Merenra I

Duration of the reign of Pharaoh

The Turin papyrus gives the reign of Merenra as much as 44 years, which is hardly reliable. The attribution of so many years to him by the Turin list was probably due to the incorrect restoration of the document or even the mistake of ancient scribes who confused the names of Merenra and Piopi I , whose throne name was Merira. It should also be taken into account that the list in the place where the name Merenra should appear is poorly preserved and practically unreadable, only years of reign can be made out, and even then with difficulty. The conclusion that the years relate specifically to the pharaoh Merenra I is done only on the basis of the location of the pharaoh Merenra in the order of the pharaohs of the VI dynasty, known from the Abydos and Sakkar lists .

Some researchers, however, see there not only 44 years, but only 14, but such a number of years is probably too large for this pharaoh, unless you take into account that for some time he could be co-ruler of his father. At present, it is generally accepted that the sole rule of Merenra I could hardly have been more than 5-7 years. In favor of this period, an established tradition indirectly attests to his brother Piopi II inheriting the throne at the age of 6. The Manetho also reports that this pharaoh, whom he calls Metusufis, ruled for 7 years. ^[one]

Merenre I had a daughter, Iput II, but the name of the mother of this child is not known.

Names of the Pharaoh

The personal name of this pharaoh was Nemtiyasaf , “ Nemti is his defense”, which Manetho gives in the form of Metusuf (is). Having ascended the throne, he adopted the throne name of Merenra , “Beloved by the solar god Ra, ” to which was added the already familiar title “Son of the solar god”. As the Choir's name and Nebti's name, his name was Ankh-hau , "Living in his ascension." ^[2] Merenra did not use it at all and, apparently, did not allow his personal name Nemtijssaf to be used, which he used with his throne name Merenra only in his pyramid, in texts not intended for the prying eyes. Meanwhile, Manetho knew his personal name, from whom he was named Metusufis.

Continued Conquest of Nubia

Merenra continued his southward movement, which began under his father’s reign, incorporating new lands in Northern Nubia , from where gold , ostrich feathers, panther skins, ivory and ebony came to Egypt. To this end, the warlord Una was appointed "Chief of the South . " The Elephant princes were entrusted with the defense of Egypt from the restless tribes of Northern Nubia. The head of the family that ruled in Elephantine bore the title "Guardian of the Gates of the South . " In their hands, this area became so safe that when Merenra sent Una to granite quarries in the Ibhat region (above the second thresholds ) to get a sarcophagus and a beautiful cladding for his pyramid , the nobleman could fulfill this order with only one military vessel - an event before this is unprecedented. Then Merenra instructed Una to establish continuous water communication with granite quarries, bypassing the first rapids, which he carried out through five channels. ^[3]

After the deceased Una, “nominee of the South” was appointed nomarch of Elephantine Khufkhor . In his tomb in the rocks near Siena ( Aswan ), Khufhor carved a report on how Merenra sent him three times at the head of the expedition to distant Iam (lying, apparently, near the third thresholds). The third expedition was the most successful: the leader of Jam showed complete obedience. On the way back, Khufkhor received a tribute from the leaders of Irerechet, Sechu and Wauat (Northern Nubia). ^[four]

Northern Nubia was already so pacified in this era that the pharaoh Merenra could personally come to the southern border of Egypt and accept an expression of fidelity from the leaders of the tribes of the Majai, Wahuat and Iertus. This major political event is indicated by the relief and two inscriptions carved on a rock near the first threshold on the east bank of the Nile, against the island of el-Hesse. Pharaoh is depicted leaning on a staff and receiving these rulers. The first inscription reads: “King of Upper and Lower Egypt Merenra, beloved by Khnum , the lord of the threshold. "The arrival of the king himself, standing behind a mountainous country, while the leaders of the majaev, yertet and wahuat express [his] humility and give great praise . " The second inscription says: "The arrival of the king himself, the appearance behind the hills of the desert, so that he can see [everything] what is among these hills." The date is also indicated - “year 5, the second month of the Shemu season, day 28.” ^[five]

Pyramid

Merenra built his pyramid in Saqqara , 450 meters southwest of the pyramid of his father, Piopi I. The pyramid, called HaNofer Merenra (that is, “Merenra shines and is beautiful” / “Merenra is also merciful”), had a base of 78.75 × 78.75 m and a height of 52.5 meters, which by that time had become standard sizes.

