The Most Important Historical Sources for Understanding the Pharaohs

When attempting to document the lives of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs, historians and archaeologists have had to rely on a number of documentary sources. Unlike the annals used by the authors of the histories of other civilizations, Egypt’s ancient royal dynasty’s biographies, wars, building projects, and religions were recorded in a variety of mediums.

For modern historians, it is necessary to analyze all these sources in order to understand the actual lives of the Pharaohs and the way their authority was used to rule the Nile valley for three millennia.

1. Monuments and Hieroglyphic Inscriptions

2. The Pharaohs’ Records and Chronology

3. Correspondence and Royal Orders

4. The King’s Tomb and Accessories

5. Other Sources

1. Monuments and Hieroglyphic Inscriptions

The most common sources of information about the ancient Egyptian Pharaohs are the monolithic inscriptions found on the rocks, temple walls, and inside the tombs of Egypt’s ancient kings.

A. Temples’ Walls and Commemorative Stela’s Inscriptions

It has been traditional for the Pharaohs to record their achievements on large stone blocks, either to erect them as public monuments or to carve them onto the walls of Egypt’s temples and their mausoleums. Such inscriptions and reliefs depict the battles fought and won by the king, his building projects, and his public life in general. Notable examples of this type of historical sources include the Merneptah and Piye Victory Stela’s inscriptions, recording the wars of Pharaohs Merneptah and Piye.

B. The Divine Meaning of the Inscriptions

It is essential to keep in mind that the content of most inscriptions has been created with the notion of the divine right of the king. All the Pharaohs considered themselves to be the earthly representatives of Horus, one of the most important Egyptian Gods, and the upholders of Ma’at, the principle of truth and order. Therefore, the content of most inscriptions made by the Pharaohs depict their victories, piety, prosperity, and the glory of their military conquests. Nevertheless, the historians and archaeologists can use this information to understand how the ancient Egyptian kings saw themselves and what they thought about their enemies.

2. The Pharaohs’ Records and Chronology

Since the chronology of dynasties has been one of the central concepts used by historians in their attempts to document the lives and reigns of Ancient Egyptian kings, the historians’ understanding of the Pharaohs has been based on the various lists of kings recorded by the ancient Egyptians themselves.

A. Temples’ and Tombs’ Lists of Kings

A few monuments of the ancient Egyptian civilization contain lists of kings in chronological order. The most important of these lists include:

The Abydos King List – the list of 76 kings, incised on the temple walls of Seti I, with the kings of the First Intermediate period deliberately left out.

The Turin Royal Canon – a set of papyrus scrolls containing the chronological records of kings and their reigns, including the duration of each reign in months and days.

The Palermo Stone – a basalt tablet recording the revenues, Nile’s inundation levels, and festivals of kings of the Old Kingdom.

B. The Records of Manetho and the List of Dynasties

The chronological lists of the Pharaohs recorded by the ancient Egyptian scribes have formed the basis for the modern historians’ understanding of the dynastic history of Ancient Egypt, including the genealogies of families and the succession of power within them. This information has been corroborated by the records of the native priest Manetho, who lived during the late period of Ancient Egypt and wrote a history of his country, dividing the long history of the Pharaohs into thirty-one dynasties.

3. Correspondence and Royal Orders

While the monumental inscriptions and lists of kings provide the modern historians with a wealth of information about the accomplishments of the ancient Egyptian rulers, the royal decrees and letters sent by the Pharaohs to the governors of Egypt provide insight into the details of the royal court life and the administrative organization of the country.

A. The Documents of the Court, Decrees, and Letters

The royal orders issued by the Pharaohs, as well as the letters sent by them and their replies, contain detailed information about the economic, military, and administrative affairs of the country. The letters and decrees issued by the Pharaohs were typically stored in the vaults of Egypt’s temples, and many of them have been discovered by modern historians. For example, the papyrus scroll recording the orders of the New Kingdom’s pharaoh relate to the labor duties of the masons working on the Valley of the Kings’ tombs. Therefore, historians can use this information to understand how the royal family of Ancient Egypt lived and what projects their rulers undertook.

