Den

Den, also known as Hor-Den, Dewen and Udimu, is the Horus name of a pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period who ruled during the First Dynasty of Egypt. He is the best archaeologically-attested ruler of this period. Den is said to have brought prosperity to his realm, and numerous innovations are attributed to his reign. He was the first to use the title “King of Upper and Lower Egypt” and the first depicted as wearing the double crown (red and white). The floor of his tomb at Umm El Qa’ab near Abydos is made of red and black granite; for the first time in Egypt, this hard stone was used as a building material. During his long reign, he established many of the customs of court ritual and royalty used by later rulers, and he was held in high regard by his immediate successors.

Length of the reign of Hor-Den

The Ancient Egyptian historian Manetho called him “Oúsaphaîdos” and credited him with a reign of 20 years, whilst the Royal Canon of Turin is damaged and therefore unable to provide information about the duration of Den’s reign. Egyptologists and historians generally believe that Den had control for 42 years, based on inscriptions on the Palermo Stone.

Name sources

Den’s serekh name is well attested on earthen seal impressions, on ivory labels and in inscriptions on vessels made of schist, diorite and marble. The artefacts were found at Abydos, Saqqara and Abu Rawash. Den’s name is also attested in later documents. For example, the Medical Papyrus of Berlin (the Ramesside era) discusses several treatment methods and therapies for several diseases. Some of these methods are said to originate from the reign of Den, but this statement may merely be trying to make the medical advice sound traditional and authoritative. Similarly, Den is mentioned in the Papyrus of Ani (also dated to Ramesside times) in chapter 64.

Identity

Den’s serekh name was “Den” or “Dewen”, most likely meaning “he who brings the water”. This is consistent with his birth name, “Khasty”, meaning ” he of the two deserts”. Egyptologists such as Toby Wilkinson and Francesco Tiradritti think that the birth name refers to the eastern and western deserts – surrounding Egypt like protective shields – or Lower and Upper Egypt. This is in accord with the introduction of the Nisut-Bity-title by Den. This royal title was designed to legitimise the ruler’s power over the whole of Egypt.

Den’s family has been the subject of significant research. His mother was queen Merneith; this conclusion is supported by contemporary seal impressions and the Palermo Stone’s inscription. Den’s wives were the queens Semat, Seshemet-ka, Serethor, and, possibly, Qaineit. He also had numerous sons and daughters; his possible successors could have been king Anedjib and Semerkhet.

Den’s Royal Household is also well researched. Subsidiary tombs and palatial mastabas at Sakkara belonged to high officials such as Ipka, Ankh-ka, Hemaka, Nebitka, Amka, Iny-ka and Ka-Za. In a subsidiary tomb at Den’s necropolis, the rare stela of a dwarf named Ser-Inpu was found.

The birth name of Den was misread in Ramesside times. The Abydos King List has “Sepatju” written with two symbols for “district”. This derives from the two desert symbols Den originally had used. The Turin King List refers to “Qenentj”, which is quite challenging to translate. The origin of the hieroglyphs used in the Royal Canon of Turin remains unknown. The Saqqara Tablet mysteriously omits Den completely.

Reign of Hor-Den

According to archaeological records, at the very beginning of his reign, Hor-Den had to share the throne with his mother Meritneith for several years. It seems that he was too young to rule himself. Therefore, Meritneith reigned as a regent or de facto pharaoh for some time. Such a course of action was not unusual in ancient Egyptian history. Queen Neithhotep may have taken on a similar role before Meritneith, while queens such as Sobekneferu and Hatshepsut were later female Egyptian rulers. Den’s mother was rewarded with her tomb of royal dimensions and her mortuary cult.

Events

An important innovation during Den’s reign was the introduction of numbering using hieroglyphs. Before this, important year events were merely depicted in signs and miniatures, sometimes guided by the hieroglyphic sign rnpt “bald palm panicle”, meaning “year”. From Den’s reign onwards, the Egyptians used numbering hieroglyphs for various purposes, including calculating tax collections and annotating their year events.

Den is the first Egyptian king attested with rock reliefs in the Sinai Peninsula. Two or perhaps three reliefs show the standing king and some of his officials.

Most religious and political happenings from Hor-Den’s reign are recorded in the numerous ivory tags and the Palermo Stone inscription. The tags show essential developments in typography and arts. The surface is artistically parted into sections, each offering individual events. For example, one of these tag reports on an epidemic affected Egypt. The inscription shows the figure of a shaman with an undefined vessel or urn at his feet. A nearby inscription begins with “Henu…”, but it is unclear if that means “provision” or if it is the first syllable of the name “Henu-Ka” (a high official).

