Horus Djet

Horus Djet 

Very little remains of the reign of Horus Djet, the fourth king of the 1st Dynasty, and only a few year labels are attested for this king.

 

Djet Quick Facts

Chronology
Dynasty: 1st
Predecessor: Horus Djer
Successor: Horus Den
Highest Year: 2 Year LabelsFamily
Father: Horus Djer (?)
Mother: (?)
Wives: Merneith (?) Ahaneith (?)
Children: Horus DenPrincipal Monuments
Tomb: Umm el-Qa’ab Tomb Z

Biography of Horus Djet

A comb bearing the name of Djet.

Little is known about Horus Djet, the fourth king of the 1st Dynasty and the successor of Horus Djer.
Only a few year labels have survived from his reign, one referring to the festival of the god Sokar, and another to a ritual in the shrine of the Two Mistresses, Nekhbet and Uto, the patron goddesses of Egypt.
He is not mentioned on the remaining fragments of the Annals Stone, which also hints at a fairly short reign. 
He is assumed to have been the son of his predecessor Djer. The name of his mother is not known. With Merneith identified as the mother of Horus Den, Djet’s successor, it can be assumed that Den was Djet’s son.
He may have had at least one more wife, Ahaneith, whose name has been found on a stela in his tomb.
He founded an estate named Wadj-Her which was administered by Iri-aawi and Sewadjka. Pottery from Palestine found in tombs at Tarkhan and Saqqara, both in the Memphite region, dated to Djet’s reign bear witness to intensive trading between Egypt and Palestine. His name has also been found near Aswan, in the south of Egypt, which may have been part of a trading route to the Red Sea.
Djet was buried in a tomb, now labeled as Tomb Z at Umm el-Qa’ab, to the southwest of the tomb of his predecessor. The actual tomb is slightly smaller and follows a similar layout to Djer’s, but it is surrounded by more subsidiary graves.

Titulary of Horus Djet

Horus Name

1. Hr Dt
   Horus the snake

Kinglists

2. itjw
   Itiu
3. itjwi
   Itiwi

Manetho
Africanus: Uenephês
Eusebius: Uenephês, VavenephisAlternative names in modern-day literature
Horus-Djet, Snake, Wadj, Wadji, Athothis III

Tomb Z at Umm el-Qa'ab

Horus Djet was buried in a tomb at Umm el-Qa’ab, to the southwest of the tomb of Djer, his predecessor. Petrie, one of the archaeologists who excavated the tomb, gave it the designation of “Tomb Z”.

Interactive map of the tomb of Djet.

The king’s tomb consisted of a single pit, measuring 9.3 by 11.9 metres internally, slightly smaller than the tomb of Djer. The wall thickness varies between 0.8 and 1.05 metres.
As was the case with Djer, there are several smaller chambers built against the north, east and west walls.
There are 174 subsidiary graves surrounding the tomb in a pattern somewhat reminiscent of Djer’s subsidiary graves.
The overall look of the plan and layout of Djet’s tomb gives the impression of being a copy of Djer’s.
Several stelae engraved with the king’s Horus name were found connected to the tomb.