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Titulary
Most egyptologists believe that Semerkhet ruled only for eight and a half years, since they have discovered very little about him except a large stela with his name carved on it., and the documentation of his entire reign on the Cairo stone showing each festival and ceremony. There is some evidence that Semerkhet may have usurped the throne (although if it was his father, Anedjib, I'm not sure how that works) since he reused many of the same inscriptions and simply erased the previous name and entered his own. However, he was listed in the king lists, so there is some legitimacy for his reign. His tomb shows more changes from his predecessors, too -- the retainers toms are attached directly to the main burial chamber, which some have interpreted to mean that the subsidiary burials were made at the same time as the king was buried, implying sacrifices. The whole complex was built as a single structure. With the earlier burials, the subsidiary graves were laid out in ranks around the kings tomb, and it was assumed that they were buried afterwards. Notably, Semerkhet is the first king without a corresponding mastaba-tomb in Saqqara from his reign (or at least, they haven't been found yet). Most likely, his ministers and officials outlived him and went on to serve later kings. |
pharaohsMenes monumentsTomb U, Abydos |
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