Teti I (Pharaonic Survival)

Teti I the Good
Pharaoh of Egypt
Reign	6 July 3102 - 12 February 3056
Predecessor	Narmer I
Successor	Djet
Co-Ruler	Neithhotep I 3102-3096
Born	July 16, 3117(3117-07-16) B.C. Mennefer, Egypt
Died	February 12, 3056(3056-02-12) B.C. (aged 60)
Spouse	Benerib, Khenthap
Issue	Djer
Full name
Horus Name: Aha Nomen: Teti
House	Tjenu
Dynasty	Narmerian Dynasty
Father	Narmer I
Mother	Neithhotep
Religion	Kemetism

Teti I (or Hor-Aha; 19 16 July 3117 - 12 February 3056 BC) was the second pharaoh of the First Dynasty of Egypt. He lived around the 31st century BC. He was the son of Narmer I and Neitthotep,

Reign

Successor to Narmer

Seal impressions discovered by Günter Dreyer in the Upokre from Den and Qa'a burials identify Hor-Aha as the second pharaoh of the first dynasty. His predecessor Narmer had united Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt into a single kingdom, Upper and Lower Egypt. Hor-Aha ascended the throne in July 6th 3102 10 days shy of his 15th birthday.

Interior policy

Hor-Aha seems to have conducted many religious activities. A visit to a shrine of the goddess Neith is recorded on several tablets from his reign. The sanctuary of Neith he visited was located in the north-west of the Nile Delta at Sais. Furthermore, the first known representation of the sacred Henu-barque of the god Seker- was found engraved on a year tablet dating from his reign.

Vessel inscriptions, labels and sealings from the graves of Hor-Aha and Queen Neithhotep suggest that this queen died during the reign of Aha. He arranged for her burial in a magnificent mastaba excavated by Jacques de Morgan. Queen Neithhotep was Aha's mother.

Most importantly, the oldest mastaba at the North Saqqara necropolis of Memphis dates to his reign. The mastaba belongs to an elite member of the administration who may have been a relative of Hor-Aha, as was customary at the time. This is a strong indication of the growing importance of Memphis during Aha's reign.

Economic development

Few artifacts remain of Hor-Aha's reign. However, the finely executed copper-axe heads, faience vessel fragments, ivory box and inscribed white marbles all testify to the flourishing of craftsmanship during Aha's time in power.

Activities outside Egypt

Inscription on an ivory tablet from Abydos suggests that Hor-Aha led an expedition against the Nubians. On a year tablet, a year is explicitly called 'Year of smiting of Ta-Sety' (i.e. Nubia).

During Hor-Aha's reign, trade with the Southern Levant seems to have been on the decline. Contrary to his predecessor Narmer, Hor-Aha is not attested outside of the Nile Valley. This may point to a gradual replacement of long-distance trade between Egypt and its eastern neighbors by a more direct exploitation of the local resources by the Egyptians. Vessel fragment analysis from an Egyptian outpost at En Besor suggests that it was active during Hor-Aha's reign. Other Egyptian settlements are known to have been active at the time as well (Byblos and along the Lebanese coast). Finally, Hor-Aha's tomb yielded vessel fragments from the Southern Levant.

Manetho

According to the Egyptian priest Manetho (who lived over 2,600 years after Hor-Aha's reign), Aha built a palace in Memphis and was a skilled physician who wrote multiple books on anatomy.

Family

Hor-Aha's chief wife was Benerib, whose name was "written alongside his on a number of [historical] pieces, in particular, from tomb B14 at Abydos, Egypt". Tomb B14 is located directly adjacent to Hor-Aha's sepulchre. Hor-Aha also had another wife, Khenthap, with whom he became father of Djer. She is mentioned as Djer's mother on the Cairo Annals Stone.

Hor-Aha's mother is known to have been Neithhotep. She was the wife of the late Narmer and possibly remarried one of Hor-Aha's top three Grand Viziers by the name of Rekhit after the death of Narmer. The massive Naqada tomb Neithhotep was believed to be buried has 10 inscriptions of her in it. The same tomb also has 15 inscriptions to Rekhit.

Tomb

The tomb of Hor-Aha is located in the necropolis of the kings of the 1st Dynasty at Abydos, known as the Upokre. It comprises three large chambers (designated B10, B15, and B19), which are directly adjacent to Narmer's tomb. The chambers are rectangular, directly dug in the desert floor, their walls lined with mud bricks. The tombs of Narmer and Ka had only two adjacent chambers, while the tomb of Hor-Aha comprises three substantially larger yet separated chambers. The reason for this architecture is that it was difficult at that time to build large ceilings above the chambers, as timber for these structures often had to be imported from Canaan.

A striking innovation of Hor-Aha's tomb is that members of the royal household were buried with the pharaoh, the earliest known retainer sacrifices in Egypt. It is unclear if they were killed or committed suicide. Among those buried were servants, dwarfs, women and even dogs. A total of 36 subsidiary burials were laid out in three parallel rows north-east of Hor-Aha's main chambers. As a symbol of royalty Hor-Aha was even given a group of young lions.