Talk:Semerkhet

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Semerkhet or Mereskhet?[edit]

Noted that Semerkhet's first two hieroglyphs of his Horus name has been switched.

The picture on the hieroglyps box shows the order of the hieroglyphs as Mer-es-khet, as does Petrie's Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty, Vol I, plate XXVIII. It is clear that the correct order of the hieroglyps should be

and not

This implies that the name should be read Mer-es-khet (MdC: mr-s-Xt) and not Se-mer-khet. I don't know the reasoning by Egyptologists as to why, but has the name been conformed to fit with Manetho's Semempses?

— Preceding unsigned comment added by PLstrom (talk • contribs)

Look at the stele of Semerkhet on the article page, the S29 is pointing in the same direction as the F32 (i.e. left to right reading but wiki commons code do not allows to reverse F32 with respect to S29) and thus precedes U23. It follows that the name is read Semerkhet. Iry-Hor (talk) 09:06, 16 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

But in this special case the I.P.-user is right: the Horus-falcon looks into the "wrong" direction! According to a correct reading as "Semerkhet" the god should look to the right, not to the left. It is thought by archaeologists, that the tombs of early dynasties had two stelae, each on every side of the entering portal. The Horus-falcons both look to the door (therefore facing each other), ignoring the writing direction of the name inside the serekh. A good example for this tradition is king Peribsen, of whom two stelae were found. The Seth-animals are facing each other, too. And for the hellenized name "Semempses" (or "Mempses"): Manetho never used the Horusnames of the kings, he used te birth- or nebtynames. Semerkhet´s nebty-name was "Iry", but misread in later times as "Semsem" - which makes "Mempses" in hellenized style! ;-) Cheers;--Nephiliskos (talk) 15:19, 16 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Cheers for clearing that up guys!! Small facts like this is very hard to find. Peter Lundström 20:29, 16 April 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by PLstrom (talk • contribs)

Just took an extra look at Petrie's book and the serekhs from tomb U seem to follow the same pattern, with the S as the second sign, not the first. Here's a screenshot of it: http://www.flickr.com/photos/xorpid/6935358294/ --Peter Lundström 20:41, 16 April 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by PLstrom (talk • contribs)

No no no ! Clearly on your flickr photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/xorpid/6935358294/ the S is poiting from right to left (look the small arm of the S is on the left) and thus the hieroglyphs must be read from right to left, i.e. S and then MER and finally KHET giving Semerkhet. I agree that the orientation of the horus on top of the serekh is irrelevant. Iry-Hor (talk) 08:58, 17 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Dat´s true. The problem is, that the Horus-bird or Seth-animal ALWAYS look to the left on clay seals whenever mentioning the actual name of the king to whom the seal inscription was adressed. Proof it! No matter in which direction the seal inscription was setted, the serekh-patrons look ALWAYS to the left. Cheers;--Nephiliskos (talk) 09:11, 17 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It does not matter here, the name must be read Semerkhet. Plus one must be very careful about the orientation of the serekh patron unless we have the original in front of us: many photos on the web have been mirrored which makes the whole thing look weird sometimes. Iry-Hor (talk) 09:20, 17 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Meh, it was just a general tip how to avoid those misunderstandings. -.- This mirroring of pics in the internet is a reason why I always consult mah precious books whenever watching or drawing a depicting of a seal or inscribed artifact. Cheers;--Nephiliskos (talk) 09:31, 17 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Awesome guys! Cheers for the info. Getting to know stuff like this is hard to come by so thanks again! — Preceding unsigned comment added by PLstrom (talk • contribs) 13:46, 18 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hieroglyph signs[edit]

Is it just me or is there a problem with the hieroglyph signs not appearing properly ? I see the wiki codes for the signs instead of the signs themselves. This only happens on a few pages such as this one. Other hieroglyph pages appear fine. Iry-Hor (talk) 12:26, 18 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Ancient Egyptian retainer sacrifices[edit]

The information on the people buried with him does not seem quite in line with the article on this subject in Wikipedia, and seems to be taken from rather outdated sources. So best to bring it in line with the info mentioned in Ancient Egyptian retainer sacrifices 86.88.133.96 (talk) 15:26, 9 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]