Pharaoh (/ˈfɛəroʊ/, US also /ˈfeɪ.roʊ/;[3] Egyptian: pr ꜥꜣ;[note 1] Coptic: ⲡⲣ̄ⲣⲟ, romanized: Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: פַּרְעֹה Parʿō)[4] is the vernacular term often used for the monarchs of ancient Egypt, who ruled from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BCE) until the annexation of Egypt by the Roman Empire in 30 BCE.[5] However, regardless of gender, king was the term used most frequently by the ancient Egyptians for their monarchs through the middle of the Eighteenth Dynasty during the New Kingdom. The earliest confirmed instances of pharaoh used contemporaneously for a ruler were a letter to Akhenaten (reigned c. 1353–1336 BCE) or an inscription possibly referring to Thutmose III (c. 1479–1425 BCE)..........................
In the early dynasties, ancient Egyptian kings had as many as three titles: the Horus, the Sedge and Bee (nswt-bjtj), and the Two Ladies or Nebty (nbtj) name.[6] The Golden Horus and the nomen and prenomen titles were added later.[7]
In Egyptian society, religion was central to everyday life. One of the roles of the king was as an intermediary between the deities and the people. The king thus was deputised for the deities in a role that was both as civil and religious administrator. The king owned all of the land in Egypt, enacted laws, collected taxes, and served as commander-in-chief of the military.[8] Religiously, the king officiated over religious ceremonies and chose the sites of new temples. The king was responsible for maintaining Maat (mꜣꜥt), or cosmic order, balance, and justice, and part of this included going to war when necessary to defend the country or attacking others when it was believed that this would contribute to Maat, such as to obtain resources.[9]
During the early days prior to the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, the Deshret or the Red Crown, was a representation of the kingdom of Lower Egypt,[10] while the Hedjet, the White Crown, was worn by the kings of Upper Egypt.[11] After the unification of both kingdoms, the Pschent, the combination of both the red and white crowns became the official crown of the pharaoh.[12] With time new headdresses were introduced during different dynasties such as the Khat, Nemes, Atef, Hemhem crown, and Khepresh. At times, a combination of these headdresses or crowns worn together was depicted................................
EtymologyThe word pharaoh ultimately derives from the Egyptian compound pr ꜥꜣ, */ˌpaɾuwˈʕaʀ/ great house, written with the two biliteral hieroglyphs pr house and ꜥꜣ column, here meaning great or high. It was the title of the royal palace and was used only in larger phrases such as smr pr-ꜥꜣ Courtier of the High House, with specific reference to the buildings of the court or palace.[13] From the Twelfth Dynasty onward, the word appears in a wish formula Great House, May it Live, Prosper, and be in Health, but again only with reference to the royal palace and not a person..............................................
The Mask of Tutankhamun from tomb KV62 in the Valley of the Kings. Pharaohs' tombs were provided with vast quantities of wealthSometime during the era of the New Kingdom, pharaoh became the form of address for a person who was king. The earliest confirmed instance where pr ꜥꜣ is used specifically to address the ruler is in a letter to the eighteenth dynasty king, Akhenaten (reigned c. 1353–1336 BC), that is addressed to Great House, L, W, H, the Lord.[14][15] However, there is a possibility that the title pr ꜥꜣ first might have been applied personally to Thutmose III (c. 1479–1425 BC), depending on whether an inscription on the Temple of Armant may be confirmed to refer to that king.[16] During the Eighteenth dynasty (sixteenth to fourteenth centuries BC) the title pharaoh was employed as a reverential designation of the ruler. About the late Twenty-first Dynasty (tenth century BC), however, instead of being used alone and originally just for the palace, it began to be added to the other titles before the name of the king, and from the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty (eighth to seventh centuries BC, during the declining Third Intermediate Period) it was, at least in ordinary use, the only epithet prefixed to the royal appellative.[17]
From the Nineteenth dynasty onward pr-ꜥꜣ on its own, was used as regularly as ḥm, Majesty.[18] The term, therefore, evolved from a word specifically referring to a building to a respectful designation for the ruler presiding in that building, particularly by the time of the Twenty-Second Dynasty and Twenty-third Dynasty.[citation needed]...........................................
