Scorpion, also King
Scorpion or Scorpion II refers to
the second of two kings so-named of Upper Egypt during the Protodynastic period.
The only pictorial evidence of his existence is the so-called Scorpion
Macehead that was found in the by two archeologists
in a
temple at Nekhen (Hierakonpolis) during
the dig season of 1897/1898. It is currently on
display at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. The stratigraphy of this macehead was
lost due to the methods of its excavators, but its style seems to date it to the
very end of the Predynastic Period. Though badly
damaged, the visible parts are extraordinary records from this early time in
Egyptian history. He is believed to have lived just before or during the rule of
Namer at Thinis for this reason, and also because of the content
of the macehead.
The macehead depicts a single large figure wearing the white
crown of Upper Egypt. He holds a hoe, which has been interpreted
as a ritual either involving the pharaoh ceremonially cutting the first furrow
in the fields, or opening the dikes to flood them. The name "Scorpion" is derived from the image of a scorpion that appears
immediately in front of his face, just below a flower with seven petals; the use
and placement of the iconography is similar to the depiction of the pharaoh Narmer on the obverse side of the Narmer
palette.
Protodynastic hieroglyphics are difficult to read, but the dead lapwings (meaning Lower Egyptians) and the nine
bows (meaning the traditional
enemies of Egyptians) found on the macehead are interpreted as evidence that he
began the attacks on Lower Egypt which eventually resulted in Narmer's victory
and unification of the country. The lapwing was also
used as a hieroglyph meaning "common people", so the standards they are attached
to may represent the names of particular towns Scorpion conquered.
A second, smaller mace head fragment is referred to as the Minor Scorpion
mace head. Little is left of
this mace head, though it clearly depicts the pharaoh wearing the Red Crown
of
Lower Egypt.
There are several theories regarding his identity. Some would argue that
because Egyptian kings of the First Dynasty seem to have had multiple names,
that Scorpion was
the same person as Narmer, simply with
an alternate name. Others have argued that the name of Narmer's predecessor, Ka, is
simply a stylistically different version of a scorpion, and that both kings are
the same person, who would have been named Sekhen. The historian Susan Wise Bauer maintains that Scorpion II and Narmer were indeed
two separate kings, but that Scorpion II reigned in 3200 BC, a century before
Narmer. Because Scorpion II
is not attested at Abydos, he could be a contemporary king to Narmer
who eventually lost or bequeathed Nekhen to Narmer.
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