KBC Offline Quiz: What title was given to the rulers in ancient Egypt?
Sultan
Emperor
Pharaoh
Maharaja
Answer: Pharaoh
Pharaoh was once the name of the Egyptian royal palace. Under the New Kingdom (beginning in the 18th dynasty, 1539-1292 BCE), the word came to be employed as a metonym for the Egyptian king; by the 22nd dynasty (c. 945–c. 730 BCE), it had become a term of honor. Although it was never the king’s official title, the Hebrew Bible is the source of its current use as a collective name for all Egyptian kings.
Five names, each followed by one of the following titles, were used to identify the Egyptian pharaoh in official papers. These names were: Horus, Two Ladies, Golden Horus, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, and Son of Re. He received the last name at birth and the others at the coronation.
The Egyptians thought that their pharaoh served as a liaison between the domain of the gods and the world of mortals. After passing away, the pharaoh assumed divine form, identified with Osiris, the god of the dead and father of Horus, and gave his son the authority and status of the new pharaoh. Allegorical representations of the pharaoh’s divine position include the fact that his uraeus (the snake on his crown) spewed flames at his foes, that he could crush thousands of opponents at once, and that he was all-knowing, in complete control of nature and fertility.
The pharaoh, a divine monarch, was responsible for maintaining the maat, or god-given order. He controlled the usage of most of Egypt’s territory, was in charge of the material and spiritual well-being of his people, and administered justice to his subjects. He ruled by royal edict, and his will was absolute. However, in order to rule properly, the pharaoh had to assign jobs. His principal helper was the vizier, who was also in charge of the treasury, the chief justice, and all records. Under this centralized rule, the nomes, or provinces, into which Upper and Lower Egypt were split, carried out the pharaoh’s regal will.
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