Dynasty "0"

DYNASTY '0': c.3100 BC

This dynasty is arguably more a part the pre-dynastic, and instead of being an individual family is rather more akin to a conglomerate of dynasties collectively titled as Dynasty '0' by some Egyptologist to indicate their existence prior to unification. Quite understandably given how ancient Egypt is, this period of Egyptian history is surrounded by a degree of uncertainty with regards to the Pharaohnic line. Amongst the most prominent names seen are Tiu, Thesh, Hseiku and Wazner of Lower Egypt, Ro of Upper Egypt, and the names of Nu-Hor and Hat-Hor.

If we were to accept Egyptian mythology as being totally accurate, then this period would have been the time in which the mythical god-kings as described the Turin Kings List. The order of these god-kings is described as Geb, Ausar, Setekh, Hor, Djehuty, Maa't, Hor, Hor. Following this is listed Meni - the mythical Menes of Herodotus that unified Egypt.

Sekhen
Unsurprisingly, very little is known of Sekhen. He is only known from a few fragmentary serekhs (a serekh being the older way of recording the Pharaohic name, predating the more familiar cartouche. It's appearance is similar to that of a palace, above which is the name crowned with a Horus falcon) tentatively attributed to him. It is thought, however, that he was the first to be buried in the royal cemetary at Abydos in a now lost mastaba tomb.
Iri-Hor
Unlike his predecessors Iri-Hor is known from a number of artifacts (most commonly tall, narrow jars), however in no instance does his name appear within a serekh...and that he was a pharaoh is based solely on the fact that his relatively large tomb was in the royal cemetery at Abydos. Tomb B1/2, as it is known, also contained items bearing the names of his successors Ka and Narmer. This suggests that his tomb was open just a few short years after his internment, most likely for ritual offerings to be added.
Ka
Ka is also the name of the soul in Egyptian, so it is interesting that the pharaoh should have such a name and that Egyptologists should be able to decide that his items were not ritual. His serekh, interestingly, does not feature the regular falcon trademark. He was buried in tomb B7/9 at Abydos, but this tomb is sadly very badly damaged so little remains of his internment.
Meshnun
"King Crocodile" (or Meshnun to use the approximate Egyptian vernacular) is known only from a few seal impressions bearing his motif. It is unsure even if this was his name. It is theorised though that he was in some way connected to the 6th nome, which had a crocdile as its standard.
Serket
Serket, or Scorpion if you prefer the English, is so named due to the assumed proto-hieroglyph next to the carving of him on the so-called Scorpion Macehead. Little is known about Serket, but what is clear from the macehead is that he was the ruler of only Upper Egypt - since he is shown wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt. Recently an article in the NY Times has theorised that Scorpion waged a war against Naqada, the site of the earliest Egyptian culture, somewhere around 3250BC. If this were the case, then Scorpion would have in part been responsible for starting a chain of events that would eventually lead to the unification of Egypt under a single Pharaoh.
Narmer
Narmer is often assumed to be Menes of the legends, partially due to the fact that the famous Narmer Palette shows Narmer as wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt as the dominant figure, and as wearing the red crown of Lower Egypt as a minor figure on the fore. The fact that he is shown as the dominant figure wearing the white crown would seem to indicate that he originally hailed from Upper Egypt. Narmer is also shown on the Narmer Macehead wearing the crown of Lower Egypt. However, there is also speculation that it was rather Narmer's son, Hor-Aha, that was the mythical Menes...and the whole situation is clouded by question and conjecture. The remnants of a Mastaba tomb (known as tomb B17/18) exist at Um-el-Qa'b, which has been suggested as Narmer's.

Last Updated: 03 July 2007