His name meaning 'the two powers are at peace', it is often postulated that he brought peace to Egypt at a time when the country was divided. The name "Hetepsekhemwy" means 'The Two Powers are at Peace', with "The Two Powers" referring to Horus and Seth. As to his Nebty name, it was 'The Two Mistresses are at Peace', with "The Two Mistresses" referring to Nekhbet, the vulture-goddess of Nekheb (EI-Kab) and Wadjet, the cobra-goddess of Pe, and Buto who were the patron-goddesses of the South and the North respectively.
It was also during this period that the cult of the Sun-god was
established, although the name of Re at this stage only appeared in the
Horus name of Hetepsekhemwy's successor.
His reign’s exact length is unknown; the Turin canon suggests an
improbable 95 years.
While the ancient Egyptian historian Manetho
reports that the authority of “Boëthôs” lasted for 38 years.
 |
| Entrance to Hotepsekhemwi's tomb |
He also appears to have founded a new royal estate named “The star of Horus rises” (or “Horus, the rising star”).
For his burial,
Hotepsekhemwi chose to break with some 1st Dynasty funerary traditions.
Although he did bury or re-bury his predecessor at Umm el-Qa’ab, he
chose Saqqara,
close to the capital of Memphis and close to the tombs of the high
officials that served the kings of the 1st Dynasty, as the location for
his own burial. The structure of the tomb
believed to have been his, no longer consists of a series of pits dug
into the ground, but of a series of underground galleries connected by
corridors and leading to the burial chamber."
TheAncientEgyptSite/ Egyptopeia
No comments:
Post a Comment