Aha

Aha was the second pharaoh of the 1st Dynasty of Egypt, c. 3007-2980 BCE C..

Called Atotis by Manetho, according to Sixth Julius Africanus and Eusebius of Caesarea, Ateti in the Royal list of Abydos and it(t) in the Royal Canon of Turin.

Manetho grants him a 57-year reign, according to Julius Africanus, or 27 years (Eusebius of Caesarea).

Identity

Name

The commonly used name Hor-Aha is a representation of the pharaoh's Name of Horus, an item of royal ownership associated with the god Horus, and which in its fullest form, Horus-Aha means Horus the fighter.

For the Early Dynastic period, the archaeological record refers to the pharaohs by their Horus names, while the historical record, as evidenced by the Turin and Abydos lists, uses an alternative to the royal title, the Name of Nebty. The different elements of a pharaoh's title are often used in isolation, for brevity, though the choice varies according to circumstance and period.

There is currently a consensus among Egyptologists to follow Petrie's conclusions, reconciling the two records and connecting Hor-Aja (archaeological) with Nebty's Name, Ity (historical).

The same process has led to the identification of the historical Menes (a Name of Nebty) with the Narmer (a name of Horus) that is evidenced in the archaeological record (both figures are credited as unifying Egypt and as the first pharaoh of the 1st Dynasty) as the ancestor of Hor-Aha (the second pharaoh).

Theories

There has been some controversy about Hor-Aha. Some believe that he is the same individual as the legendary Menes who unified Egypt, others claim that he was the son of Narmer, the pharaoh who unified Egypt. Narmer and Menes may have been the same pharaoh, referred to by more than one name. Regardless, there is considerable historical evidence to support the view of Narmer as the unifying pharaoh (see Narmer's Palette) and Hor-Aha as his son and heir.

Biography

Son of Menes, according to Julio Africano. Hailing from Upper Egypt, he married Princess Benerib of Lower Egypt, his principal wife, although his son and successor, Dyer, would be born by a concubine. The tomb of Neithotep, possibly his mother, is B14, located next to that of the pharaoh.

According to Manetho, Atotis, had a palace built in Memphis and practiced the art of medicine, writing treatises on the technique of opening bodies. The Palermo Stone indicates that during his reign trade relations were maintained with Canaan and that he waged war in Nubia and Libya.

Reign

Successor to Narmer

Seal impressions discovered by G. Dreyer at Umm el-Qaab in the tombs of Merytneit and Qaa, identify Aha as the second pharaoh of the first dynasty. His predecessor, Narmer, had united Upper and Lower Egypt in one kingdom. Aha probably ascended the throne in the late XXXII century BCE. C. or early XXXI. According to Manetho, he became pharaoh at thirty and ruled until he was in his sixties.

Domestic policy

He seems to have carried out many religious activities. A visit to a sanctuary of the goddess Neit, located in the northeast of the Nile delta, at Sais, is mentioned in several tablets from his reign. Furthermore, the first known depiction of the sacred Henu , the boat of the god Socar, is recorded on a tablet dated to his reign.

Inscriptions on vessels, labels, and tomb seals of Aha and Queen Neithotep suggest that this queen died during this reign. He arranged for her burial a magnificent mastaba, excavated by Jacques de Morgan. Queen Neithotep is plausible as Aha's mother. The selection of the Naqada cemetery as Neithotep's resting place is a strong indication that she was native to this province. This, in turn, supports the view that Narmer married into the old royal line of Naqada to reinforce the rule of the Tinite kings over the region.

Most importantly, the oldest mastaba in the North Saqqara necropolis of Memphis dates back to his reign. The mastaba belongs to an elite member of the administration who may have been a relative of the pharaoh, as was the custom at the time. This is a strong indication of the growing importance of Memphis during Aha's reign.

Constructions of his time

Tomb in Naqada.
From Morgan.

• He built a palace in Menfis (Manetón)
• In Sais, in Lower Egypt, he commanded to erect a temple dedicated to Neit

Two large funerary complexes in Naqada and Saqqara are dated in the times of the reign of Aha

• A monumental mastaba (base of 53 m x 26 m), in Naqada, belonging to the king or his wife.
• The S3357 tomb in Saqqara, previously attributed to Aha, similar to a mastaba (base of 41.6 m x 15.5 m and 5 m high)

He was probably buried in tomb B10-B15-B19, in the necropolis of Umm el-Qaab, in Abydos

Testimonies of his time

Her name, Aha, is found on numerous objects discovered at Abydos and Saqqara.

On the ivory tablets he is seen celebrating possible commemorative festivities for the unification of the country. According to W. Helck, one of the plaques shows him killing a man, in a ritual sacrifice.

A wooden tablet, in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, from the royal necropolis of Abydos, has been translated as: "Beating the Nubians by Horus Aha. Birth of Jenty-Imentyu. Foundation of the fortress of Her-Peher-Ihu" (Vander)

• Registration in a container of the Z2 tomb in Zawyet el-Aryan (Dunham)
• Seal prints of the grave 3357 in Saqqara (Emery)
• Stone recipient with his name of the 3036 tomb in Saqqara (Emery)
• Recipient of calcite with his name Helwan (Saad)
• Seal prints in the first tomb preserved with "house of palace" in Naqada (de Morgan)
• Fragment of a rock crystal vessel (Peterrie Museum, UC11751A)

Degree

Name of Horus:

)ḥ) (Aha) The wrestler

Name of Nebty:

t ≤ (Teti) Teti

Name of Hor-Nub:

(unknown)

Name of Nesut-Bity:

t ≤ (Teti) Teti (L R Abidos n° 2)

Other hypotheses

Von Beckerath identified him with Menes, other scholars with Narmer, or both, and therefore considered him the first pharaoh and the founder of the First Dynasty. These hypotheses are now considered outdated.