Hist. Channel's Scorpion King Doc.

[Azure]

Here'a a link to Archaeology Magazine's review of the history Channel's Scorpion King Documentary, in case anyone else was thinking about watching it.

http://www.archaeology.org/magazine.php?page=0205/reviews/scorpion

[Earthcup]

Sounds interesting.... didn't know the movie was based in fact. They couldn't keep facts straight through the two "Mummy's"..
*grumble gripe grumble*

My brother said his fave April Fool's joke was hearing they were starring the Rock in a movie, he stopped laughing when he learned it was true...:lol:

I'll have to catch this!

[Danustouch]

Woohoo! it replayed around midnight or one am this morning (I still havent' gone to bed), and I caught it! Very good program! The only thing I didn't like about it, was the constant showing of scorpions. I don't like icky crawly skittery things.

[Theres]

damn, missed it again! i really wanted to see this, since my knowledge of pre-dynastic Egypt is sadly lacking, and i have absolutely NO intention of watching another crappy 'Mummy' remake.

[Calixto]

It gave a lot of information about Dynasty 0 and King Scorpion, who among other things, apparently set the standard for the tomb design and funerary offerings of Kemet, invented a form of hieroglyphic writing earlier even than Sumerian Cuneioform, and unified Upper Egypt, which eventually led to the unification of the Two Lands.

Very informative.

The discovery channel was doing one too...but I can't find it's listing any more.

[Danustouch]

Yes...I was surprised at how much this King possibly contributed to Egyptian Society, and yet, he was so unknown for such a long time!

[Calixto]

I don't find it that surprising...

For so long, Dynasty I was seen as a radical change from the Predynastic period.

Dynasty 0 and Dynasty 00 is showing that there is actually far more continuity than previously thought...all thanks to the discoveries at Abydos. However while Pharoahs diligently combined images of both lands...its pretty obvious that Upper Egypt was dominant culturally, to me at least.

My question is: Who were the Nisuts later seen as Asar and Hor. I have a suspicion that King Scorpion could be Asar...with all the fighting with Naqeda and its patron Seth...its a possibility. Remember, Asar was supposedly buried at Abydos.

My other big question is: Who was the Menes of Manethos Aegyptiaca and who was Narner?

Another wierd thing about Seth...

In Dynasty I, a set of the Pharaohs of the dynasty began to use Set/Sutekh as the divine symbol in their Serekhs (early forms of Cartouches), rather than Horus...then a Pharoah after them came along and put both on his Serekh and his name meant "He Who United the Two Powers." Some think that Seth worshippers siezed partial control and there could have been a civil war.

Until Pharoah Seti I of the XIXth Dynasty, there was not a single Pharoah who used Set/Seth/Sutekh in his name...almost two millenia later. Interestingly when Seti I built a temple to Osiris, he put his name down there as a variant of Asar/Osiris rather than Set, out of respect.

I found some interesting links on the subject of Predynastic Egypt and Dynastic history as well.


Predynastic Egypt (http://www.egyptologyonline.com/predynastic.htm)
More Predynastic and Early Dynastic Stuff (http://members.xoom.virgilio.it/francescoraf/)

An excellent overview of Egyptian History (http://www.friesian.com/notes/oldking.htm)

Great Coverage of History in General (http://www.friesian.com/philhist.htm)