Dynasty 0, Dynasty Zero, or the Protodynastic period are the terms used to describe the kings of Egypt during the Naqada III period of Egypt. These kings ruled over part or all of Egypt, with this dynasty ending with the legendary king Menes, who is usually associated with Narmer or Aha. This period saw a rise in Egyptian royalty, leading to Egyptian unification by Menes.
During this period, names were written in serekhs on a variety of surfaces, usually on jars and in tombs. This period is characterized by constant conflict with the people in the Nile Delta, likely to control trade routes with the Levant.Josephson, Jack (29 November 2015). "Naqada IId, Birth of an Empire". Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt (51): 165. doi:10.5913/JARCE.51.2015.A007. Most of Dynasty 0 was spent at war with the Delta people, presumably to control and protect trade routes from the Levant, the source of invaluable wood, wine, and other commodities. History
Upper Egypt
Unification of Upper Egypt It is likely several kingdoms existed before Upper Egypt was unified by Scorpion I.Secrets of Egypt, Channel 5 TV program 2/8, "Scorpion King," 20 November 2008."Before the Pharaohs: Ancient Egypt Was Ruled by a Scorpion King, Reveals Ancient Text ". Curiosmos. April 3, 2019. Scorpion I was originally from a kingdom based in Tjenu, and during his reign, he conquered Naqada, as shown by a graffito in the Theban Desert Road Survey. He was buried in Abydos in the famous tomb U-j, dating to about 3300 BC. His tomb had ivory labels seemingly mention the towns of Per-Wadjet and Per-Bast, showing he likely invaded the Nile Delta during his reign. Scorpion I's succession is unknown, but Günter Dreyer claims that his successor was named Falcon, based off ivory tags in U-j and inscriptions on the Tehenw Palette.
Control during Iry-Hor's reign
The strength of Upper Egypt likely increased during Iry-Hor's reign in the early half of the 32nd century BC.P. Tallet, D. Laisnay: Iry-Hor et Narmer au Sud-Sinaï (Ouadi 'Ameyra), un complément à la chronologie des expéditios minière égyptiene, in: BIFAO 112 (2012), 381-395, available online Iry-Hor is well attested throughout Upper Egypt, with 27 times throughout Abydos alone.Edwin C. M. van den Brink: Two Pottery Jars Incised with the Name of Iry-Hor from Tomb B1 at Umm El-Ga'ab, Abydos, available online , in : Zeichen aus dem Sand, Streiflichter aus Ägyptens Geschichte zu Ehren von Günter Dreyer, Eva-Maria Engel, Vera Müller and Ulrich Hartung editors, Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2008, Iry-Hor's second-most northernmost attestation is in the Sinai, referencing Inebu-hedj, likely constituting that he had control of the Nile Delta, or at least the eastern portion.P. Tallet, D. Laisnay: Iry-Hor et Narmer au Sud-Sinaï (Ouadi 'Ameyra), un complément à la chronologie des expéditios minière égyptiene, in: BIFAO 112 (2012), 381-395, available online It is likely that this portion of land was acquired late in his reign due to the low amount of attestations there, compared with his successor, Ka. Dreyer claims that Iry-Hor was preceded by Crocodile, who is unattested outside of Tarkhan, suggesting that there may have been a separate kingdom that ended there.
Ka's reign in Egypt
Conquest of the Nubians
Scorpion II is known to have activity in Lower Nubia. The minor Gebel Sheikh Suleiman, found in the Second Cataract depicts a Scorpion figure attacking people, possibly pointing to an attack on the Nubians during his reign. This may be supported by a rock inscription bearing a scorpion figurine with a rosette above it, found in the Wadi al-Malik, further south than the Second Cataract. Jiménez-Serrano expands upon this saying that the decrease in grave goods in the royal Qustul tombs of L22 and L5 can be attributed to Scorpion II's conquest.Jiménez-Serrano, A. - Two Proto-kingdoms in Lower Nubia in the Fourth Millennium B.C. [in:] Krzyzaniak, L.; Kroeper, K. & Kobusiewicz, M. (eds.), Cultural Markers in the Later Prehistory of Northeastern Africa and Recent Research: 251-268. Poznan. 2003.