The underground chambers of the Merenra pyramid have a similar arrangement with the internal chambers of the monument to his father. The entrance is at ground level in the center of the north side of the pyramid, where the corner stones of the entrance chapel were found. A gentle passage leads into a small lobby and a horizontal corridor blocked by three granite lowering slabs. In ancient times, robbers entered the pyramid, tunneling around stone slabs. Further, the corridor leads to the antechamber, located in the center of the pyramid, on the eastern side of which there was a chamber with statues in niches - Serdab , and on the west - a vaulted burial chamber. The ceiling of the burial chamber was decorated with white stars on a black background. The western wall had a colored relief with a motif of reed huts, and many fragments of the Pyramid Texts were found among the debris, which, according to Egyptologists, are not much different from the texts of the Pyramid I.

The black granite sarcophagus of Merenra - the very one called the "Casket of the Living", which Una brought from the Ibhat quarry, as described in her biographical inscription - was discovered near the western wall of the burial chamber. It is in good condition with the lid intact, pushed to the side. The canopy niche was mounted on the floor. ^[6]

Buildings around the pyramid

Now the pyramid is so destroyed that the plan of the memorial temple, paved ascending road and the lower temple of the valley is unknown. John Perring studied the Merenra pyramid in the 30s of the XIX century and wrote in his reports about white limestone cladding blocks, mentioned the ruins of a clay brick wall and 250 meters of paved road passing by the Jedkar Isesi pyramid complex towards the eastern border of the desert. However, now they can no longer be seen - all the ruins are covered with sand.

Recent decades, the French archaeological mission in Saqqara continues to study the Merenra complex; she discovered limestone paving from a memorial church, as well as fragmented reliefs and traces of a table for sacrifices. It is assumed that the temple was not completed to the end at the time of the burial of the king, since some of the reliefs were not carved, but only sketched. It seems that due to the early death of the king, all the buildings remained unfinished, and the lower church, quite possibly, was not even started, since there were no traces left from it. However, the territory of the complex has not yet been fully studied. Today, the Merenra pyramid is closed to visitors and is difficult to reach.

The name Merenra I was found in the quarries of Wadi Hammamat and in the alabaster quarries of Khatnub, indicating a rather significant construction activity of this pharaoh.

Mummy

In 1881, an archaeological expedition led by Gaston Maspero , working to clear the burial chamber of the Merenra I pyramid, discovered a mummy there, which the expedition leader identified as belonging to the pharaoh Merenra I. If this identification is correct, then this mummy is the oldest of almost all , royal mummies. The mummy was removed from the pyramid and sent to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo . However, during transportation, the mummy fell into two parts.

However, G. Elliot-Smith, an Australian anatomist who was responsible for the study of royal mummies at the beginning of the 20th century, believed that this mummy was of a much later time, probably from the period of the 18th dynasty . The rather good preservation of the mummy and the way it was embalmed do not seem to suggest that these remains may belong to the man of the end of the Ancient Kingdom . An important part of the problem is that the real location of the mummy is unknown, thereby depriving it of the opportunity to research it using more modern technologies and equipment than was possible at the end of the 19th or beginning of the 20th century. The remains of the mummy were still before the Second World War in the Berlin Museum , where they were listed under inventory number 8059, but disappeared without a trace during the evacuation of the museum.

At the time of discovery, the mummy was quite well preserved. Her lower jaw was missing, just like some of the upper front teeth. The mummy's chest was torn apart by burial robbers who were looking for valuables. The mummy's arms are extended along the body, and curiously, the legs were turned upside down with their socks. However, it was not clear whether this was the physical ugliness that a person suffered during his lifetime, or the embalmers placed their legs for an unknown reason, or the mummy was laid in such a manner by her researchers in order to photograph.

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