Djer


Djer is considered the third pharaoh of the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt in current Egyptology. He lived around the mid 31st century BC and reigned for about 40 years. A mummified forearm of Djer or his wife was discovered by Egyptologist Flinders Petrie, but was discarded by Émile Brugsch.

Name

translates the hieroglyphs of "Djer" as "Defender of Horus." The King lists of the New Kingdom record the third pharaoh as ꞽttꞽ, which is sometimes also translated as Iteti. The earliest names given in these lists are almost certainly later tradition, as throne names, the one used in official annals, are only attested from the reign of Den, the fifth pharaoh. In fact, it's possible that ꞽttꞽ is the result of a later scribe mistaking one of Djer's honorific as an actual name.
In the Aegyptiaca of the Egyptian priest Manetho, the third pharaoh is recorded as Kenkenês. I. E. S. Edwards theorized that this name actually refers to an alternate spelling of Den's throne name, which in turn led to other corruptions in the king list.

Length of reign

According to the Roman historian Julius Africanus, Manetho wrote that the third pharaoh ruled 31 years. Modern reconstructions of the near-contemporary Palermo Stone ascribes Djer a reign of at least 40 years. According to Toby Wilkinson, the annals record "41 complete or partial years." Wilkinson also notes that years 1–10 of Djer's reign are preserved in register II of the Palermo Stone, while the middle years of this pharaoh's reign are recorded in register II of Cairo stone fragment C1. However, this is not the only proposed reconstruction. Erik Hornung argues that the Palermo Stone records 47 years for Djer, while Wolfgang Helck proposes 57 years.

Reign

Djer's reign was preceded by a regency controlled by Neithhotep, possibly his mother or grandmother.
The evidence for Djer's life and reign is:
  • Tomb in Umm el-Qa'ab, Abydos
  • Seal prints from graves 2185 and 3471 in Saqqara
  • Inscriptions in graves 3503, 3506 and 3035 in Saqqara
  • Seal impression and inscriptions from Helwan
  • Jar from Turah with the name of Djer
  • UC 16182 ivory tablet from Abydos, subsidiary tomb 612 of the enclosure of Djer
  • UC 16172 copper adze with the name of Djer
  • Inscription of his name at Wadi Halfa, Sudan
The inscriptions, on ivory and wood, are in a very early form of hieroglyphs, hindering complete translation, but a label at Saqqarah may depict the First Dynasty practice of human sacrifice. An ivory tablet from Abydos mentions that Djer visited Buto and Sais in the Nile Delta.

Year-by-year records

The Palermo stone lists the first nine years of Djer's reign, as well as the heights of the Nile for each.
  • Year of coronation : 4 months and 13 days, uniting Upper and Lower Egypt, circumambulating the wall. Six cubits.
  • second year: Following of Horus, desher-festival.
  • third year: Creation of two royal children. Four cubits, one palm.
  • fourth year: Following of Horus, censing a sacrificial victim. Five cubits, five palms, one finger.
  • fifth year: The planning of the building "Companion of the Gods"; Sokar-festival. Five cubits, five palms, one finger.
  • sixth year: Following of Horus, creating an image of Iat. Five cubits, one palm.
  • seventh year: Appearance of the king as nwst, creating an image of Min. Five cubits.
  • eighth year: Following of Horus, creating an image of Anubis. Six cubits, one palm.
  • ninth year: First occasion of the Djet festival. Four cubits, one span.
One of his regnal years on the Cairo Stone was named "Year of smiting the land of Setjet", which often is speculated to be Sinai or beyond.

Manetho

claimed that Athothes, who is sometimes identified as Djer, had written a treatise on anatomy that still existed in his own day, over two millennia later.

Family

Djer was a son of Hor-Aha and a grandson of Narmer. Djer fathered Merneith, wife of Djet and mother of Den. Women carrying titles later associated with queens such as Great One of the Hetes-Sceptre and She who Sees/Carries Horus were buried in subsidiary tombs near the tomb of Djer in Abydos or attested in Saqqara. These women are thought to be the wives of Djer and include:
  • Nakhtneith, buried in Abydos and known from a stela.
  • Herneith, possibly a wife of Djer. Buried in Saqqara.
  • Seshemetka, buried in Abydos next to the king. She was said to be a wife of Den in Dodson and Hilton.
  • Penebui, her name and title were found on an ivory label from Saqqara.
  • bsu, known from a label in Saqqara and several stone vessels.

    Tomb

Similarly to his father Hor-Aha, Djer was buried in Umm el-Qa'ab at Abydos. Djer's tomb is tomb O of Petrie. His tomb contains the remains of 318 retainers who were buried with him. At some point, Djer's tomb was devastated by fire, possibly as early as the Second Dynasty. During the Middle Kingdom, the tomb of Djer was revered as the tomb of Osiris, and the entire First Dynasty burial complex, which includes the tomb of Djer, was very important in the Egyptian religious tradition. An image of Osiris on a funerary bier was placed in the tomb, possibly by the Thirteenth dynasty pharaoh Djedkheperu.
Several objects were found in and around the tomb of Djer:
  • A stela of Djer, now in the Cairo Museum, probably comes from Abydos.
  • Labels mentioning the name of a palace and the name of Meritneith.
  • Fragments of two vases inscribed with the name of Queen Neithhotep.
  • Bracelets of a Queen were found in the wall of the tomb.
In the subsidiary tombs, excavators found objects including stelae representing several individuals, ivory objects inscribed with the name of Neithhotep, and various ivory tablets.
Manetho indicates that the First Dynasty ruled from Memphis – and indeed Herneith, one of Djer's wives, was buried nearby at Saqqara.