The first dated appearance of the title pharaoh being attached to a ruler's name occurs in Year 17 of Siamun (tenth century BC) on a fragment from the Karnak Priestly Annals, a religious document. Here, an induction of an individual to the Amun priesthood is dated specifically to the reign of Pharaoh Siamun.[19] This new practice was continued under his successor, Psusennes II, and the subsequent kings of the twenty-second dynasty. For instance, the Large Dakhla stela is specifically dated to Year 5 of king Pharaoh Shoshenq, beloved of Amun, whom all Egyptologists concur was Shoshenq I—the founder of the Twenty-second Dynasty—including Alan Gardiner in his original 1933 publication of this stela.[20] Shoshenq I was the second successor of Siamun. Meanwhile, the traditional custom of referring to the sovereign as, pr-ˤ3, continued in official Egyptian narratives.[citation needed]
The title is reconstructed to have been pronounced *[parʕoʔ] in the Late Egyptian language, from which the Greek historian Herodotus derived the name of one of the Egyptian kings, Koinē Greek: Φερων.[21] In the Hebrew Bible, the title also occurs as Hebrew: פרעה [parʕoːh];[22] from that, in the Septuagint, Koinē Greek: φαραώ, romanized: pharaō, and then in Late Latin pharaō, both -n stem nouns. The Qur'an likewise spells it Arabic: فرعون firʿawn with n (here, always referring to the one evil king in the Book of Exodus story, by contrast to the good king in surah Yusuf's story). The Arabic combines the original ayin from Egyptian along with the -n ending from Greek.
In English, the term was at first spelled Pharao, but the translators for the King James Bible revived Pharaoh with h from the Hebrew. Meanwhile, in Egypt, *[par-ʕoʔ] evolved into Sahidic Coptic ⲡⲣ̅ⲣⲟ pərro and then ərro by rebracketing p- as the definite article the (from ancient Egyptian pꜣ).[23]
Other notable epithets are nswt, translated to king; ḥm, Majesty; jty for monarch or sovereign; nb for lord;[18][note 2] and ḥqꜣ for ruler.
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Firavun (Arapça فرعون Fir'awn; İbranice פַּרְעֹה Parʻō) Antik Mısır'da hükümdarlara verilen isim. Büyük Ev, Saray anlamını taşıyan kelime daha sonraları hükümdardan bahsetmek şeklini almıştır.[1] Firavunlar aynı zamanda tanrı Horus'un yeryüzündeki simgesi ve beşinci hanedandan sonra da güneş tanrısı Ra'nın oğlu olarak da kabul ediliyordu.
Mısır toplumunda din günlük yaşamın merkeziydi. Firavun, tanrılar ve insanların aracısıydı. Böylece firavun tanrılara vekalet ederdi. Mısır'daki tüm topraklara sahipti, yasalar çıkarır vergiler toplardı ve Mısır'ı ordunun başkomutanı olarak işgalcilerden korurdu.[2] Dini olarak, firavun dini törenleri üstlendi ve yeni tapınakları seçti. Ma'at'ı veya kozmik düzeni, dengeyi ve adaleti korumaktan sorumluydu ve bunun bir kısmı, gerektiğinde ülkeyi savunmak için savaşa girmeyi veya bunun Ma'at'a katkıda bulunacağına inanıldığında başkalarına saldırmayı içeriyordu.[3]
Firavun olmak için anne tarafından soylu kan taşımanın daha önemli olduğuna inanılırdı. Böylece halktan kimi erkekler tam kan soylu bir kadınla evlenerek tahta çıkabilmişlerdi. Firavunların kutsal ve gizemli kabul edilen birçok adları vardır. Bunların sonuncusunu tahta çıktıkları zaman alıyorlardı ve genellikle bu ad, o firavunun izleyeceği politikanın bir habercisi olarak görülüyordu. Mesela savaş tanrısı Mantu'nun adını kullanarak Mantuhotep (Mantu hoştur) ismini alan bir firavun askeri seferler yapacağını ilan etmiş oluyordu.[kaynak belirtilmeli]
Firavunlar ölene dek idarede kalıyorlardı. Bilinen en uzun iktidar 92 yılla eski krallıktaki son hükümdar Pepi II Neferkare'ye aittir. Uzun süre tahtta kalabilmek için her 30 yılda bir sihirli bir tören olan gençleşme festivali (heb-set) yapılıyordu. Firavun öldüğü zaman iç organları çıkarılıyor, cesedi mumyalanıyor, 70 günlük yastan sonra dirilince kullanmak üzere, özel eşyalarıyla birlikte bir lahite konuluyor ve mezar kapatılıyordu.
