Эртний Египетийн хатан хаан Меретнейтийн булшнаас олдсон тэмдэгтүүдийг шинэчлэн судалснаар түүнийг зөвхөн захирагч бус, жинхэнэ хаан байсныг баталжээ.
Эртний Египетийн түүхэнд Меретнейтийн эзлэх байр суурь зуу гаруй жилийн турш маргаантай байсаар ирсэн юм. 1900 онд археологич Флиндерс Петри түүний булшийг нээхдээ маш тансаг хийцтэйг нь хараад хааны булш гэж таамагласан ч, хааныг илэрхийлэх “серех” хэмээх hieroglyph тэмдэгт дутагдаж байсан нь эрдэмтдийн эргэлзээг төрүүлж байв. Гэвч 1946 онд археологич Уолтер Эмеригийн олсон тамганууд дээр Меретнейтийн нэр тэмдэглэгдсэн байсан нь түүнийг хааны статустай байсныг илтгэх нотолгоо болсон юм.
Prague Egyptological Studies сэтгүүлд нийтлэгдсэн шинэ судалгаагаар хуучны гэрэл зургуудыг дижитал аргаар сэргээн судалж, эдгээр тэмдэгтүүдийг тодорхой болгожээ. Судлаачид Меретнейтийн нэр бүхий серех тэмдэгтүүдийг баталгаажуулснаар түүнийг Египетийн анхны династийн үед төр барьж байсан хүчирхэг хаан гэж дүгнэв. Тэрээр 30 орчим жилийн турш улс төрийн үйл ажиллагаанд оролцож, зарим үед хамтран захирагч, хүү Ден хааныг балчир байхад нь асран хамгаалагч хаан, мөн сан хөмрөгийг захирах зэрэг улс төрийн олон үүргийг гүйцэтгэж байсан бололтой.
Эрдэмтдийн үзэж буйгаар тухайн үед Египетийн удирдагчид ихэвчлэн эрэгтэйчүүд байсан ч, улс төрийн хямрал эсвэл онцгой нөхцөл байдлын үед хатан хаан төр барих нь түгээмэл байсан бололтой. Меретнейт өөрийн карьерын туршид улс орныг удирдах өөр өөр байр суурийг эзэлж байсан нь түүний булшны тансаг хийцээс тодорхой харагддаг. Энэхүү судалгаа нь эртний Египетийн төрийн бүтэц болон эмэгтэйчүүдийн улс төрд гүйцэтгэж байсан үүргийн талаарх ойлголтыг илүү тодорхой болгож байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
A new analysis of old photographs linked to Meretneith’s royal tomb has settled a long-running scholarly dispute over the woman who took charge of Egypt in the earliest days of the state. Researchers say she was a king, not merely a governor, and that she may have held power on and off for about 30 years.
Long before the Pyramids of Giza went up, Egypt was still a young state taking shape under the rulers of the First Dynasty, and it was in this period that Meretneith, a woman, took charge of what the schoolars describes as a nascent superpower.
Her status has been argued over for more than a century. Many Egyptologists have maintained she was no more than a governor, and a new study of royal hieroglyphs now says otherwise.
A Tomb That Didn’t Quite Fit
The word “Pharaoh” didn’t exist yet. According to Benjamin Taub, writing in IFLScience, the term wasn’t invented until about 3,300 years ago, during the 12th Dynasty, and before that rulers were simply called kings. The first of them was Narmer, a little over 5,000 years ago.
Meretneith was the daughter of Djer, the third king of the First Dynasty. The debate over her rank dates to 1900, when the famous Egyptologist Flinders Petrie discovered her tomb. Struck by how lavish the burial chamber was, Petrie assumed it belonged to a king, though a few details were slightly off.
Like all royals, she was buried with a pair of tall structures called stellae. Hers, however, lacked a serekh, the hieroglyph typically used to denote monarchs.
The Seals That Were Lost
In 1946, while excavating a tomb at Saqqara, Egyptologist Walter Emery found 13 seals bearing serekhs with the names of Djer and Meretneith. Emery considered that enough to give Meretneith kingly status. Other scholars stayed unconvinced, partly because the seals have since been lost and the monochrome photographs Emery took are too grainy to be of use.
That is where the new study, published in the journal Prague Egyptological Studies, comes in. Its authors applied digital restoration techniques to the old photos, bringing out the hieroglyphs in finer detail. They were able to confirm that while some of the serekhs carry Djer’s name, others contain the sign that denotes Meretneith.
A Reign That May Have Spanned 30 Years
The authors don’t picture one tidy reign. They say her political career may have unfolded over several phases, as she stepped on and off the throne in different guises. The fact that her serekh appears next to Djer’s, for instance, may indicate she first served as “co-regent,” either alongside her father or right after him.
Inscriptions on the tomb of her son Den describe her as “regent king’s mother.” This suggests she may have ruled in Den’s place while he was young, and possibly again after his death. Separate texts indicate that at other times she held authority over the treasury, all of which points to what the article calls a storied political life. The authors acknowledge the broader picture:
“Undoubtedly, the rulers of ancient Egypt were predominantly male, but evidence suggests that a royal woman was the preferred interim ruler under prescribed circumstances or during a crisis in the state,” they write.
Moving in and out of the role as politics shifted, Meretneith “appears to have adopted distinct positions as ruler of the country throughout her career.” Overall, she is estimated to have ruled for around 30 years before ending her days in a royal tomb.
“As a result of her prominent position in the political arena, she was buried in the same manner as her male contemporaries,” the authors conclude.
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