Khasekhemwy was the Horus name of the last ancient Egyptian king (Pharaoh) of the 2nd Dynasty (Early Dynastic Period), who ruled until around 2740 BCE. The unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under Khasekhemwy after a period of political unrest, which bore similarities to Narmer and Scorpion II, once again laid the foundation for a stable period of over 500 years during the Old Kingdom. The reign of Khasekhemwy is therefore of particular interest to Egyptology.
Evidence
Khasekhemwy is well attested. Many known objects come from Hierakonpolis. Among them is a granite door leaf found in the temple precinct of the city. Three stone vessels with identical victory inscriptions and two statues with additional victory inscriptions on the pedestal have been found. Additionally, there is a fragment of a stele.
The ruler had a monumental tomb in Abydos, where an enclosure of the ruler was also found. A second enclosure for the ruler still stands in Hierakonpolis today and can be attributed to the ruler based on inscribed, stone door fragments. In addition, his name appears on a vessel fragment from Byblos, and a block with his name comes from Elkab. Further name inscriptions of the ruler were found in a private tomb in Saqqara and in the Djoser Pyramid. Several years of the ruler’s reign are preserved on the Palermo Stone.
Name and Identity
Khasekhemwy has remarkably many known name variants, most of which were written in a serekh: the symbolic palace facade on which the Horus falcon perches. There are two main versions of the name. It is presumed that before his victory over Lower Egypt, he bore the name “Kha-sekhem” which he expanded to Khasekhemwy after subjugating it. As “Hor-kha-sekhem,” he is indeed only attested in Upper Egypt, in Hierakonpolis. The reasons behind the addition of the Horus name are documented, for example, in the entry of the 14th year after the subjugation of Lower Egypt, which reflected the old notion of the kings in the Old Kingdom still holding separate royal titulatures for the regions of Upper and Lower Egypt and symbolically receiving the legitimacy for supremacy over the entire land until the king’s death through the Unification Festival.
Most unusual is the so-called “Peace Name” (Horus-Seth Name) of Khasekhemwy: Khasekhemwy-Netjeruhetepimef (“Appearance of the two powers, with the ancestors resting in him”). This name was added as a programmatic epithet in the serekh to the actual Horus name. However, the peace name is not introduced by a single Horus falcon as usual, but in the extended name version, the gods Horus and Seth are throned together on the palace facade and seem to be “kissing” each other. This type of name presentation was intended to celebrate Khasekhemwy as a great unifier of the realm and to connect him with those ancestral rulers who once ruled over a united kingdom.
Another name, the subject of intensive research, appears in the Turin King Papyrus and in the king list of Saqqara. This is the cartouche name Bebeti. Leading Egyptologists are confident that this name is a misinterpretation by Ramesside scribes who attempted to determine the original name of Khasekhemwy. Similarly, it is likely to have been the case with the cartouche name Djadjai from the king list of Abydos.
According to the Egyptologist Wolfgang Helck, Khasekhemwy’s personal name could have been Besch, as this name appears on several vessels of breccia, where it appears in a Shen ring, the precursor to the later royal cartouche. Other Egyptologists such as Walter Bryan Emery strongly disagree, as the word “Besch” actually means “rebel” or “agitator” and probably refers more to the defeated principalities.
Origin and Family
Speculation surrounds the paternity of Khasekhemwy. According to Wolfgang Helck, a relationship with his predecessors Peribsen and Sekhemib is highly likely, as both Peribsen and Khasekhemwy chose to be buried at the royal cemetery of Abydos, seemingly without owning a secondary tomb in Saqqara. Thus, it is assumed that Peribsen and Khasekhemwy shared a common origin from the princely domain of Kom Ombo in Abydos.
An outdated theory suggests that Khasekhemwy was identical to Peribsen. However, this is contradicted by the fact that both rulers constructed their own tombs in Abydos. Additionally, they each built their own forts and temple complexes.
Khasekhemwy was married to Queen Nimaat-Hapi, who possibly hailed from Lower Egypt. Her name refers to Apis (Hapi), revered in Memphis. She was the mother of the heir Djoser. It is likely that Khasekhemwy had other sons, but Egyptologists disagree on their identities.
Reign
Khasekhemwy’s peace name previously led many Egyptologists to assume that he fought against his predecessor Peribsen due to Peribsen’s alignment with Seth and defeated him. This theory seemed supported by inscriptions on two stone statues reporting major unrest and wars. However, this theory is no longer held: Firstly, there is no evidence of a conflict between Peribsen and Khasekhemwy; both rulers’ tombs were adjacent in Abydos, and Peribsen was buried by Khasekhemwy’s predecessor, King Sekhemib, before Khasekhemwy came to power.
