Qa'a
Most scholars believe that Qa'a was the last king of the 1st dynasty.
We may also see his name as Kaa, or several other variations. Though
Egyptologists often disagree on dating, our current best guess is that
he lived from about 3100 to 2890 BC. According to Manetho he reigned for
about 26 years.
Information on Qa'a is limited. He is mentioned on jar sealings and two
damaged stela. One one of these stela he is shown wearing the White
Crown of Upper Egypt and being embraced by the God Horus.
Egyptologists have also discovered the stelae of two of Qa'a's
officials, Merka and Sabef. These stelae have more complex inscriptions
then earlier hieroglyphics, and may have signaled in increasing
sophistication in the use of this writing.
Qa'a had a fairly large tomb in Abydos which measures 98.5 x 75.5 feet
or 30 x 23 meters. Manetho gives him a reign of 26 years in his Epitome
if this ruler was a certain Biechenes. A long reign is supported by the
large size of this ruler's burial site at Abydos. A seal impression
bearing Hotepsekhemwy's name was found near the entrance of the tomb of
Qa'a (Tomb Q) by the German Archaeological Institute in the mid-1990s.
This pharaoh's large Abydos tomb was excavated by German archaeologists
in 1993 and proved to contain 26 satellite (i.e. sacrificial) burials.
The discovery of the seal impression has been interpreted as evidence
that Qa'a was buried, and therefore succeeded, by Hotepsekhemwy, the
founder of the second dynasty of Egypt, as Manetho states.
The tomb of one of Qa'a's state officials at Saqqara - a certain
noblemen named Merka - contained a stele with many titles. There is a
second sed festival attested. This fact plus the high quality of a
number of royal steles depicting the king implies that Qa'a's reign was a
fairly stable and prosperous period of time. Qa'a's name translates as
"His Arm is Raised".
A number of year labels have also been discovered dating to his reign at
the First Dynasty burial site of Umm el-Qa'ab in Abydos. Qa'a is
believed to have ruled Egypt around 2916 BCE. A dish inscribed with the
name and titles of Qa'a was discovered in the tomb of Peribsen (Tomb P
of Petrie).
Under Qa'a the officials Merka and Sabef had high positions in the palace administration.
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