Нармер: Ежелгі Египеттің бірінші династиясының фараоны

Ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period

Narmer (, may mean "painful catfish", "stinging catfish", "harsh catfish", or "fierce catfish;") was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period, whose reign began at a date estimated to fall in the range 3273–2987 BC. He was the successor to the Protodynastic king Ka. Many scholars consider him the unifier of Egypt and founder of the First Dynasty, and in turn the first king of a unified Egypt. He also had a prominently noticeable presence in Canaan, compared to his predecessors and successors. Neithhotep is thought to be his queen consort or his daughter. A majority of Egyptologists believe that Narmer was the same person as Menes.

Although highly interrelated, the questions of "who was Menes?" and "who unified Egypt?" are actually two separate issues. Narmer is often credited with the unification of Egypt by means of the conquest of Lower Egypt by Upper Egypt. Menes is traditionally considered the first king/pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, and is identified by the majority of Egyptologists as the same person as Narmer – although a vigorous debate also proposes identification with Hor Aha, Narmer's successor, as a primary alternative. The issue is confusing because "Narmer" is a Horus name while "Menes" is a Sedge and Bee name (personal or birth name). All of the King Lists which began to appear in the New Kingdom era list the personal names of the kings, and almost all begin with Menes, or begin with divine and/or semi divine rulers, with Menes as the first "human king". The difficulty is aligning the contemporary archaeological evidence which lists Horus Names with the King Lists that list personal names. Two documents have been put forward as proof either that Narmer was Menes or alternatively Hor Aha was Menes. The first is the "Naqada Label" found at the site of Naqada, in the tomb of Queen Neithhotep, often assumed to have been the mother of Horus Aha. The label shows a serekh of Hor Aha next to an enclosure inside of which are symbols that have been interpreted by some scholars as the name "Menes". The second is the seal impression from Abydos that alternates between a serekh of Narmer and the chessboard symbol, "mn", which is interpreted as an abbreviation of Menes. Arguments have been made with regard to each of these documents in favour of Narmer or Hor Aha being Menes, but in neither case is the argument conclusive. The second document, the seal impression from Abydos, shows the serekh of Narmer alternating with the gameboard sign (mn), together with its phonetic complement, the n sign, which is always shown when the full name of Menes is written, again representing the name "Menes". At first glance, this would seem to be strong evidence that Narmer was Menes. However, based on an analysis of other early First Dynasty seal impressions, which contain the name of one or more princes, the seal impression has been interpreted by other scholars as showing the name of a prince of Narmer named Menes, hence Menes was Narmer's successor, Hor Aha, and thus Hor Aha was Menes. This was refuted by ; but opinions still vary, and the seal impression cannot be said to definitively support either theory. Two necropolis sealings, found in 1985 and 1991 in Abydos (Umm el Qa'ab), in or near the tombs of Den and Qa'a, show Narmer as the first king on each list, followed by Hor Aha. The Qa'a sealing lists all eight of the kings of what scholars now call the First Dynasty in the correct order, starting with Narmer. These necropolis sealings are strong evidence that Narmer was the first king of the First Dynasty, hence the same person as Menes.