| Anedjib | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Anezib, Adjib, Azib, Miebîdós | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Pharaoh Anedjib on a stone bowl fragment | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pharaoh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reign | 8-10 years, ca. 2930 BC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Den | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Semerkhet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Consort | Betrest ? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | Semerkhet? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Father | Den ? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mother | Seshemetka ? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Burial | Tomb X,Umm el-Qa'ab | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dynasty | 1st Dynasty | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Anedjib, more correctlyAdjib and also known asHor-Anedjib,Hor-Adjib,Anezib andAzib, is theHorus name of anearly Egyptianking who ruled during the1st Dynasty.
The EgyptianhistorianManetho named him "Miebîdós" and credited him with a reign of 26 years,[1] whilst theRoyal Canon of Turin credited him with an implausible reign of 74 years.[2]Egyptologists and historians now consider both records to be exaggerations and generally credit Adjib with a reign of 8–10 years.[3]
Adjib is well attested inarchaeological records. His name appears ininscriptions on vessels made ofschist,alabaster,breccia andmarble. His name is also preserved onivory tags and earthen jar seals. Objects bearing Adjib's name and titles come fromAbydos andSakkara.[3][4]
Adjib's family has only partially been investigated. His parents are unknown, but it is thought that his predecessor, kingDen, may have been his father. Adjib was possibly married to a woman namedBetrest. On thePalermo Stone she is described as the mother of Adjib's successor, kingSemerkhet. Definite evidence for that view has not yet been found. It would be expected that Adjib had sons and daughters, but their names have not been preserved in the historical record. A candidate for being a possible member of his family line is Semerkhet.[5]
According to archaeological records, Adjib introduced a new royal title which he thought to use as some kind of complement to theNisut-Bity-title: theNebuy-title, written with the doubled sign of a falcon on a short standard. It means "The two lords" and refers to the divine state patronsHorus andSeth. It also symbolically points toLower andUpper Egypt. Adjib is thought to have legitimised his role as king with the use of this title.[5][6] According to vessel fragments, Anedjib used the throne nameMr-by'-pw (Merbiape).[7]
Clay seal impressions record the foundation of the new royal fortressHor nebw-khet ("Horus, the gold of the divine community") and the royal residenceHor seba-khet ("Horus, the star of the divine community").[8]Stone vessel inscriptions show that during Adjib's reign an unusually large number of cult statues were made for the king. At least six objects show the depicting of standing statues representing the king with his royal insignia.[4]
Stone vessel inscriptions record that Adjib commemorated a first and even a secondHeb Sed (a throne jubilee), a feast that was celebrated the first time after 30 years of a king's reign, after which it was repeated every third or fourth year.[9] But recent investigations suggest that every object showing the Hebsed and Adjib's name together were removed from king Den'stomb. It would seem that Adjib had simply erased and replaced Den's name with his own. This is seen by egyptologists and historians as evidence that Adjib never celebrated a Hebsed and thus his reign was relatively short. Egyptologists such asNicolas Grimal andWolfgang Helck assume that Adjib, as Den's son and rightful heir to the throne, may have been quite old when he ascended the Egyptian throne. Helck additionally points to an unusual feature; All Hebsed pictures of Adjib show the notationQesen ("calamity") written on the stairways of the Hebsedpavilion. Possibly the end of Adjib's reign was a violent one.[3][6]
Adjib's burial site wasexcavated at theUmm el-Qa'ab necropolis in Abydos and is known as "Tomb X". It measures 16.4 x 9.0 metres and is the smallest of all royal tombs in this area. Adjib's burial chamber (7 x 4.5 metres), consists of two rooms and is accessed by a stairway from the east. The walls of the chamber are more than a meter thick, and the rooms are divided by a cut-off wall. The smaller of the two chambers contained severalcylinder seals and was probably a storage chamber. The burial chamber was made of wooden planks set in the desert sand without any other foundations. Some of these planks were well-preserved. The roof of the chamber was held up by wooden posts, one of which was found still intact by the excavators.[10]
The main chamber is surrounded by 64 subsidiary tombs which are interpreted as ancillary burials.[11][12] Some of these chambers contained large numbers of ivory carvings.[13] Until the end of the 1st dynasty, it would seem to have been a tradition that the family andcourt of the king committedsuicide (or were killed) and were thenburied alongside the ruler in hisnecropolis.[14]
To date, the tomb has only been excavated once, byFlinders Petrie between 1899 and 1900. This is unlike the other tombs in the necropolis, which were excavated before Petrie by the FrenchmanÉmile Amélineau and subsequently by theGerman Archaeological Institute.
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