The aforementioned inscriptions on statues and vessels also report that at the time of Khasekhemwy’s ascension, there were fierce civil wars in the Lower Egyptian Nile Delta, and only there. Egyptologists Nicolas Grimal and Jochem Kahl speculate that the Lower Egyptian princes refused to accept and support Khasekhemwy’s plans for reunification, as they were unwilling to relinquish the independence they had gained through the division of the kingdom under Ninetjer. However, Khasekhemwy persisted with his political agenda. To achieve his goals, Khasekhemwy militarily confronted the Lower Egyptian princes and emerged victorious.
After Khasekhemwy’s subjugation of Lower Egypt, he erected several victory monuments in the then-capital Hierakonpolis dedicated to the “Sky and Crown Goddess” of Nekhen, Nechbet. He referred to the tradition of earlier kings such as Scorpion II and Narmer in these dedications. According to inscriptions, the “reunification” was performed by the goddess Nechbet, prompting Khasekhemwy to adhere to ancient traditions and celebrate the Unification Festival.
In an inscription, Khasekhemwy named the year of subjugation “Year of the Fight and the Striking of Lower Egypt.” Additionally, he mentioned “47,209 rebels slain” during his campaigns. The Palermo Stone preserves at least the last seven years of the ruler. Assuming that cattle counts occurred every two years and the Sokar Festival in conjunction with tribute receipts every six years, the chronology of his reign could be reconstructed.
Therefore, Memphis had to pay tribute at least until the 18th year after the subjugation of Lower Egypt. The – presumably forced – marriage to the Lower Egyptian princess Nimaathapi sealed Khasekhemwy’s triumph. From Hierakonpolis, where the seated statues were found, several relief fragments depict Khasekhemwy participating in the Sed festival.
Since Sed festivals are also associated with the Unification Festival, a thirty-year reign cannot be automatically inferred from the Sed festival depictions. The Palermo Stone (fragment of an annalistic stone) is an important source for his reign. Seven years are preserved there. The entries are as follows:
| Year | Happenings |
|---|---|
| 13th year (x + 1) | Escort of Horus; 6th time of count |
| 14th year (x + 2) | Appearance of the King of Upper Egypt, Appearance of the King of Lower Egypt; Erected in stone by Men-netjeret (“The Goddess Endures”) |
| 15th year (x + 3) | Escort of Horus; 7th time of count |
| 16th year (x + 4) | Creating a statue High is Khasekhemwy made of copper (?) |
| 17th year (x + 5) | Escort of Horus; 8th Time of Counting, Gold and Fields |
| 18th year (x + 6) | 4th time of bringing the walls of Dua-Djefa (tribute); Shipbuilding |
| 19th year (x + 7) | Date of death: 23rd or 25th Akhet II |
Despite the inscriptions on the stone, it remains uncertain how long Khasekhemwy actually reigned. His reign as the Upper Egyptian king Hor-Khasekhemwy is only attested for the year before the subjugation of Lower Egypt. Adding in the cattle counts yields a total reign of at least 20 years; the Turin King Papyrus credits him with 27 years, 2 months, and 1 day. Additionally, he is said to have lived to be over 40 years old.
Burial Site
At Abydos, the ruler’s tomb is found in Umm el-Qaab. Its courtyard is closer to the cultivated land and is now called Shunet El-Zebib (German: “Raisin Barn”) by locals. The main wall of the courtyard, 17.55 ft thick, measures 403 ft × 210 ft externally and is surrounded by a second, thinner outer wall. On three sides, the main wall is structured by simple niches, while towards the Nile, each is accompanied by a multi-tiered niche with a group of three simple niches. The wall fronts are pierced by door openings. Near the eastern corner stood a small building measuring 60 ft × 50.8 ft. This structure may be the precursor to a burial temple complex, similar to the one constructed by (his son?) Djoser in the 3rd Dynasty with the Djoser Pyramid Complex. Inside, the structure consists of small chambers with winding passages.
The tomb itself is located in a pit measuring 226 ft × 40 ft with 54 storage chambers. The central burial chamber is 6.50 ft deep, with walls and floor clad in limestone blocks. Additionally, Günter Dreyer refers to seal impressions of Sekhemib found in Khasekhemwy’s tomb, north of the burial chamber in Umm el-Qaab in rooms 31 to 33. The seals contain the name Sekhem[..]-Perien-[….] in fragments, which can easily be completed to Sekhemib-perien-maat.
