Manetho counted eight kings of the First Dynasty. The same number is given in the Abydos King List (13th century BC).¹Wilkinson 1999, 55 And it is the number of kings listed on the seal impression found in the tomb Qa’a which we looked at in a previous entry. If we allow 25 years on average for each reign, then the First Dynasty lasted for approximately 200 years. However, after surveying other ancient king lists, the archaeologist and philologist, William Albright, concluded that 15 years was a more realistic estimate.²Albright summarizes his findings as following: “Fourteen kings of the dynasties of Upi and Kish receive 205 years (3200-3000), an average of 15 years apiece; sixteen kings of Isin rule 225 1/2 years, 14 years each. Fourteen rulers of Larsa reign 265 years, or 19 years each.” (Albright 1920, 99) If we go with Albright’s estimate then the number of years assigned to the First Dynasty is reduced to approximately 120 years.

The kings of the First Dynasty were buried in Cemetery B of Umm el-Qa’ab near Abydos. They were accompanied by their servants to the grave like the predynastic rulers buried at Hierakonpolis and the kings and queens of Ur. Each servant had their own small mudbrick chamber situated next to the central burial chamber reserved for the king, or in the case of Merneith, the queen. The tomb of Hor-Aha, the second king of First Dynasty, is surrounded by 36 attendant burials while the tomb of his successor, Djer, is surrounded by the incredibly large number of 318 attendant burials.³Teeter 2011, 251 The practice of sacrificing dozens or even hundreds of servants with a deceased king or queen appears to have been limited to the First Dynasty of Egypt. After Djer, the number of attendant burials tapers off until, by the end of the First Dynasty, the practice disappears altogether. Similarly, in Mesopotamia there is no evidence for retainer sacrifice after the period represented by the Royal Cemetery at Ur (Early Dynastic II and beginning of the Early Dynastic III).

Unlike the royal tombs in the cemetery at Ur, which were buried twenty or more feet below ground, the Egyptian tombs were constructed near the surface, which made them easy pickings for tomb robbers. Petrie’s excavations in the cemetery nevertheless recovered objects of copper and gold, although none of silver. The absence of silver is probably due to the distance separating Egypt from the nearest silver mines in Anatolia.

The copper tools recovered from the cemetery were of a simple type easily produced by pouring metal in an open mold and then hammering it into shape. The process of repeatedly heating and hammering the copper, known as annealing, was probably used to harden the copper, which is otherwise too soft to be used as a tool. Many of the copper objects were engraved with the serekh of the king.

Although nothing was found at Umm el-Qa’ab to rival the discoveries made at Ur, enough was found to indicate that these tombs were also richly furnished. One of the most remarkable finds from the cemetery was made by workmen while they were clearing the entrance to the tomb of Djer. Stashed in the wall of the tomb was a mummified arm missed by the tomb robbers. Having discovered the arm, they triumphantly brought it to Petrie. That evening Petrie removed the rough cloth wrapping the arm in the presence of the men who had found it. To everyone’s astonishment, four finely crafted bracelets made from gold, lapis lazuli, amethyst, and turquoise, were revealed beneath the rough cloth wrapping the arm. Such jewelry was worthy of a queen. Petrie tentatively identified her as the wife of King Djer. As was his policy, Petrie paid the workmen with gold sovereigns equal to the weight of the bracelets.

Lapis Lazuli

It was not uncommon to find beads or small objects made from lapis lazuli in predynastic and early dynastic tombs of Egypt. However, after the reign of Djer, lapis lazuli disappears altogether from the cemeteries of Egypt and does not appear again for several hundred years. Even when lapis lazuli reappears, during the Fourth Dynasty, it will never be found in the same quantities as before.⁴Payne 1968, 59-61 One must be careful not to build a theory around the absence of evidence. On the positive side, the presence of lapis lazuli in Egypt during the Predynastic period points to extensive trade across great distances at a time when the Egyptian state was just beginning to take shape.

This vein of “azure” mined from the metamorphic rocks of Badakhshan was coveted by predynastic Egyptian craftsmen who used it to make beads, just as it was by Renaissance artists, who ground the lapis lazuli into powder and used it to create the brilliant blue paint known as “ultramarine.” Ultramarine was also ultra-expensive and was therefore used sparingly, except by the famous Dutch master, Johannes Vermeer, who liked ultramarine so much it ruined him financially.