Seth-Peribsen - Reign

Reign

Since archaeological records seem to support the view that the Egyptian state was divided during the reign of king Peribsen, it is the subject of debate by Egyptologists and historians as to why his predecessor Nynetjer decided to split the state.

Egyptologists such as Wolfgang Helck, Nicolas Grimal, Hermann Alexander Schlögl and Francesco Tiradritti believe that king Nynetjer, the third ruler of 2nd dynasty and a predecessor of Peribsen, left a realm that was suffering from an overly complex state administration and that Nynetjer decided to split Egypt to leave it to his two sons (or, at least, two chosen successors) who would rule two separate kingdoms, in the hope that the two rulers could better administer the states. Russian egyptologist Dimitri B. Proussakov points to the notations at the famous Palermo stone concerning the year events of king Nynetjer. From the 12th year event onward, the regular event "The king of Upper- and Lower Egypt appears" is now suddenly called "The king of Lower Egypt appears". Proussakov sees this as a strong indication that Nynetjer's power over egypt had started to shrink. Egyptologists compare the situation to that of king Qa'a, one of the last rulers of the 1st dynasty. When Qa'a died, some obscure rulers appeared and struggled for the throne of Egypt. The struggles peaked in the plundering of the royal cemetery of Abydos, whereupon the cemetery was abandoned and Saqqara became the new burial site for kings. The throne fightings were ended by king Hotepsekhemwy, the founder of the 2nd dynasty.

In contrast, Egyptologists such as Barbara Bell believe that a economic catastrophe such as a famine or a long lasting drought affected Egypt. Therefore, to better address the problem of feeding the Egyptian population, Nynetjer split the realm into two and his successors founded two independent realms, until the famine came to an end. Bell points to the inscriptions of the Palermo stone, where, in her opinion, the records of the annual Nile floods show constantly low levels during this period. Bell´s theory is refuted today by Egyptologists such as Stephan Seidlmayer, who corrected Bell´s calculations. Seidlmayer has shown that the annual Nile floods were at usual levels at Nynetjer´s time up to the period of the Old Kingdom. Bell had overlooked that the heights of the Nile floods in the Palermo stone inscription only takes into account the measurements of the nilometers around Memphis, but not elsewhere along the river. Any long-lasting drought can therefore be excluded.

Whatever the exact reason for the division of Egypt may have been, there is strong archaeological evidence that Peribsen ruled only in Upper Egypt. His realm extended to the Isle of Elephantine, where he founded a new administrative centre called "The white house of treasury". His new royal residence, called the "protection of Nubty", was founded near Kom Ombo ("nubty" was the Ancient Egyptian name of Naqada). Because Peribsen only ruled Upper Egypt, the administrative titles of scribes, seal-bearers and overseers had to be adjusted to the new political situation. For example, titles like "sealer of the king" were changed into "sealer of the king of Upper Egypt". The administration system from Peribsen and Sekhemib shows a clear and well identified hierarchy; an example: Treasury house → pension office → property → vineyards → private vineyard. King Khasekhemwy, the last ruler of 2nd dynasty, was able to re-unify the state administration of Egypt and therefore unite the whole of Ancient Egypt. He brought the two treasury houses of Egypt under the control of the "House of the King", bringing them into a new, single administration centre.

Beside the new administrative center, Peribsen founded several cities of economic importance. Their names are mentioned on numerous clay seals alongside Peribsen's serekh, often preceded by the mention "visit of the king at...". Those cities were Afnut ("city of the headdress-makers"), Nebj ("protector's city"), Abet-desheret ("city of the red granite jars") and Huj-setjet ("city of the Asians"). Inscriptions on stone vessels also mention a "ini-setjet" ("tribute of the people of Sethroë"), which might indicate that Peribsen founded a cult centre for the deity Seth in the Delta. This would however assume that Peribsen ruled over the whole of Egypt, or, at least, that he was accepted as king across all of Egypt during his lifetime.

One official from Peribsen´s reign is known to Egyptologists by his stela: Nefer-Setekh ("Seth is beautiful"). The inscription on his stele is evaluated as an important witness of the popularity of the deity Seth and the king during the 2nd dynasty. Nefer-Setekh was "wab-priest of the king".

In the tomb of Peribsen at Abydos clay seals were found which show the first complete sentence in Egyptian history. The inscription says: "The golden one/He of Ombos hath unified/handed over the two realms for/to his son, the king of Lower and Upper Egypt, Peribsen". The title "The golden one", also read as ″He of Ombos″, is considered by Egyptologists to be a religious form of address to the deity Seth.