Another tag, known as the “MacGregor Label”, shows the first complete depiction of an Egyptian king with the so-called nemes headdress. The picture shows Den in a gesture known as “smiting the enemy”. In one hand, Den holds a mace; in the other, he grabs a foe by his hair. Thanks to the braids and the conic beard, the foe has been identified as of Asian origin. The hieroglyphs on the right side say “first smiting of the east”. On the left side, the name of the high official Iny-Ka is inscribed. Den sent troops to the Sinai Peninsula and the eastern desert several times. Plundering nomads, known by the early Egyptians as jwntj.w “people with hunting bows” were regular foes of Egypt, often causing trouble. They are again mentioned in a rock inscription in the Sinai Peninsula under Semerkhet, one of Den’s successors.

More events are reported on the Palermo Stone fragments. The Oxford fragment records the following events:

• 4th year: First time counting gold.
• 5th year: Escort of Horus; 2nd census of cattle count.
• 6th year: …(section damaged)… of the Rehyt.
• 7th year: Escort of Horus; 3rd census of cattle count.

The Cairo-Stone fragment C5 reports:

• 18th year: The making of a statue for Wer-Wadjet.
• 19th year: Smiting of the Setjet people.
• 20th year: Creation of the Mafdet-fetish; raising of the Sentj-pillars.
• 21st year: Smiting of the Tjesem people.
• 22nd year: Visit the royal domain of Semer-Netjeru, the first celebration of the Hebsed.

The Palermo Stone main fragment reports:

• 28th year: Visit the temple of Ptah… (the rest is missing).
• 29th year: Smiting of the Iuntju people.
• 30th year: Appearance of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt; 2nd celebration of the Hebsed.
• 31st year: Planning for constructing the eastern and western canals through the districts of the Rehyts.
• 32nd year: 2nd celebration of the Djet-festival.
• 33rd year: Stretching the cords (a foundation ceremony) for the divine fortress Isut-Netjeru (“thrones of the gods”).
• 34th year: Stretching the cords for the royal palace of the religious fortress Isut-Netjeru by the high priest of Seshat.
• 35th year: Inauguration of the sacred lakes at the divine fortress Isut-Netjeru; royal hippopotamus hunt.
• 36th year: Residing at Nenj-nesw (Heracleopolis Magna) and the lake of the god Heryshaf.
• 37th year: A sailing trip to Sah-Setni; foundation/destruction of the city Wer-Ka.
• 38th year: Creation of a statue for the god Sed.
• 39th year: Appearance of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt; 1st race of the Apis-Bull.
• 40th year: Creation of a statue for the goddesses Seshat and Mafdet.
• 41st year: Appearance of the king of Lower- and… (rest is missing)

Several stone vessel inscriptions affirm the second celebration of the Hebsed (a throne jubilee) from Den’s necropolis.

Tomb

Hor-Den was interred in a tomb (“Tomb T”) in the Umm El Qa’ab area of Abydos, associated with other First Dynasty kings. Tomb T is among the largest and most finely-built tombs in this area and is the first to feature a staircase and a floor made of granite.

His was the first tomb to have a flight of stairs leading to it, those of earlier kings being filled directly above their roofs. It is possible the tomb was used as a storehouse for surplus produce during the king’s lifetime while also making it easier to add grave goods for later use in the afterlife by Den.

Tomb T is the first tomb to include architectural elements made of stone rather than mud-brick. The tomb’s floor was paved in red and black granite from Aswan, the first architectural use of such hard stone on a large scale. In the original layout for the tomb, a wooden door was located about halfway up the staircase, and a portcullis was placed in front of the burial chamber, designed to keep out tomb robbers.

Twenty labels made of ivory and ebony were found in his tomb, 18 by Flinders Petrie in the spoil heaps left by the less thorough Émile Amélineau. Among these labels are the earliest known depictions of a pharaoh wearing the double-crown of Egypt and running between ritual stele as part of the Sed festival. Also found are seal impressions that provide the earliest confirmed king list.

Tomb T is surrounded by the burial sites of 136 men and women who were buried at the same time as the king. Thought to be the king’s retainers, an examination of some of the skeletons suggests they were strangled, making this an example of human sacrifice, which is considered to be typical with the pharaohs of the First Dynasty. This practise seems to have ceased by the end of the dynasty, with ushabtis taking the place of the bodies of actual people to aid the pharaohs with the work expected of them in the afterlife.