(Hor-Aha, Menes) (d. c. 2900 B.C.E.) First ruler of the First Dynasty (r. 2920–2575 B.C.E.)
A Thinite, who could trace his lineage to THINIS, near ABYDOS in Upper Egypt, he was also called Hor-Aha, the “Fighting Hawk.” Aha is now believed to be the legendary MENES, as the name Men appears as one of his ROYAL NAMES. In the tomb of his mother, NEITHOTEP, however, a small ivory was discovered that depicted Aha and Menes side by side. Aha’s relationship to NARMER, who started the unification of Egypt, is also open to speculation. Neithotep is believed to have been a consort of Narmer, given to him to seal alliances with local Delta clans.
Aha is the ruler recorded as founding the city of MEMPHIS, known also as Ineb Hedj, the White Walled. The capital was formed by Aha when he deflected the course of the Nile with a dam south of the present site. Memphis bore the name Hiku-Ptah, or Hut-Ka-Ptah, translated as “the Mansion of the Soul of Ptah.” The Greeks transformed that into Aigyptos, the modern designation of the land. Although Aha did not control all of Egypt, he consolidated his power in Memphis and began a central government. He even managed to claim land in NUBIA, modern Sudan, conducting a campaign there and commemorating the event with a wooden label found in Abydos.
Aha established trade with Palestine and Syria while campaigning to bring more of Egypt under his control. A temple honoring the god PTAH was erected at Memphis in Aha’s reign, and he built a shrine to the goddess NEITH in SAIS in the eastern Delta. Aha also established the cult of the Apis bulls in the capital.
The historian MANETHO credits him with about 63 years on the throne, mentioning that he is supposed to have been slain by a hippopotamus. Another legend claims that he was saved from enemies by riding on the back of a crocodile. Aha built a temple in the Faiyum to SOBEK, the crocodile deity.
Queen BERENIB was his consort, or the ranking queen. Aha’s son and heir, DJER, was the child of a lesser ranked queen, HENT (1), and he also wed TEY. These women probably were buried beside Aha in SAQQARA, the necropolis, of Memphis. Aha’s CENOTAPH tomb at Abydos erected at Umm el-Ga’ab, is the largest in the area. It is a brick-lined structure, rectangular in form and adorned with corner bastions and towers. A subterranean chamber was designed for burial, and wooden poles were used in the construction. Servants and courtiers were slain or died willingly to accompany Aha into the next world at Abydos.
His tomb in Saqqara is a pit cut into the rock, with 27 magazines on the ground level and five subterranean chambers. Made of mud brick, this tomb was decorated with the “palace facade” design. A boat pit on the north side of the tomb contained a SOLAR BOAT. There were enclosure walls provided as well. The remains of young
Egyptian men were found in the complex, obviously slain or dying by their own hand to accompany Aha into eternity. There were also seven young lions buried in subsidiary graves in the complex of Aha, the animals representing royal strength.
Ahenobarbus aided Marc ANTONY in his effort to become master of the Roman world. The son of a prominent family that wielded much influence in the Roman Senate, he bore the name Ahenobarbus, or “red beard,” because of the traditional tale that a distant ancestor had his beard turned that color by the gods Castor and Pollux. He was also noted as the grandfather of the future emperor Nero.
Originally Ahenobarbus backed Brutus and the Liberators who had assassinated Julius CAESAR, calling for the continuation of the Roman Republic. Following the defeat of the Republicans after Caesar’s assassination in 44 B.C.E., Ahenobarbus fled Rome and was forced to survive by working as a pirate in the Mediterranean. In 40 B.C.E., he was reconciled with Marc Antony (who had declared himself against the Liberators), serving him as the governor of Anatolia (modern Turkey) until 35 B.C.E. He was a consul of Rome when Marc Antony and OCTAVIAN, the future Augustus and first emperor of Rome, proved unable to remain political allies. Ahenobarbus went with Antony to ALEXANDRIA, Egypt, but soon found CLEOPATRA VII (51–30 B.C.E.), Antony’s famed lover, to be an evil influence. He charged that she was opposed to traditional Roman values and, when Antony declined to heed his counsel, Ahenobarbus deserted Antony’s cause just before the Battle of ACTIUM in 31 B.C.E. He died soon after, supposedly of remorse, but probably from a terminal illness. His foul temper was legendary.
