Qa'a in Tour Egypt
QA'A, THE LAST KING OF THE FIRST DYNASTY, OR WAS HE?
BY JIMMY DUNN
Most scholars believe that Qa'a was the last king of the 1st
dynasty. We may also see his name as Kaa, or several 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, little else is known of this early
Egyptian Pharaoh.. He was probably buried in Tomb Q at
Abydos, where two typical royal funerary stelae bearing his
name were found on the east side of the tomb. This tomb has
been excavated on a number of different 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 small artifacts and
architectural details that had been overlooked by earlier
excavations. 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 second dynasties of Egypt. The change in
dynasties from the first to the second was originally
reported by Manetho without explanation.
We also know of four tombs in Saqqara that date to this
kings reign. The lower part of two wooden statues were
found 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 evolved 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 sophistication in the use of
this writing.
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