Qa'a (2889—2859)

Cartouche, and Restored tomb stele of King Qa'a

Most scholars believe that Qa'a was the last king of the 1st dynasty.  We may also see his name as Kaa, or different other variations. Though Egyptologists often disagree on dating, our current best guess is that he lived from about 3100 to 2890 BC. While this information on Qa'a is highly limited, until Dreyer and Kaiser analysis their data and provide us with more information, low else is knew of this early Egyptian Pharaoh..  He was probably buried in Tomb Q at Abydos, where two regular royal funerary stelae bearing his name were found on the east side of the tomb.  This tomb has been excavated on a number of several occations, first by Emile Amelineau in the 1890s, then Flinders Petrie and in 1991, by Gunther Dreyer and Werner Kaiser. The work done by this later German team revealed many little artifacts and architectural details that had been overlooked by earlier digs. These include thirty inscribed labels that describe the delivery of oil, probably made from berries or tree resins, and probably from the Syria-Palestine area.

Seal impressions and artifacts have also been discovered in Tomb Q with the name of Hetepsekhemwy, the first pharaoh of the second dynasty.  This suggests that Hetepsekhemwy completed Tomb Q, and that there was no real break between the first and 2nd dynasties of Egypt. The change in dynasties from the 1st to the second was originally reported by Manetho without explanation. We also know of four tombs in Sakkara that date to this kings reign.  The smaller part of two wooden statues were base in one of these tombs in a set of rooms on the north side.  Some scholars believe this may have been an offering chapel, and that the mortuary temple in pyramid complexes may have got from this structure. Egyptologists have also discovered the stelae of two of Qa'a's officials, Merka and Sabef.  These stelae have more complex inscriptions then earlier hieroglyphics, and may have signaled in increasing edification in the use of this writing.

Burial position of King Qa'a:

His tomb in abydos (tomb q) where two funerary stele mark his tomb, which also has notes from Hetepsekhemwy, his successor. The width of the funerary chamber about (10 x 5 m).

Semerkhet (2897—2889)

Semerkhet was the sixth pharaoh of the first Dynasty. He was the son of pharaoh Adjib and Queen Betrest, and for obscure reasons, only ruled for eight years. Egyptologists discovered very little, save for a black stela with Semerkhet's name carved on it. King Semerkhet was the fifth regent in the first dynasty, and he had he shortest time on the throne - eight and a half years. We know this for a fact because his full reign is documented on the Cairo Stone in the the Egyptian Museum. Regrettably the submissions from each year are only about ceremonies of different kinds and do not record any historical events.

Theories about his authenticity to kingship suggesting that he was an usurper has been put modern by scholars because he had the habit of recycling his predecessor's goods. At the graveyard at Abydos objects from Anedjib's time (and tomb?) was base in Semerkhet's where he had erased the original name and replaced it with his own. In a seal from his successor his name is wrote in the line with the other kings, telling that he was established as a king at least by his follower, who was his son (according to Manetho). A year label from Semerkhet reign was found in his follower's tomb at the re-excavation in the mid 1990s made by the German Institute of Archaeology in Cairo (DAIK). His tomb in Abydos points a new feature: retainers' tombs attached directly to the thick walls of his own, and a door entry rather then a staircase leading to the grave chamber. This means that the whole construction was covered by the same superstructure, indicating that the retainers were buried at the same time, and thus probably sacrificed to the honor of their master.

King Semerkhet's Burial place:

Pharaoh Semerkhet's tomb in abydos. It was almost 29 x 31 meters, brick-lined burial chamber. Its Walls 1.5-1.8 m thick. Single chambered tomb, with 68 alternative burials.

Anendjib (2949—2897)

Cartouche name of Merbiape

Anedjib was the fifth king during the first dynasty. He kept Memphis as his capitol city throughout his 14 years of rule. Anedjib's crown carried the symbols of both Upper and Lower Egypt, a representation of the unification of the country associate his power. Historians, however, doubt that Anedjib really controlled the northern, due to the fact that the northern Nomes rebelled against him always throughout his reign. His wife, Queen Betrest, was the mother of King Semerkhet, who was his successor. The queen provided Anedjib with legitimacy and power since she was a related from the Memphite royal line. Anedjib is a swayer that not so often is known about. He was also called Enezib and Merbiapen and governed from Memphis. According to Manetho (Af.) who called him Miebidos, his reign was 26 years. He may have come to power by marriage to queen Betrest of the Memphite royal family and in that case he was not son of pharaoh Den. A struggle between the Lower Egyptian classes and the south seems to have been temporary solved by Anedjib whose name is the first of all kings in the Sakkara list. Maybe he was the first king not to be directly related to the Thinis line of pharaohs. However the theory that he was an supplanter (or his successor was) and wasn't established by all his generation, has some means, because his memorials were deliberately violated by his immediate follower on the throne. His name in a serek has been deleted and the new king's put there instead in many stone vessels found at Sakkara.

Likewise there his name has only been found in two other places in Egypt: Abydos and Helwan, and out its borders possibly at En Besor in southern Palestine. At Sakkara a great mastaba, plausibly for his prime minister, revealed a new architectural building within when it was dug out in the 1950s. In contrast his own tomb in Abydos was a crude small construction and so were the rows of 64 satellite tombs. This high number tells that though is rule seems to have been a step backwards for the country as a whole (internal struggle?) the pharaoh's power over the commoners was unbroken.

King Anendjib's Burial place:

His tomb in abydos (tomb x), very small with burial chamber of wood. 64 alternative burials. Its Walls about 1.3 –1.6 meters. It was take one of the lowest Egyptian royal tombs.