Narmer |
Pharaoh Aha is by custom among archaeologists the pharaoh that established the first dynasty and a long reign and repositories and other remains attested to him have been got all over Egypt. If he was the first king (by historian Manetho called Menes) he was supposed to have been in office for 62 years. He was an active ruler put forward the god Ptah from his new capital Memphis who patron of creation and handicraft. This township (or more likely a shrine within it) originally had the name "Hiku-Ptah" later to be corrupt by foreigners to the name "Egypt". All forms of craftsmanship and art was supported during his rule, and he was a pacifier between the two fractions in the country after the Upper (southern) part's taking over of the Lower (northern). Manetho says that during this time the Egyptian people learned how to live in a civilized manner, and worship the gods in a unique way. The first great mastaba tomb at Sakkara (the royal graveyard of Memphis) is from Aha's reign (Nr 3357, ~ 42 x 15 m), and was the first ever to have a boat buried beside. This custom with maritime association was to continue for thousands of years.
At the same place great mastabas were established for persons believed to have been high officials and likely close relations to the king or his queen. Very few remains (if any) from king Aha are found out Egypt and just a single find of foreign pottery is base from his reign. A big change is showed in his tomb complex at Abydos, so different from his predecessors' and presumed father Narmer's. The main buildings are three chambers with very thick walls placed in a row. Like the other doing tombs they were lined inside with wood and roofed with wooden beams. Completing the row were 34 minor tombs for retainers who had observed their master into the next world. I they were sacrificed or buried over after their natural death, is not known. This strongly points that Aha had a supreme and probably divine power, a inheritance that should become the distinctive mark for the Egyptian state in the time to come. The first chamber was the burying place of the king himself and there was found written text of a cargo freight to the Delta with offering goods to a shrine, all carved in to a tiny little label of wood. The second chamber is thought to belong to his queen named Bernerib (meaning "Sweet of Hearts"). Her name was found in some side burials credibly belonging to her servants. This means that the complex was great over time and investigations from the 1990s confirms that many royal tombs at Abydos was altered several times. Aha is a strong prospect to be the legendary king Menes - the unifier and first king of Egypt. Another strong candidate is his supposed father Narmer, who lacks monuments from the capital Memphis but is recorded as the founder by the Egyptians.