King Scorpion

Pharaoh Infobox
Name = Scorpion


ImageSize = 250
Caption = The Scorpion Macehead, Ashmolean Museum.
Predecessor = Ka?
Successor = Narmer?
Reign = Unknown
Dynasty = Protodynastic

Scorpion, also King Scorpion or Scorpion II refers to the second of two kings so-named of Upper Egypt during the Protodynastic Period.

The only pictorial evidence of his existence is the so-called Scorpion Macehead that was found in the Main deposit by archeologists James E. Quibell and Frederick W. Green in a temple at Nekhen (Hierakonpolis) during the dig season of 1897/1898. [ [http://www.ancient-egypt.org/kings/0101_narmer/palette.html The Ancient Egypt Site - The Narmer Palette] , accessed September 19, 2007.] It is currently on display at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. The stratigraphy of this macehead was lost due to the methods of its excavators, but its style seems to date it to the very end of the Predynastic Period. [Shaw, Ian; and Nicholson, Paul. "The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt." p. 254. The British Museum Press, 1995.] Though badly damaged, the visible parts are extraordinary records from this early time in Egyptian history. He is believed to have lived just before or during the rule of Narmer at Thinis for this reason, and also because of the content of the macehead.

The macehead depicts a single large figure wearing the White Crown of Upper Egypt. He holds a hoe, which has been interpreted as a ritual either involving the pharaoh ceremonially cutting the first furrow in the fields, or opening the dykes to flood them. [Clayton, Peter A. Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. 2006. ISBN 0-500-28628-0] The name "Scorpion" is derived from the image of a scorpion that appears immediately in front of his face, just below a flower with seven petals; the use and placement of the iconography is similar to the depiction of the pharaoh Narmer on the obverse side of the Narmer Palette. Protodynastic hieroglyphics are difficult to read, but the dead lapwings (meaning Lower Egyptians) and the nine bows (meaning the traditional enemies of Egyptians) found on the macehead are interpreted as evidence that he began the attacks on Lower Egypt which eventually resulted in Narmer's victory and unification of the country. [Edwards, I.E.S., "The Early Dynastic Period in Egypt." in "The Cambridge Ancient History," vol. 1, part 2, ed. Edwards, I.E.S, et al. p. 6. Cambridge University Press, 1965.] The lapwing was also used as a hieroglyph meaning "common people", so the standards they are attached to may represent the names of particular towns Scorpion conquered. [Clayton, Peter A. Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. 2006. ISBN 0-500-28628-0]

A second, smaller mace head fragment depicts Scorpion wearing the Red Crown of Lower Egypt and is referred to as the "Minor Scorpion mace head". [F. J. Yurco, "Narmer: First King of Upper and Lower Egypt. A Reconsideration of his Palette and Macehead" in "Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities", No. 25, 1995, Figure 1] Little is left of this mace head, though it clearly depicts the pharaoh wearing the Red Crown of Lower Egypt.

There are several theories regarding his identity. Some would argue that because Egyptian kings of the First Dynasty seem to have had multiple names, [David P. Silverman, David O'Connor, "Ancient Egyptian Kingship", Brill 1995, p.9] that Scorpion was the same person as Narmer, simply with an alternate name. Others have argued that the name of Narmer's predecessor, Ka, is simply a stylistically different version of a scorpion, and that both kings are the same person, who would have been named Sekhen. [Edwards, I.E.S., "The Early Dynastic Period in Egypt." in "The Cambridge Ancient History," vol. 1, part 2, ed. Edwards, I.E.S, et al. p. 3. Cambridge University Press, 1965.] Because Scorpion II is not attested at Abydos, he could be a contemporary king to Narmer who eventually lost or bequeathed Nekhen to Narmer.

In popular culture

*Scorpion's name was borrowed for the 2002 film "The Scorpion King".
*William Golding's novel "The Scorpion God" is loosely based upon this period of Egyptian History.
*A villain named Scorpion claims lineage with the king in the 1997 film "Legend of the Lost Tomb".

ee also

* Pharaoh
* Scorpion I
* Narmer
* Menes

References