Narmer/Menes – The first pharaoh of Egypt

The founder the first dynasty of Egypt was the mythical Menes. His name is only attested on a few monuments or papyri from later periods, none contemporary with his supposed rule. Pharaoh Narmer on the other hand, is attested on contemporary items and is also seen as the unifier of the two lands The general consensus among Egyptologists these days is to equate these two names.

The hieroglyphs of this first king, with the Manuel de Codage code below the cartouches, and the names assigned to the king by the ancient greek authors. The early pharaohs are only attested by their Horus name. The nomen/prenomen (Menes, Meni, etc.) was most likely added in later times.

Hieroglyphic sources

Y5:N35-M17	Meni mn-i	Abydos Canon #1
Y5:N35-M17-A1	Meni mn-i	Turin Papyrus 2.10
Y5:N35-M17-Z4-G7	Meni mn-i	Turin Papyrus 2.11
Y5:N35-M18	Meni mn-i	Ramesseum, LD VII-163
K13	Nar nar	Horus name
K13-U23	Narmer nar-mr	Horus name
K13-U23-G47	Narmertjay nar-mr-TAi	Horus name

Classical sources

Author	Original	Transliteration	Transcription
Eratosthenes1	Μήνης	Mēnēs	Menes
Diodorus Siculus	Μηνᾶν / Μηνᾶ	Mēnan / Mēna	Mena
Herodotus	Μῖνα / Μῖνι	Mina	Mina
Africanus 1-1	Μήνης	Mēnēs	Menes
Eusebius 1-1	Μήνης	Mēnēs	Menes
Eusebius (Armenian)	Մէմէս		Memes

19th Dynasty Offering Table

Sculpted by the sculptor “Ken” of the 19th dynasty in Thebes this offering table is in the Marsielle museum “Centre de la Vielle Charité.” The drawing above was published by Ernest de Saulcy in “Mémoires de l’Académie Impériale de Metz, vol. 44, pt. 2” in 1864.

The names of the kings, as much as I can decipher, are as follows:

1. User-maat-re setep-enre (Ramses II thronename)
2. Ra-mesi-su-meri-amun (Ramses II birthname)
3. Se-nakht-en-re (Senakhtenre Tao I)
4. Se-t-en-en-akht-en-re (Seqenenre Tao II)
5. Wadj-kheper-re (Kamose)
6. Neb-hepet-re (Mentuhotep II)
7. Neb-peht-re (Ahmose I)
8. Iah-hotep (Mother of Ahmose I)
9. Iah-mesi-nefer-tari (Ahmose Nefertari, wife & sister of Ahmose I)
10. Aa-kheper-ka-re (Thutmose I)
11. Men-kheper-re (Thutmose III)
12. Aa-kheper-en-re (Thutmose II)
13. Djeser-ka-re (Amenhotep I)
14. Aa-kheperu-re (Amenhotep II)
15. Men-kheperu-en-re (Thutmose IV)
16. Neb-maat-re (Amenhotep III)
17. Djeser-kheperu-en-re (Horemheb?)
18. Men-pehti-re (Ramses I)
19. Men-maat-re (Seti I thronename)
20. Usiri-sethi-meri-en-ptah (Seti I birthname)
21. User-maat-re Setep-en-re (Ramses II)
22. A-men-hotep (Amenhotep I)
23. Men-kheper-re (Thutmose III)
24. Aa-kheper-en-re (Thutmose II)
25. Men-kheperu-en-re (Thutmose IV)
26. Djeser-kheperu-en-re (Horemheb?)
27. Men-pehti-re (Ramses I)
28. Men-maat-re (Seti I)
29. Neb-maat-re (Amenhotep III)
30. Aa-kheper-ka-re (Thutmose I)
31. Neb-hepet-re (Mentuhotep II)
32. A-men-em-mer-maat-messu (probably a version of Ramses II’s name)
33. Iah-mesi-nefer-tari (Ahmose Nefertari (wife & sister of Ahmose I)
34. Iah-hotep (Mother of Ahmose I)

The numbers used corresponds to those found in the drawing. I can’t seem to find out which pharaoh number 4 could possibly be.

Periodic table of pharaohs

Since there are so many pharaohs (more than 350) I wanted to have a list that doesn’t occupy 20 feet of screen estate, so I thought of the periodic table of elements, and why not make the list of pharaos like that? Said and done, here’s my first attempt.

Periodic Table of Pharaohs

How to read it: Each pharaoh is contained in one box. In the first box you see: Nr, 1 and I. These stand for Narmer, Pharaoh number 1 and Dynasty I. In box just below the first, you see Sn, 21, IV – which stands for Sneferu, pharaoh number 21, Dynasty IV, and so on.
There are bound to be some mistakes, whether by omission or otherwise.