| Iry-Hor | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ro, Irj-Hor, Iri(-Hor) | ||||||||||
 Signsr-Ḥr inscribed on a large vessel from the tomb of Iry-Hor,Ashmolean Museum | ||||||||||
| Pharaoh | ||||||||||
| Reign | c. 3170 BC[1] Naqada IIIB2 | |||||||||
| Predecessor | Double Falcon?Crocodile?Hat-Hor? | |||||||||
| Successor | Ka? | |||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Burial | Chambers B1 and B2,Umm el-Qa'ab,Egypt | |||||||||
| Dynasty | Dynasty 0 | |||||||||
Iry-Hor (orRo;[2]fl. c. 3170 BC) was a predynastic king ofUpper Egypt during the32nd century BC.[1] Excavations atAbydos in the 1980s and 1990s[3][4][5] and the discovery in 2012 of an inscription of Iry-Hor inSinai confirmed his existence.[1] Iry-Hor is the earliest ruler of Egypt known by name and is sometimes cited as the earliest-livinghistorical person known by name.[6]
Iry-Hor's name is written with the Horus falcon hieroglyph (Gardiner sign G5) above amouth hieroglyph (Gardiner D21). While the modern reading of the name is "Iry-Hor",Flinders Petrie, who discovered and excavated Iry-Hor's tomb at the end of the 19th century, read it "Ro", which was the usual reading of the mouthhieroglyph at the time.[7][8]
Given the archaic nature of the name, the translation proved difficult and, in the absence of a better alternative,Ludwig D. Morenz proposed that the literal translation be retained, giving "Horus mouth".[9]
In the 1990s,Werner Kaiser andGünter Dreyer translated Iry-Hor's name as "Companion of Horus".[3]
Until 2012, the name of Iry-Hor had not been found in or next to aserekh, so the identification of Iry-Hor as a king was controversial.Toby Wilkinson contended that Iry-Hor wasnot a king, but a slave of a king, translating the signs as "Property of the king".[10]EgyptologistsJürgen von Beckerath andPeter Kaplony also initially rejected the identification of Iry-Hor as a king and proposed instead that the known inscriptions refer to a private person whose name is to be read Wer-Ra,wr-rꜣ (lit. "great mouth"), i.e. reading the bird above the mouth-sign as theswallow hieroglyph G36 rather than the Horus falcon. They translated the name as "Spokesman" or "Chief".[11] EgyptologistsFlinders Petrie,[2]Laurel Bestock[8] andJochem Kahl[12] nonetheless believed that he was indeed a real ruler.
Following the excavations atAbydos and the discovery of an inscription of Iry-Hor in the Sinai in 2012, Wilkinson's hypothesis is now rejected by most Egyptologists and Iry-Hor is widely accepted as a predynastic king of Egypt.[1][13][14]
Dreyer's excavations of the necropolis of Abydos revealed that Iry-Hor was in fact well attested there, with over 27 objects bearing his name and that his tomb was of royal proportions.[15] Furthermore, in 2012 an inscription mentioning Iry-Hor was discovered in the Sinai, the inscription comprising furthermore an archaic empty serekh on the right of Iry-Hor's name.[1] The inscription mentions the city ofMemphis, pushing back its foundation to before Narmer and establishing that Iry-Hor was already reigning over it. Following this discovery, most Egyptologists, including G. Dreyer and the discoverers of the inscription, Pierre Tallet and Damien Laisney, now believe that Iry-Hor was indeed a king.[1] Continuing excavations of Iry-Hor's tomb at Abydos by Dreyer established that the tomb was of similar dimensions and layout as those ofKa andNarmer and must, therefore, have belonged to a king. This was consequently accepted by von Beckerath and Iry-Hor is now the first entry in the latest edition of von Beckerath'sHandbook of Egyptian Pharaohs.[16]
Iry-Hor was most likely Ka's immediate predecessor[17] and thus would have reigned during the early32nd century BC. He probably ruled fromHierakonpolis overAbydos and the wider Thinite region and controlled Egypt at least as far north as Memphis, since the Sinai rock inscription relates a visit of Iry-Hor to this city.[1][18] The EgyptologistsTallet and Damien Laisney further propose that Iry-Hor also controlled parts of theNile Delta.[1]
He was buried in the royal cemetery ofUmm el-Qa'ab near Ka, Narmer and the First Dynasty kings. Iry-Hor's name appears on clay vessels from his tomb inAbydos and a clay seal with the hieroglyphs forr-Ḥr was found inNarmer's tomb and may refer to Iry-Hor. In total, no fewer than 22 pottery jars incised with Iry-Hor's name have been found in Abydos as well as at least five ink-inscribed fragments and a cylinder seal.[15] A similar seal was also found far to the north in the tomb Z 401 ofZawyet el'Aryan inLower Egypt.[3][19] An incision on a spindle whorl found inHierakonpolis duringJames E. Quibell and Petrie excavations there in 1900 may refer to him.[20] Finally, the discovery of a rock inscription of Iry-Hor in the Sinai constitutes his northernmost attestation. The inscription shows the name of Iry-Hor on a boat, next to the wordInebu-hedj meaning "white walls", the ancient name ofMemphis.[1]
Iry-Hor's tomb is the oldest tomb of the Abydos necropolis B in theUmm el-Qa'ab.[21] It comprises two separate underground chambers B1 (6 m × 3.5 m) and B2 (4.3 m × 2.45 m) excavated byPetrie in 1899 and later by Werner Kaiser.[2][22] A further chamber, now known as "B0", was uncovered during re-excavations of Iry-Hor's tomb in the 1990s.[19] These chambers have a size similar to those found in the tombs of Ka and Narmer. No superstructure, if there ever was one, survives to this day. Chamber B1 yielded jar fragments incised with his name.[21] Chamber B2 produced another incised jar fragment, a seal impression, several ink inscriptions and vessel fragments bearing the names of Ka and Narmer. Parts of a bed were also found onsite.[3]
| Preceded by | King of Thinis Protodynastic | Succeeded by Ka? |
