Narmer

Narmer (Narmeru, Merunar) is often credited with uniting Upper and Lower Egypt and becoming the first true pharaoh. It is often proposed that Menes and Narmer are the same person, and that Narmer merely initiated unification and Menes finished the job. To confuse the issue further, many historians now argue that King Scorpion and Narmer are one and the same, but so far no evidence has been discovered to prove or disprove this theory. It is occasionally suggested that Narmer was in fact Hor-Aha. However the ancient king lists found in the tombs of the pharaohs Den and Qa´a of the first dynasty list Narmer as the founder of the dynasty and name Hor-Aha. Menes is not mentioned in either list.

It is thought that he was married to a Lower Egyptian (northern) princess named Neithhotep. Her name also appears on inscriptions from the tombs of were found in tombs thought to belong to Hor-Aha and Djer which imply that she was either the mother or wife of Hor-Aha.

A number of artefacts from his reign have been unearthed, such as inscribed potsherds (fragment of potery used for notes) and seal impressions from the First Dynasty tombs of Den and Ka at Abydos. Narmer´s name and that of his (possible) predecessor Scorpion have also been found on pottery found in Minshat Abu Omar in the eastern Delta. We also recovered a statue of a Babboon with his anme on it and the famous Narmer macehead and Narmer palette. Tombs B17 and B18 (two linked chambers) in Umm el-Qa´ab, Abydos are gereally attributed to him.

Names

Herodotus; Min (disputed)