B. The Amarna Letters

The most important collection of the ancient Egyptian letters, recording the diplomatic history of the country, is known as the Amarna letters. This collection of about three hundred letters was discovered by modern historians in the ruins of the city of Akhetaten, the capital of the short-lived reign of Akhenaten. The letters were written by the kings of Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, Mitanni, and the Hatti, as well as the vassal lords of the region, and they represent the unique source of information about the foreign policy of the Eighteenth dynasty of Ancient Egypt. The letters shed light on the relationships between Egypt and its neighbors, as well as the internal affairs of the royal court of the Pharaohs.

4. The King’s Tomb and Accessories

Another important category of sources that contribute to the modern understanding of the Pharaohs’ lives consists of the tombs of the kings and the numerous artifacts buried with them.

A. The Life of the Pharaoh and His Burial Rites

The architecture of the Pharaohs’ tombs speaks of the history of the political and religious power of the kings. The early dynastic Pharaohs built their mastabas, a symbolic representation of their house in the next life, on the territory of Abydos. The Old Kingdom’s Pharaohs constructed vast pyramids made of stone, while the New Kingdom’s rulers were buried in tombs carved into the rocks. The royal tombs of the New Kingdom’s Pharaohs were elaborately decorated with religious paintings and texts, among which the most famous are the Pyramid Texts and the Book of the Dead.

B. Buried Possessions and Personal Effects

The personal effects buried with the Pharaohs provide the modern historians with a glimpse into the economic and even personal aspects of the lives of Egypt’s kings. Apart from the personal belongings worn by the deceased, elaborate carriages, weapons, and foodstuffs, the Pharaohs were buried with the riches collected from conquered lands and various writings depicting the events of their lives and the history of Ancient Egypt itself. The discovery of the Pharaoh’s tomb with all its treasures, the most famous example of which is the burial vault of Tutankhamun, is an important source of information about the wealth and the lifestyle of Ancient Egypt.

5. Other Sources

The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt played a highly important role in the history of the entire Mediterranean region, and many of the civilizations that were contemporary with Egypt’s royal dynasty recorded their histories and wars with the Egyptian kings. Therefore, the ancient sources containing information about the Pharaohs also include the writings of contemporary foreign historians.

A. The Historians and Sources of the Ancient World

The historians and geographers of the classical world, including the Greek and Roman writers who lived after the period of the Pharaohs, described Egypt, its capital Thebes, and its kings in their works. In particular, authors such as Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, and Strabo acknowledged the achievements of Ancient Egypt and its Pharaohs, while Manetho, the Egyptian contemporary of the Ptolemaic dynasty, recorded the lives of Egypt’s ancient kings. Nevertheless, most classical writers tended to describe the lives of the Pharaohs in mythological terms, mixing the real people with various legendary heroes.

B. The Sources Recorded by Ancient Civilizations

The annals of the contemporary civilizations contain numerous references to the wars with the Pharaohs and their kingdoms, providing modern historians with invaluable information about the political and military history of Ancient Egypt. The surviving letters and treaties between the kings of Egypt, Assyria, the Hatti, Mitanni, Babylon, and the neighboring states and their neighbors’ vassal lords provide scholars with an insight into the foreign policy of the Pharaohs.

Conclusion

The lives of the Pharaohs can only be fully understood when all the sources contributing to the knowledge of Ancient Egypt are considered. The monumental inscriptions found on the walls of Egypt’s temples and tombs contain the most important information about the achievements of the Pharaohs and their understanding of their role in history. Nevertheless, the annals and decrees of the kings, recorded on papyrus, allow the modern historians to recreate the events of the daily life of Ancient Egypt in detail. The study of the tombs and their accessories provides scholars with information about the wealth and the personal life of the Pharaohs and their families. All these sources, both monumental and documentary, combined together, enable the scholars to form a complete understanding of the Pharaohs’ lives and the way their power influenced the history of Egypt for thousands of years.