Unise

Origin, mention in sources, and duration of board

The origin of Unis is unknown; it’s not even clear if he was royal blood. The Manetho calls him Onnos ^[1] . This name on the monuments of that time reads as Unis. His name was not preserved in the Karnak royal list , but it is present in three other royal lists - the Abydos list of pharaohs , where he occupies the 33rd position, the Sakkar list (32nd entry) and the Turin papyrus (III column, 25th row). In all these lists, the pharaoh is listed as Unis.

The Manetho speaks of the 33 years of the reign of this pharaoh, the list of Turin assigns him 30 years. However, it should be noted that at present this period is considered to be overstated. The monuments left over from the reign of Unas are rather scarce and do not correspond to such a long reign. Excavations in Abusir , the royal necropolis of the V dynasty, gave only four dated inscriptions, precisely related to the rule of Unas. They mention the third, fourth, sixth and eighth times of the calculation of livestock, which were carried out with the aim of collecting taxes. The highest date preserved from the reign of Unas is the 8th time of livestock counting. Even if such calculations were carried out once every two years, this gives only the 16th year of the reign of the pharaoh (although it should be noted that these calculations were sometimes carried out once a year). Excavations of the tomb of Nikau-Isesi also testify in favor of a shorter reign. This official, who began his career during the reign of Jedkar Isesi , survived Unas and died in the reign of the successor of the last pharaoh Aunt , which suggests a fairly significant Nikau-Isesi age at the time of death if Unas reigned for 30 or even more years. However, an examination of his mummy showed that at the time of his death, he was no more than 45 years old.

Names of the Pharaoh

Having ascended the throne, the pharaoh did not accept the throne name , but continued to use his personal name Unis, accompanied by the title Sa-Ra, “Son of the solar god Ra, ” and imprisoned in a single cartouche . The choral name of Unas was Uaj-taui, "Blooming in Both Lands (that is, in Lower and Upper Egypt ) . " As a golden name, he was called simply Wajj, "Blooming" ^[2] .

The wives of Unas were Queen Nebet and Chenu. The name of his eldest son was not preserved, his second son, Unisanh, died, probably, even before the death of his father. His daughters were Hemetre, Hemi, Sescheschet Idut, Hentkau II and Iput I - the future wife of Pharaoh Aunt II, as well as, possibly, Neferetkaus and Neferut.

Foreign and domestic policy

Unis sought to strengthen Egyptian influence on the southern borders of the country. In the area of ​​the first rapids of the Nile , on the island of Elephantine , a rock inscription was discovered with the name of this pharaoh. The inscription reads: “Khor Uj-taui, king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Unis, the lord of foreign countries, may he live and rule forever, beloved by the sacred rams of Khnum , who gave him life . ” A campaign against the Shasu tribe is also mentioned, it is possible that Unis raided the Bedouins of Palestine or the surrounding areas of Syria . During excavations near his pyramid, reliefs were found depicting battles with Bedouins, boats with captured Asians, mining of stone and gold, as well as exhausted, starving Egyptians, which may indicate a famine that erupted during the reign of Unis in Egypt.

Among other sources during the reign of Unis, the most interesting, perhaps, is an alabaster vessel with his name found in the ruins of the temple in Byblos - a large seaport on the Syrian coast. This proves that the pharaoh then had great respect for Syria, since the administration of a distant non-Egyptian temple kept an object with his name in the treasury. Now this vase is in the National Museum of Beirut . Another alabaster vase of unknown origin is in the National Archaeological Museum of Florence . The inscription on the vase is inscribed: “The Waj Taui Khor, who lives forever, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, the son of Ra, Unis, who lives forever . ” Also in the Louvre Museum is stored a spherical alabaster vase, depicting a falcon, spread its wings. The vase is signed by the name of Unis enclosed in a cartouche and accompanied by the sign of ankh . An ointment jar with the name Unis in the cartouche and his choral name is kept at the Brooklyn Museum . A fragment of the neck of a vase made of calcite, with an inscription in blue hieroglyphs containing two cartouches of Unis, is in the Pitri Museum ^[4] . Several scarabs of that period are also known.

Under Unis, royal power was clearly weakened. In the last years of the reign of Unis in Egypt, the influence of the rulers of the Nomes increased. Apparently, it was they who put an end to his reign. Of all the pyramids of the kings of his V dynasty - the smallest.

Unis Pyramid

Unis ordered the construction of a pyramid in Saqqara , called Nefer-sut-Unis - "Wonderful places [resting] of Unis." This small pyramid (67 × 67 m, and a height of 48 m) is located just behind the southwestern corner of the fence surrounding the Djoser memorial complex. Today the Unis pyramid is severely destroyed - the top is rounded, the walls are weathered, the base is littered with fallen blocks, and in height it does not reach even half the original height. Despite the severe destruction of the pyramid, its interior is in good condition and accessible for inspection.