Lower Egypt
Early Protodynastic Period The earliest signs of royal activity in Lower Egypt come from serekhs which do not have a name compartment. Dubbed as "anonymous serekhs," these serekhs might possibly be read by reading the symbols next to the name. Out of the 24 known anonymous serekhs, only one has had an attempted reading. Throughout Lower Egypt, there was regional kingdoms throughout. City-states may have been based in Tarkhan, Buto, and Helwan, and there may have been kingdoms based in the Southern and Eastern regions of the Delta.
Unification of Lower Egypt
It is possible that there was a unified Lower Egyptian kingdom, that Narmer took over to unite Egypt fully. The Palermo Stone lists fifteen kings that may have ruled during this period, though only seven have fully readable names. The names that survive on the stone are ...pu, Hsekiu, Khayu, Tiu, Tjesh, Neheb, Wazner, Mekhet, and ...a. The Palermo Stone is the only place that these kings are attested, which might mean these kings might be mythical. The final king of this kingdom may have been Wash.
Unification of Egypt Following Scorpion II's or Ka's death, his successor, Narmer, was crowned king in .Hayes, Michael (1970), "Chapter VI.Chronology, I. Egypt to the end of the Twentieth Dynasty", in Edwards, I.E.S.; Gadd, C.J. (eds.), The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume I, Part I, Cambridge Narmer's historical identity is disputed, with some claiming he was the same person as Scorpion II, and some people claiming he was Menes.Cervelló-Autuori, J. (2008), "The Thinite "Royal Lists": Typology and meaning", in Midant-Reynes, B.; Tristant, Y.; Rowland, J.; Hendrickx, S. (eds.), Egypt at its origins 2. Proceedings of the international conference "Origin of the state. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt", Toulouse (France), 5th – 8th September 2005, OLA, Leuven If indeed he is Menes, then he most likely would have had his capital at Tjenu.
At some point throughout his reign, he attacked the Kingdom of Lower Egypt. This is depicted on the Narmer Palette, showing Narmer about to smite the pharaoh Wash., p.66, p.98 This may also be depicted on a seal found in Nekhen. The palette also shows Narmer wearing both the Deshret crown of Lower Egypt and the Hedjet crown of Upper Egypt.
Following the unification, there was a festival where Narmer was presented the plundered goods of Lower Egypt, depicted on the Narmer Macehead. The plunder totaled at 120,000 captives, 400,000 cattle, and 1,422,000 goats. During Narmer's reign of a unified Egypt, Narmer attacked the Tehenu people, as shown by a year label. Narmer also seems to have also attacked the Kharga Oasis during his reign, as he is attested there, possibly overthrowing the regional king there, A.Ikram, S.; Rossi, C. (2004), "A new Early Dynastic serekh from the Kharga Oasis", Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 90: 211–215, doi:10.1177/030751330409000112, S2CID 190218264
During Narmer's reign, the peak of Egyptian presence in Canaan occurred. There is evidence of Egyptian presence in Canaan before Narmer, as Ka is attested as far north as Tel Lod. Narmer seemingly had the strongest control over Canaan, as he is better attested in the region than Ka. When Narmer died , his successor, Hor-Aha, became pharaoh, ending Dynasty 0.
List of pharaohs
Upper Egypt ImageNameReignNotesReferenceScorpion Ic. 3300 BCPossibly founded Dynasty 0 by unifying Upper Egypt.Falconc. 3300 - c. 3170 BCExistence disputed."Min standard + plant""N.2""N.3"LionDouble Falconc. 3200 BCNot confirmed if Double Falcon actually reigned in Upper Egypt. He is best attested in the Delta, with few attestations outside of the region.Hut-Hor?unknownRecorded on two pottery fragments found in Tell el-Farkha and Umm el-Balad respectively. The name's reading has been suggested as both "Ḥr-Ḥw.t" and "Ḥw.t-Ḥr", the latter interpretation may refer to the goddess Hathor."B"unknownThe identity of this king is disputed, but he may be the same as Ka.Iry-Horc. 3170 BCMay also be read as Ro.Kac. 3150 BCMay also be read as Sekhen.Scorpion IIc. 3140 BCMay be read as Weha or Serq. Thought to have originated from Buto, based off ivory tags.Thomas Schneider: Lexikon der Pharaonen. Albatros, Düsseldorf 2002, , p. 276.Peter Kaplony: Die Inschriften der ägyptischen Frühzeit. Bd. 2 (= Ägyptologische Abhandlungen. Bd. 8, 2). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1963, p. 1090.Ac. 3100 BCMay have been a local king at the Kharga Oasis, as that is where his only attestation is.Narmerc. 3100 BCMay be identifiable with Menes, the first king of the First Dynasty. Fully unified Egypt during his reign.
