Menes
Menes was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the early dynastic period,
credited by classical tradition with having united Upper and Lower
Egypt, and as the founder of the first dynasty. The identity of Menes is
the subject of ongoing debate, although mainstream Egyptological
consensus identifies Menes with the protodynastic pharaoh Narmer (most
likely) or first dynasty Hor-Aha. Both pharaohs are credited with the
unification of Egypt, to different degrees by various authorities.
The almost complete absence of any mention of Menes in the
archaeological record, and the comparative wealth of evidence of Narmer,
a protodynastic figure credited by posterity and in the archaeological
record with a firm claim to the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt,
has given rise to a theory identifying Menes with Narmer.
The chief archaeological reference to Menes is an ivory label from
Naqada which shows the royal Horus-name Aha (the pharaoh Hor-Aha) next
to a building, within which is the royal nebty-name mn, generally taken
to be Menes. From this, various theories on the nature of the building
(a funerary booth or a shrine), the meaning of the word mn (a name or
the verb endures) and the relationship between Hor-Aha and Menes (as one
person or as successive pharaohs) have arisen.
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