- A king of ancient Egypt.
- A tyrant.
[Middle English Pharao, from Late Latin Pharaō, from Greek, from Hebrew par‘ō, from Egyptian pr-‘’ : pr, house + ‘’, great.]
Pharaonic Phar'a·on'ic (fâr'ā-ŏn'ĭk) adj.
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[Middle English Pharao, from Late Latin Pharaō, from Greek, from Hebrew par‘ō, from Egyptian pr-‘’ : pr, house + ‘’, great.]
Pharaonic Phar'a·on'ic (fâr'ā-ŏn'ĭk) adj.For more information on pharaoh, visit Britannica.com.
The title taken by the rulers of ancient Egypt who assumed the duel duties of king and god. Each line of pharaohs formed a dynasty, 31 in all. The title originates from the Egyptian term for ‘great house’.
See also Dynasties of Ancient Egypt (table).
The title of the kings of ancient Egypt. In the story of Joseph and his brothers, a pharaoh puts Joseph in charge of his entire kingdom. In the Book of Exodus, a pharaoh repeatedly refuses the request of Moses to let the Israelites leave the country and does not give in until after the worst of the ten plagues of Egypt.
The kings of ancient Egypt. The pharaohs headed strong governments. They are remembered for establishing extensive irrigation systems and for building as tombs the imposing pyramids, which still stand today.
| Dynasties of Pharaohs in Ancient Egypt |
| Predynastic Egypt |
| Protodynastic Period |
| Early Dynastic Period |
| 1st 2nd |
| Old Kingdom |
| 3rd 4th 5th 6th |
| First Intermediate Period |
| 7th 8th 9th 10th |
| 11th (Thebes only) |
| Middle Kingdom |
| 11th (All Egypt) |
| 12th 13th 14th |
| Second Intermediate Period |
| 15th 16th 17th |
| New Kingdom |
| 18th 19th 20th |
| Third Intermediate Period |
| 21st 22nd
23rd 24th 25th 26th |
| First Persian Period |
| Late Period |
| 28th 29th 30th |
| Second Persian Period |
| Graeco-Roman Period |
| Alexander the Great |
| Ptolemaic Dynasty |
| Roman Egypt |
| Arab Conquest |
Pharaoh was the ancient Egyptian name for the office of kingship. The term began as a reference to the king's palace, but the meaning loosened over the course of Egyptian history until in the late period it was interchangeable with the Egyptian word for king. Contrary to many languages, the same word was used for any ruler of Egypt, female or male. Such rulers were believed to be the incarnation of Horus.[1]
| pharaoh "pr-`3" in hieroglyphs |
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The term Pharaoh ultimately derives from a compound word written as pr-`3 also spelt par'o in texts, used only in larger phrases like smr pr-`3 'Courtier of the Great House', with specific reference to the buildings of the court or palace itself.[2] From the Twelfth Dynasty onward the word appears in a wish formula 'Great Home, may it live, prosper, and be in health', but only with reference to the buildings of the alexa
However, the earliest instance where pr-`3 is used specifically to address the king is in a letter to Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) in the mid-Eighteenth Dynasty (1550-1292 BC) which is addressed to 'Pharaoh, all life, prosperity, and health!'.[3] . From the Nineteenth Dynasty onwards pr-`3 on its own was used as regularly as hm.f 'His Majesty'. The term therefore evolved from one specifically referring to a building to a respectful designation for the king or prince, particularly by the Twenty-Second Dynasty and Twenty-Third Dynasty. By this time, the Late Egyptian word is reconstructed to have been pronounced *par-ʕoʔ whence comes Ancient Greek φαραώ pharaō and then Late Latin pharaō. From the latter, English obtained the word "Pharaoh". Over time, *par-ʕoʔ evolved into Sahidic Coptic prro and then rro (by mistaking p- as the definite article prefix "the" from Ancient Egyptian p3).
A similar development, with a word originally denoting an attribute of the king eventually coming to refer to the person, can be discerned in a later period with the Arabic term Sultan.
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The king of Egypt wore a double crown, created from the Red Crown of Lower Egypt and the White Crown of Upper Egypt. In battle, the pharaoh wore a blue crown of a different shape. All of these crowns typically were adorned by a uraeus, which was doubled under the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty.
The pharaoh also wore a striped headcloth called the nemes, which may be the most
familiar pharaonic headgear. The nemes was sometimes combined with the double crown, as it is on the statues of
Ramesses II at
The pharaoh would also wear a false beard made of goat hair during rituals and ceremonies. [1]
Egyptologist Bob Brier has noted that despite its widespread depiction in royal portraits,
no ancient Egyptian crown ever has been discovered. Tutankhamun's tomb, discovered largely
intact, did contain such regal items as his crook and
The official titulary of the king by the Middle Kingdom consisted of five names; for some rulers, only one or two of them may be known.