Lower Egypt ImageNameReignNotesReferenceHedju-HorunknownMay have only controlled the eastern part of the Delta, as that is the only place he is attested. Debated on if Hedju-Hor was in this dynasty. May be the same person as Wash.Ny-HorunknownMay have only controlled the southern part of the Delta, as that is the only place he is attested, excluding a single stone vessel found in Naqada. May be the same person as Narmer.Werner Kaiser & Günter Dreyer: Umm el-Qaab - Nachuntersuchungen im frühzeitlichen Königsfriedhof. page. 211–269.Ni-NeithunknownMay have been a local king at Helwan, as that is his only attestation.Hat-HorunknownMay have only controlled the southern part of the Delta, as that is the only place he is attested.W. M. Flinders Petrie: Tarkhan II (= Publications of the Egyptian Research Account and the British School of Archaeology in Egypt. 19th year 1913, Vol. 25, ZDB-ID 991516-3). School of Archaeology in Egypt u. a., London 1914, Taf. XXV, pl. XX, 1; XXX (74b)Hut-Hor?unknownRecorded on two pottery fragments found in Tell el-Farkha and Umm el-Balad respectively. The name's reading has been suggested as both "Ḥr-Ḥw.t" and "Ḥw.t-Ḥr", the latter interpretation may refer to the goddess Hathor.name destroyedunknownOnly known from the Palermo Stone. [...p]wunknownHsekiuunknownKhayuunknownTiuunknownTheshunknownNehebunknownWaznerunknownMekhunknown[...]aunknownname destroyedunknownname destroyedunknownname destroyedunknownname destroyedunknownname destroyedunknown[...]-Neithc. 3240 BCThis is an example of an anonymous serekh. The reading and rank of the name is disputed, with Clédat reading the name reads as "Ka-Neith" and was a queen, and Raffaele reading the name as "Bark-Neith," but does not take a stance on the rank.Cledat, op. cit. 1914 fig. 5; Kaiser-Dreyer, M.D.A.I.K. 38, 1982 marke 12.Double Falconc. 3200 BCReading of name is unknown. Possibly another example of an anonymous serekh. Dreyer believes this reads ḏw (Dju), while Jiménez-Serrano believes it reads hr.wy (Horway).Günter Dreyer, Ein Gefäss mit Ritzmarke des Narmer, in: MDAIK 55, (1999), pp. 1–6Crocodilec. 3180 BCMay be read as Shendjw. Likely a local king based in Tarkhan, as that is the only location he is attested. Dreyer places him just before Iry-Hor in his reconstructions based off guiding inscriptions. Wilkinson believes he was a usurper.Iry-Horc. 3170 BCMay have only controlled the eastern half of the Delta, as well as Upper Egypt, as he is attested in the Sinai and his successor Ka is well attested throughout the area.Kac. 3150 BCMay have only controlled the eastern half of the Delta, as well as Upper Egypt. Reading of name uncertain, his name might be read as sḫn (Sekhen).Scorpion IIc. 3140 BCMay be read as Weha or Serq. Thought to have originated from Buto, based off ivory tags.Washc. 3100 BCExistence disputed, may be the same person as Hedju-Hor. Perhaps the final king in a unified Lower Egyptian Kingdom, if it existed.Narmerc. 3100 BCMay be identifiable with Menes, the first king of the First Dynasty. Fully unified Egypt during his reign.
References