Horus Semerkhet

Horus Semerkhet

Horus Semerkhet is the penultimate king of the 1st Dynasty. His relatively short reign is attested on Cairo Fragment CF1 of the Annals Stone, as well as by the few sources that mention him.

 

Semerkhet Quick facts

Chronology
Dynasty: 1st
Predecessor: Horus Anedjib
Successor: Horus Qa'a
Highest Year: 9 years on the Annals Stone
Family
Father: Horus Anedjib (?)
Mother: Batirset
Principal Monuments
Tomb: Umm el-Qa’ab Tomb U

Biography of Semerkhet

According to Cairo Fragment CF1 of the Annals Stone, Horus Semerkhet was the son of a woman named Batirset. As this name is not attested by any contemporary sources, there has been a lot of speculation surrounding the identity of the king’s mother and thus also about Semerkhet’s father.
Assuming that succession went from father to son, Semerkhet may have been the son of his predecessor, Anedjib. There are, however, no sources that confirm this hypothesis.
As was the case with Anedjib, the names of any wives or children of Semerkhet are not known.
According to Manetho this king ruled for 18 year, while the Turin King-List credits him with as much as 72 years.Cairo Fragment CF1 leaves no doubt as to the length of the reign of Semerkhet: 9 year cells record the primary rituals or events that occurred under this king, from his ascension to the throne to his death, leaving him a reign of about 8 and a half years.
It has often been assumed that Semerkhet may have been a usurper, but there is no evidence to support this theory, neither in archaeological nor in historical sources. On the contrary, several sources list him along with Anedjib and his successor Qa’a, showing that his successors accepted him as the rightful king.

A year label from the reign of Horus Semerkhet.

Semerkhet was buried in Tomb U, a relatively small tomb built to the south of the tomb of Den. That he chose a burial next to Den rather than Anedjib, who built his tomb to the west of Djet’s, may indicate that he was related more closely to Den than to Anedjib.

Titulary of Horus Semerkhet

Horus Name

1. Hr smr-X.t
   Horus, Semerkhet

The meaning of this name is not certain.
Nebti Name

2. irj nb.tj
   The one who relates (or protects) the Two Ladies

Kinglists

3. irj nb.tj
   The one who relates (or protects) the Two Ladies
4. smsm
   Semsem.
5. Reading and meaning unknown. This is probably the result of a reinterpretation of the signs that made up Semerkhet's Nebti Name.

Manetho
Africanus: Semempsês
Eusebius: Semempsês, Mempses
Alternative names in modern-day literature
Semerchet, Horus-Semerkhet, Horus-Semerchet

 

Tomb U at Umm el-Qa'ab

Semerkhet had his tomb, labeled “Tomb U” by its finder, Petrie,  built to the south of Den’s at Umm el-Qa’ab, on the opposite side of the axis of the tombs of Den and Anedjib, and continuing the motion south that was started with the tomb of Djer. This could be seen as an indication that, if Anedjib built his tomb away from Den’s because he didn’t feel closely related to him, Semerkhet wanted to stress a connection with Den.

Interactive map of the tomb of Semerkhit.

As was the case with the tombs of Djer, Djet, Merneith and Den, Semerkhet’s tomb consisted of a single pit dug into the ground, surrounded by walls that vary in thickness between 1.5 and 1.8 metres. This too marks a change compared to Anedjib’s tomb, that consisted of two chambers, and a return to a slightly older tradition.
The burial chamber is entered through a descending passage coming from the northeast, rather than via a staircase as was the case with the tombs of Den and Anedjib.
64 subsidiary graves were built directly against the king’s tomb. the larger graves were dug in a single row against the southeast side of the main tomb, while the slightly smaller ones were laid out in two rows against the other sides of the main tomb. That the subsidiary graves were built directly against the king’s tomb was an innovation.