Rainer Stadelmann speculates that in the western massifs of the Djoser complex in Saqqara, there may be a secondary tomb of Khasekhemwy from Lower Egypt, usurped by his successor. This view is not universally accepted, as tomb usurpations in the Old Kingdom are not known. Some researchers also attribute the stone enclosure Gisr el-Mudir in Saqqara to Khasekhemwy, as the dating to the end of the 2nd Dynasty is consistent and a stone structure called Men-Netjeret by Khasekhemwy is attested on the Palermo Stone. However, archaeological confirmation of this assignment is still pending.
The southeastern walls of chambers V 56/58 were completely dismantled during the Middle Kingdom after excavation. However, the entrance area was rebuilt with bricks during the Middle Kingdom, as the remaining cult activity apparently focused on the northernmost chambers of the tomb. Excavation reports also revealed that the corridor between chambers V 55/57 and V 56/58 must have been covered. In the meantime, the site was the target of tomb robbers who likely entered through the east wall of chamber V 56.
The corridor initially sloped slightly southward, then steeply between the entrance cheeks of V 57/58, and finally seems to have turned into a ramp about 92 ft long leading to the edge of the burial pit. In addition, a false door was discovered as an exit to the underworld, which was already present in tomb structures of the 1st Dynasty. Numerous offering bowls stood on the desert floor in the exit area of the ramp. Based on this finding, the tomb exit must have been visible even in the Late Period. The significant extension of the burial site to the south suggests that the tomb was initially intended to be extended further south. However, due to time constraints at the king’s death, the site could not be expanded as intended, resulting in only the southern four narrow chambers V 52-56 being added.
Special Finds
Statues
From Hierakonpolis come two seated statues made of diorite and polished sandstone. The rebellion in the Nile Delta is depicted on their pedestals. Additionally, the discovery of two stelae made of polished sandstone also comes from Hierakonpolis. The Pharaoh’s serekh is depicted on them, presenting both the Seth and Horus names together. Horus and Seth are shown in a kissing pose on the serekh. Khasekhemwy intended to demonstrate the equality of the gods Horus and Seth and achieve a definitive reconciliation of Upper and Lower Egypt.
Vessels
In Khasekhemwy’s tomb, there were still relatively many burial offerings, including vessels made of breccia and sandstone, their rims gilded with gold. The use of gold as decoration for burial offerings is archaeologically attested for the first time under Khasekhemwy. Particularly noteworthy are some bronze vessels from Khasekhemwy’s burial complex, which have remarkably remained well-preserved despite their age. They represent evidence of the early beginnings of the Egyptian Bronze Age, which lasted until around 1360 BCE.
Unusually, there is a high number of beer jars compared to only a dozen wine jars, which numbered in the thousands for his predecessors and here represented a comparatively small quantity. Additionally, there were bread molds, strip bowls, red offering bowls, flanged bowls, offering stands, miniature vessels, and so-called Nemset vessels, used in the ritual pouring of water.
In addition, vessel inscriptions were discovered bearing the names of high officials Maapermin and Inichnum, and due to the black ink inscription, they are dated to the time from the predecessor king Sekhemib to King Djoser (3rd Dynasty).
Later Reception
Following Khasekhemwy on the Palermo Stone is likely Pharaoh Djoser, although the latter’s name is not preserved. In later king lists, Nebka is named as the successor, leading to the long-held belief that he succeeded Khasekhemwy. However, seal impressions of Djoser were found in Khasekhemwy’s tomb in Abydos, indicating that Djoser conducted the burial and thus was the successor. The later king lists apparently err in the case of Nebka. Another fragment of the Palermo Stone is housed in the Petrie Museum in London and could be tentatively associated with Khasekhemwy’s register.
In the Middle or New Kingdom, a cult statue of Khasekhemwy may have been erected in the temple of Karnak. According to Georges Legrain, a statue was found there in 1899, possibly dedicated to the memory of this king. However, no publication of the find exists to date.
It is uncertain whether the ancient chronicler Manetho actually included Khasekhemwy in his listings. While the pretenders Sesochris and Cheneres appearing in Manetho are generally equated with Khasekhemwy, it is unclear where Manetho derived their names from. Phonetic comparisons have so far yielded no matches.