"
[Illustration: 053.jpg REVERSE OF A SLATE RELIEF, REPRESENTING ANIMALS.]
Narmer is therefore the last of the ancient kings of Hierakonpolis, the
last of Manetho's "Spirits." We may possibly have recovered the names of
one or two of the kings anterior to Narmer in the excavations at Abydos
(see Chapter II), but this is uncertain. To all intents and purposes we
have only legendary knowledge of the Southern kingdom until its close,
when Narmer the mighty went forth to strike down the Anu of the North,
an exploit which he recorded in votive monuments at Hierakonpolis, and
which was commemorated henceforward throughout Egyptian history in the
yearly "Feast of the Smiting of the Anu." Then was Egypt for the first
time united, and the fortress of the "White Wall," the "Good Abode" of
Memphis, was built to dominate the lower country. The Ist Dynasty was
founded and Egyptian history began.
[Illustration: 054.jpg ]
CHAPTER II--ABYDOS AND THE FIRST THREE DYNASTIES
Until the recent discoveries had been made, which have thrown so much
light upon the early history of Egypt, the traditional order and names
of the kings of the first three Egyptian dynasties were, in default of
more accurate information, retained by all writers on the history of the
period. The names were taken from the official lists of kings at Abydos
and elsewhere, and were divided into dynasties according to the system
of Manetho, whose names agree more or less with those of the lists and
were evidently derived from them ultimately.
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