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Narmer & The Scorpion King
This sparked my interest because of the word “Scorpion”. Yes, I am
one of those people whose interest in ancient Egypt was sparked by This
rare ancient Egyptian archaeological artifact is a limestone macehead of
“Scorpion”, one of very few artifacts found from the king’s reign. It’s
large size (25 cm) and drawings allow archaeologists to conclude that
this was used for rituals, rather than a real mace head. It depicts the
Pharaoh beginning attacks on Lower Egypt, fighting for unification. As
we talked about in lecture, this was found by archaeologists J.E.
Quibell and F.W. Green during their expedition in 1897-98 to
Kierakonpolis, when they also found the Narmer Palette. The tomb of the
Scorpion King is considered one of the oldest tombs in the royal
cemetery of Abydos. Some believe that the Pharaoh was the same person as
the man named Narmer (associated with Narmer Palette). He is the
successor of the Pharaoh Scorpion I (considered to be king Ka). There
are theories that link his dynasty to the unification of Upper and Lower
Egypt. On the Scorpion Macehead, there is a depiction of the Pharaoh
beginning his attack on Lower Egypt. During the time of Narmer’s reign
as Pharaoh was when the unification of Egypt is dated back to. Later, a
smaller Scorpion Macehead was found, that depicted King Scorpion wearing
a red hat, which signified his presence in Lower Egypt.
These are a few of the things that fascinate me the most in
archaeology: the idea of the unknown.. It is exciting thinking about
going on an excavation, and there is a possibility that I can find
something that has yet to be discovered. Even something small can change
the history of ancient Egypt that we have created through material
artifacts. Ancient Egyptian archaeology is always changing, new
discoveries being made, and because of this history is not set in stone.
http://www.ancient-egypt.org/index.html
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