At any rate, in the lines of annals which still exist
above that which contains the chronicle of the reign of Neneter no
entry can be definitely identified as belonging to the reigns of Aha
or Narmer. In a line below there is a mention of the "birth of
Khasekhemui," apparently a festival in honour of the birth of that king
celebrated in the same way as the reputed birthday of a god. This shows
the great honour in which Khasekhemui was held, and perhaps it was he
who really finally settled the question of the unification of North and
South and consolidated the work of the earlier kings.
As far as we can tell, then, Aha and Narmer were the first conquerors
of the North, the unifiers of the kingdom, and the originals of the
legendary Mena. In their time the kingdom's centre of gravity was still
in the South, and Narmer (who is probably identical with "the Scorpion")
dedicated the memorials of his deeds in the temple of Hierakonpolis. It
may be that the legend of the founding of Memphis in the time of "Menes"
is nearly correct (as we shall see, historically, the foundation may
have been due to Merpeba), but we have the authority of Manetho for
the fact that the first two dynasties were "Thinite" (that is, Upper
Egyptian), and that Memphis did not become the capital till the time of
the Hid Dynasty.
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