Why the ancient chroniclers hid the name of the King of Scorpio and other secrets of one of the first pharaohs of Egypt

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Before the release of the adventure historical action-packed thriller "The Mummy Returns" in 2001, only Egyptologists and fans of William Golding's books knew about the existence of such a historical character as the King of Scorpio. At the same time, the personality of this pharaoh was presented in such a way that he looked more like some kind of fictional mystical creature, rather than a real ruler of the Egyptian state. Nevertheless, the Scorpio King actually existed. Moreover, in Egyptian history there were as many as two pharaohs with the same name: the first of them ruled Upper Egypt more than 5 thousand years ago. And the second was his great-grandson.

Finding the tomb of the Scorpion King

The fact that in the history of Egypt there was a pharaoh named Scorpio, Egyptologists learned at the end of the 19th century. Then, during archaeological excavations in Hierakonpolis, a very ancient tomb was discovered. Despite the fact that, like most of the Egyptian tombs, this one was also plundered, scientists still found a number of objects that were quite valuable from an archaeological point of view: jewelry, ceramics, a fragment of the ruler's mace. Most of these finds bore the name "Scorpion".

Thus, a new ruler, Scorpio, was included in the pantheon of Egyptian pharaohs. And for a whole century, he single-handedly bore the name of a poisonous arthropod inhabitant of the desert. Until 1988, when Egyptologists had to slightly correct the list of the rulers of Egypt.

How the first Scorpio King became the second

In the second half of the 20th century, archaeological expeditions that were engaged in excavations in Tarkhan and Abydos quite often found various ivory objects with drawings of scorpions. At the same time, the images unambiguously indicated a certain “royalty” of these poisonous arthropods. And most importantly, all the finds date back to earlier years than the reign of Pharaoh Scorpio.

This circumstance led to fair reflections: how could the Egyptians remember Pharaoh more than a century before his reign? Or maybe Ancient Egypt was ruled by a whole dynasty of Scorpions? The answer to all these questions was provided by an archaeological find in Um el-Kaaba, near Abydos.

During excavations, the German Egyptologist Günter Dreyer came across a very ancient tomb with earrings - the heraldic symbols of the first of the Scorpions. In the plundered tomb, they also found a symbol of royal power - a rod. And it also had a picture of a scorpion. All these items were confirmation that archaeologists had found the tomb of one of the first rulers of the Egyptian kingdom - Pharaoh Scorpio I.

Why the ancient Egyptian chroniclers hid the existence of the first Scorpio

Over the millennia of the existence of the state in the Nile Delta, the ancient Egyptians did not bother to thoroughly organize their history. For the first time to do such a titanic scientific work, the priest Manetho from Heliopolis undertook in the III century BC. NS. It was he who created for the last pharaohs from the Ptolemaic dynasty the legendary work "Egypt", and also organized the so-called "lists of kings".

In these lists, the first rulers of Egypt, Manetho, as befits an Egyptian priest, designated the gods - Hebe, Maat, Osiris, Ptah, Ra, Set, Thoth, Horus and Shu. Ordinary mortals followed immediately. The first of which was the pharaoh Menes, and the last were the pharaohs of the 30th dynasty (who ruled before the Ptolemies). However, in this "royal list" there was no mention of either Scorpio or other kings of ancient Egypt. In subsequent centuries, ancient historians, including Josephus, repeated in their writings Manetho's “gap” in the list of pharaohs.

All this confusion lasted until the Egyptologists sat down thoroughly to study the history of the rulers of Egypt. And they did not find that between the gods and the real Egyptian pharaoh Menes, in fact, there was a whole galaxy of previously unknown kings. In order to somehow streamline this moment, historians called all the rulers of this era “the pharaohs of pre-dynastic Egypt”. Or the kings of the "00" dynasty.

It was among these pharaohs that both Scorpions were who ruled Egypt in the 4th millennium BC. NS. More than 100 years apart. Thus, no one knew about the existence of Pharaoh Scorpio I for several thousand years. Despite the fact that this ruler in one is truly the First Pharaoh in the history of Egypt.

What did the Scorpio pharaohs do for Egypt?

Ancient images found in the tomb of Scorpio indicate that in those days the pharaoh was revered as a god on Earth. One of them depicts a king walking with a hoe in front of plowed soil. In ancient Egypt, all the main agricultural work: cultivation of the land, sowing and harvesting, began with the blessing of the pharaohs. And even with their direct participation.

But another find in the tomb of Scorpio I made him truly the First Pharaoh of the Egyptian state. In the tomb, archaeologists found vessels with wine and caskets, in which food was collected from all regions controlled by Egypt at that time. It was a tribute to the pharaoh from his vassals, but it was not one of the greatest discoveries in Egyptology.

On each jug, on each scroll or casket, a tag was attached with a hieroglyph - the name of the “subject” from where this item was delivered. No Egyptologist has ever found anything like it in any archaeological find dating back to earlier years. This could mean only one thing - the first writing in Egypt arose and began to be widely used precisely during the reign of Scorpio.

However, the descendant of his great-grandfather, Scorpio II, can be considered an equally great and odious figure in the galaxy of ancient rulers of Egypt. Most researchers, relying on archaeological finds, are confident that it was during the reign of the Second of the Scorpions that the Upper and Lower Egyptian kingdoms were united into a single state. And, therefore, it is from the time of the reign of Scorpio II that the era of the Great Egyptian Kingdom can be counted.

The image of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Scorpio in modern pop art

Appearing for the first time before the modern public in the film "The Mummy Returns", the King Scorpio turned out to be such a bright and colorful figure from the directors that he was later made the main character of the sequels of the movie story about the ancient Egyptian pharaoh.

And if you look at it, then the Hollywood scriptwriters (although they thoroughly fantasized about the image of the pharaoh) remained right in one thing - the King of Scorpio, more precisely, both of the pharaoh of Scorpio, were iconic personalities of their eras. Changing each in its own time the history of Ancient Egypt.