intellectual values ​​and material cultures. Under King Narmer at the latest, it becomes clear in the vessel inscriptions and in the finds in Abyden and Thinitic tombs how multi-layered and complex the hierarchical class system must have been since protodynastic times. Taking into account the fact that every kingdom in Scorpio's time had its own central administrative and power center of this format, it seems to have been only a question of leadership which of the early dynastic rulers could ultimately complete the unification of the empire.

Numerous vessel inscriptions in black ink , executed in the simplest form, provide interesting information about taxes and a flourishing trade economy. There seems to have been a lively trade between Upper and Lower Egypt, which shows that during the 0th Dynasty there was a growing centralization and functionality of taxes and trade.

One of the greatest economic and power factors at this time will have been the irrigation systems, the development and use of which may have reached their first peak under Scorpio II. Michael Allan Hoffman refers to the dissertations of Karl W. Butzer on the increase in references to the creation and use of artificial irrigation systems; not just on the royal club pommel. Irrigation systems allowed an expanded cultivation of grain, vegetables and the rearing of livestock. This factor was of paramount importance to the emerging state, as power was closely linked to control over the harvesting areas. Food shortages and / or lack of space have always been common triggers for unrest. To make matters worse, the areas with controlled irrigation were apparently limited to very small areas. This is surprising, since archaeological evidence of controlled irrigation goes back to the Naqada I epoch, so the method of creating the simplest irrigation systems was known to the Egyptians for a surprisingly long time. It therefore remains to be clarified whether the irrigation areas were perhaps deliberately kept tight in order to secure control.

Another shard of the Ka

Grave complex

In Abydos there is a grave (B. 7/9), which can probably be assigned to Ka. It consists of two chambers of different sizes, each 1.90 m deep. Chamber B.7 measures 6.0 × 3.2 m, while Chamber B.9 is only slightly smaller at 5.8 × 3.0 m. The grave complex faces south. More than forty inscribed vessels were found in both chambers.

See also

• List of pharaohs

literature

• Ludwig David Morenz: Image letters and symbolic signs: The development of the writing of the high culture of ancient Egypt. In: Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis. No. 205, Friborg 2004, ISBN 3-7278-1486-1 .
• Toby AH Wilkinson : Early Dynastic Egypt: Strategy, Society and Security. Routledge, London 1999, ISBN 0-415-18633-1 .
• Michael Allan Hoffman: Egypt before the pharaohs: The prehistoric foundations of Egyptian Civilization. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London 1980, ISBN 0-7100-0495-8 .
• Henri Asselberghs: Chaos en beheersing. Documents uit Aeneolithic Egypt. In: Documenta et monumenta orientis antiqui. (DMOA) No. 8. Brill, Leiden 1961.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Toby Wilkinson: Early Dynastic Egypt . P. 127, fig. 2.
2. ^ Peter Kaplony: Classification and Categorization in Ancient Egypt . In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Cairo Department. (MDAIK) No. 38, German Archaeological Institute, Orient Department (ed.). von Zabern, Berlin 1982, p. 221.
3. ↑ Toby Wilkinson: Early Dynastic Egypt . Pp. 57-59.
4. ^ Henri Asselbergh: Chaos en beheersing . Pp. 222-224.
5. ^ Toby Wilkinson: Early Dynastic Egypt. Pp. 57-59.
6. ↑ Flinders Petrie & Peter Kaplony: Small contributions to the inscriptions of the early Egyptian period . In: MDAIK No. 38, German Archaeological Institute, Orient Department (ed.). von Zabern, Berlin 1982, pp. 221 & 229.
7. ↑ Elise Jenny Baumgartel: Some remarks on the origins of the titles of the Archaic Egyptian Kings . In: Journal of Egyptian Archeology. No. 61, Egypt Exploration Society, London 1975, p. 31.
8. ↑ Ludwig David Morenz: picture letters and symbolic signs. Pp. 106-108.
9. ^ Toby AH Wilkinson: Early Dynastic Egypt. Pp. 56-57.
10. ^ Youssuf Z. Saad: Royal Excarvation at Helwan 1941-1945. In: Suppléments aux annales du service des antiquités de l'Égypte. No. 3, Service des antiquités de l'Égypte, Cairo 1947, plate 112, fig. 6
11. ↑ Werner Kaiser: Some remarks on the early Egyptian period. In: Journal for Egyptian Language and Antiquity. No. 91. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1964, ISSN  0044-216X , pp. 85-125.
12. ^ Christiana Köhler: The Three-Stage Approach to State Formation in Egypt. In: Göttinger Miscellen . (GM) No. 147. Göttingen 1995, pp. 79-93.
13. ^ Toby Wilkinson: Early Dynastic Egypt. Pp. 57, 58
14. ↑ Michael Allan Hoffman: Egypt before the pharaohs. Pp. 312-326.
15. ↑ Toby Wilkinson: Early Dynastic Egypt. P. 127, fig. 1.
16. ↑ Thomas Gilroy: Forgotten "Serekhs in the Royal Ontario Museum. In: Göttinger Miscellen. No. 180. Ägyptologisches Seminar der Universität Göttingen, Göttingen 2001, ISSN  0344-385X , pp. 67-76, Fig. 2, panel I b.

predecessor	Office	successor
unsure	King of Egypt 0th Dynasty	unsure