On the eastern side adjoins the ruins of the memorial temple with a sanctuary and more than 20 rooms. The courtyard of this temple was once bordered by 16 columns with palm-shaped capitals. A beautifully reconstructed paved road leads from the remains of the courtyard to the lower temple. Once this road had a length of 670 meters, a width of 6.7 meters, due to uneven terrain, it deviated twice from the straight line, was fenced by walls blocked by stone blocks at a height of 3.2 meters. On the inside, these walls were decorated with reliefs with scenes of battles and hunting, with everyday sketches, paintings of agricultural work, with the image of the sculptor's workshop. A thin section in the ceiling of this road allowed the light to illuminate its walls and inspect these reliefs. From the enclosure of this pyramid only insignificant remains have been preserved. In its southeast corner, at the base of 12 × 12 meters, there was a cult pyramid. To the north of this wall, the king ordered the mastaba to be built for his wives, Henut and Nebet, for their daughter Go and for several dignitaries; Their walls are adorned with magnificent multi-color reliefs.

The entrance to the pyramid is located on the north side. The corridor begins in the middle of a stone-paved area, its length is more than 30 meters; first, it goes under a slight slope down, then, after a slight expansion, horizontally and behind three grooves for blocks blocking the passage, it leads visitors into the square front chamber. From here, a small passage leads to another chamber, where there is a black basalt sarcophagus . The area of ​​the burial chamber is 7 × 3 m, the ceiling height is 6 m. On the other side of the anterior chamber there are three more rooms. In one of them, many small wooden tools and implements were found. The pyramid was robbed in antiquity. Thieves opened the sarcophagus and tore the mummy . In the burial chamber were found the right hand, pieces of the skull and several bones that could belong to Unis. The walls of the front and burial chambers are covered from top to bottom by endless columns of inscriptions made by the most beautiful blue-green hieroglyphs, and the gable ceiling is dotted with blue-green stars. The inscriptions on the walls of the two main chambers demonstrate the longest and most amazing ritual in honor of the deceased. They are very important because they represent the oldest version of the so-called “ Pyramid Texts ”. ^{[5] [6]}

Pyramid Texts

Prior to Unis, it was not considered necessary to perpetuate funeral spells inside the pyramid; probably the former kings, unlike Unis, still relied heavily on the oral proclamation of these spells as priests in future years. Unise, for the first time, commanded to carve inside the pyramid a whole set of spells designed to protect and bless the king in the next world. These texts include a huge number of magical means by which the king’s soul can defend itself and overcome all the obstacles that may be encountered on its way to heaven. Many passages probably date back to ancient times and contain references to the festivities of cannibals and fetishes of forgotten centuries of primitiveness. The king in them acts as a great hunter, chasing and eating heavenly spirits and terrifying the inhabitants of the land of shadows.

The texts again and again assure that the king was not dead:

“The king did not die, he became the one who rises [like the morning sun] on the horizon. He rests from life [like the setting sun] in the west, but he will rise again in the east. Oh king, you have not gone dead, you have gone alive! Did you say that he will die? No, he will not die. This king lives forever. He escaped the day of his death. Oh tall among the eternal stars! You will never perish. ”

Similar inscriptions were found in the pyramids of the successors of Unis ^[7] .

End of the Dynasty

Both at the Manetho and in the Turin papyrus, Unis closes a series of monarchs of the 5th dynasty. But the Turin list gives, despite the destruction in which it is located, an even more important indication. In it, Unas closes not only the V dynasty, but as if closes the whole series of kings starting from Menes , and is separated from the subsequent pharaohs by red paint. The criterion for such units in the Turin list has always been a change in the place of origin of the pharaohs.

However, a number of factors indicate a continuous line between the 5th and 6th dynasties : Kagemni , the vizier of the successor of Unis Teti, began his career under Jedkar and Unis. Aunt Iput's wife is supposed to have been Unis's daughter. On the pink granite gate in the memorial temple of Unis there is an inscription named after Aunt indicating that part of the temple was completed after the death of Unis by his successor. From all of the above, it seems that there was no conscious gap between the two dynasties, and perhaps this was more an official than an actual act. In fact, the sources that came from the reign of Unis have much more in common with the sources of the VI dynasty than with the remnants of V. The reign of the Heliopolian priests with the reign of Unis began to decline. The custom of covering the interior of the pharaoh’s pyramid with long religious texts originated in the times of Unis and continued to exist during the VI dynasty. In fact, if we talk about religious rites, then the V dynasty ended with the death of Jedkar Isesi ^[8] .

• Unis pyramid texts (translation and comments)
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