Adjib

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Adyib (or Anedyib) was the sixth pharaoh of the First Dynasty of Egypt, ruling from c. 2910-2904 BC C..

Reign

In the epitomes of Manetho they call him Miebidos (Sixth African Julius) or Niebais (Eusebius of Caesarea) who comments that he reigned 6 years.

In the Royal Canon of Turin he is called Mergeregpen and they assign him 74 years. He is listed as Merbiap in the Abydos Royal List and is the first king recorded in the Saqqara Royal List as Merbiapen. Adyib is his name of Horus, his Serej is represented by a rod and a heart.

Virtually all Egyptologists reject these figures in favor of a very short reign, due to the paucity of records for this pharaoh. Toby Wilkinson, in his reconstruction of the Palermo Stone (nearly contemporaneous with him), gives it a duration of 10. Ajib's penultimate and final year is recorded in register III of the Cairo fragment. Adjib held a Sed festival, something that normally did not occur until the pharaoh had reigned for some considerable time, but he justifies this by the fact that "Adjib was an adult when he succeeded Den, and the celebration of a Sed festival was considered something propitious to renew the power of a king whose time had passed". The memory of Pharaoh Ajib was erased by his successor, who ordered the destruction of all his statues and records of his government, condemning him to eternal oblivion.

Family

Manetho comments that he is the son of the previous pharaoh, Den. One of his wives was Batirites (Betrest), who is believed to have been the mother of the next pharaoh: Semerjet, who is generally regarded as a usurper.

Den, his predecessor, enjoyed a long reign of more than 30 years, implying that Ajib was very old when he came to power. Contemporary documents suggest that he ruled Egypt during a time of political instability and dynastic conflicts between Lower and Upper Egypt. Ajib is presumed to have come from Upper Egypt, specifically from the city of Abydos, where he is remembered as Merbiap, the Tinite pharaoh, in the Saqqara list found in the tomb of Tunery. Ajib was forced to control various uprisings in the Lower Egypt. He is considered a pharaoh, severe, violent or fickle. He was the father of prince Sabu (nomarch), who died at an early age of uncertain causes, so he could not inherit the throne from his father.

The Palermo Stone mentions that he carried out a military expedition against the nomads and cites him as the founder of several cities. His serekh is frequently erased in the inscriptions of the time, a fact attributed to his successor Semerjet, indicating a period of political instability. Archaeologists Nicolas Grimal and Wolfgang Helck found engraving on the walls and steps of his burial pavilion the word (ksn) meaning kesen which was translated by Ernest Wallis Budge as evil, calamity or violence, since it is known that in that period there was a serious problem of royal succession.

Royal List of Abidos, with the name of Merbiap (number 6).

Testimonies of his time

Buildings

Two buildings are dated from the Andyib period, in Saqqara and Abydos.

The S3038 tomb in Saqqara, located north of the royal tombs, shaped as stepped pyramid.
The tomb of Andyib, tomb X of the necropolis of Umm el-Qaab (Abidos), which is relatively small and simple, with the funeral chamber built entirely of wood: this simplicity reaffirms the opinion of his brief reign. It was surrounded by 64 sepultures of courtiers, also very simple, which is considered a Cenotafio because there was no body in it and there was no sign of being premiered or finished.