Of the three great non-consort Queens of Egypt (Hatshepsut, Sobeknefru, and Twosret), at least Hatshepsut took the title pharaoh in the absence of an existing word for "Queen regnant". Also notable is Nefertiti who was made co-regent (the pharaoh's equal) during the reign of Akhenaten. Some scholars further suspect that her disappearance coincides with the rise of Smenkhkare to the throne after Akhenaten's death, making Nefertiti yet another woman who became pharaoh in Egyptian history. Although not typical, there are instances of women who were pharaoh early in Egyptian history also and its last pharaoh was Cleopatra VII. The royal lineage was traced through its women and a pharaoh had to be from that lineage or married to one of them if coming from without the lineage. This was the reason for all of the intermarriages in the royal families of Egypt.
During the eighteenth dynasty (sixteenth to fourteenth centuries B.C.) the title Pharaoh was employed as a reverential designation of the king. About the late twenty-first dynasty (tenth century B.C.), however, instead of being used alone as before, it began to be added to the other titles before the king's name, and from the twenty-fifth dynasty (eighth to seventh centuries B.C.) it was, at least in ordinary usage, the only title prefixed to the royal appellative. For instance, the first dated instance of the title Pharaoh being attached to a king's name occurs in Year 17 of Siamun on a fragment from the Karnak Priestly Annals. Here, an induction of an individual to the Amun priesthood is dated specifically to the reign of Pharaoh Siamun. This new practise was continued under his successor Psusennes II and the twenty-first Dynasty kings. Meanwhile the old custom of referring to the sovereign simply as Per'o continued in traditional Egyptian narratives.
The Biblical use of the term reflects Egyptian usage with fair accuracy. The early kings always are mentioned under the general title Pharaoh, or Pharaoh the King of Egypt; but personal names begin to appear with the twenty-second dynasty, although the older designation is still used, especially when contemporary rulers are spoken of. The absence of proper names in the first books of the Bible is no indication of the late date of their composition and of writer's vague knowledge of Egyptian history, rather to the contrary. The same is true of the use of the title Pharaoh for kings earlier than the eighteenth dynasty, which is quite in keeping with Egyptian usage at the time of the nineteenth dynasty.
The first king mentioned by name in the Bible is Shishaq (probably Sheshonk I), the founder of the twenty-second dynasty and contemporary of Rehoboam and Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:40; 2 Chronicles 12:2 sqq.). The term Pharaoh is prefixed to his name in the Great Dakhla stela—as in Pharaoh Shoshenq—which dates to Year 5 of his reign.
The next king, So—an ally of Hoshea—King of Israel (2 Kings 17:4), is commonly identified with Osorkon IV, who was a minor pharaoh at Tanis who ruled over a divided Egypt. He was contemporary with Tefnakht of Sais and Nimlot of Hermopolis among many other Egyptian rulers.
Taharqa, who was the opponent of Sennacherib, is called King of Ethiopia (2 Kings 19:9; Isaiah 37:9), and hence is not given the title Pharaoh which he bears in Egyptian documents.
Necho II, who defeated Josiah (2 Kings 23:29 sqq.; 2 Chronicles 35:20 sqq.), and Ephree or Hophra, the contemporary of Sedecius (Jeremiah 44:30), are styled Pharaoh Neco and Pharaoh Ephree, according to the Egyptian usage.
Unnamed Pharaohs of the Bible:
The Pharaoh Nimrod ruled over Egypt in the day of Abraham's childhood. Books to reference are See Vermes, Scripture and Tradition in Judaism, 70–72; Beer, Leben Abraham's, 9–14.
| Ancient Egypt-related topics | |
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Architecture · Art · Chronology · Cuisine · Dynasties · Geography · History · Mathematics · Medicine · Religion · Pharaohs · People · Language · Sites · Technology · Writing Egyptology · Egyptologists · Egyptology portal |
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| Notable Ancient Egyptian Rulers | ||
|---|---|---|
| Early Dynastic Rulers | Narmer · Hor-Aha · Menes | |
| Old Kingdom Rulers | Djoser · Sneferu · Khufu · Khafra · Menkaura · Pepi II | |
| Middle Kingdom Rulers | Mentuhotep II · Mentuhotep IV ·
Senusret III · |
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| New Kingdom Rulers | Hatshepsut ·
Thutmose III · |
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| Other Rulers | Shoshenq I · Piye · Taharqa · Psammetichus I · Necho II · Psammetichus III · Ptolemy I · Cleopatra VII · Ptolemy XIII | |
| Consorts | Tetisheri · Ahmose-Nefertari · Ahmose · Tiye · Nefertiti · Ankhesenamun · Nefertari · Mark Antony | |
| Court officials | Imhotep · Weni · Ahmose, son of Ebana · Ineni · Senemut · Rekhmire · Yuya · Maya · Yuny · Manetho · Pothinus | |
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Français (French)
n. - pharaon, Pharaon (titre)
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ιστ.) Φαραώ
Português (Portuguese)
n. - faraó (m)
中文(简体) (Chinese (Simplified))
法老王, 暴君
中文(繁體) (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 法老王, 暴君
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 파라오, 바로(고대 이집트 왕의 칭호), 전제국왕
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) فرعون : أحد ملوك مصر القدماء, حاكم متجبر, مستبد
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