The Bones of Hen Nekht, An Egyptian King of The Third Dynasty

127. The Bones of Hen Nekht, an Egyptian King of the Third Dynasty.
Author(s): Charles S. Myers

Source: Man, Vol. 1 (1901), pp. 152-153
Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland
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MAN.
1901.]
[No. 127.
Egypt.
Myers.
The Bones of Hen Nekht, an Egyptian King of the Third Dyncasty.
By
127
Charles S. Myers (Cf. MAN, 1901. 131).

From arelheological data, it appears that Hen Nekht ruled over Egypt in the Third
Dyinasty, about 4000 In.c. His tomb, with its contents of bones and pottery, was
discovered last seasornnear Girgeh, by Mr. John Garstang, to whom my thanks are due
for permission to publish these remarks before they are included in the official report,
which xvill appear later through the aid of the Egyptian Research Account.
The bones of Hen Nekht are interesting, not only because he is by far the earliest
known king whose remains have been founid, but because they are the first which can
SIDE.
BACK.
p~~~~~~~
FRONT.
TOP.
with any certainty be dated as belonoino to the Third Dynasty. They proclaim him to
have been a man of iuniusual height. His stature probably exceeded 1870 millimetres,
wbile the average stature of later and prehistoric Egyptians was 1670 millimetres. The
proportions of his long bones to one another were such as characterise negroid skeletons,
a condition frequently observed in the prehistoric period, and commonly in the later
period of the early empire. The skull was very massive and capacious, and extraordiinarily broad for an Egyptian, the cranial index coming almost within the bounds of
[ 152 ]

MAN.
1901.]
[Nos. 127-128.
bracliycephaly. Its features agreed more closely with those of dynastic than with
those of prehistoric skulls.
We turn now to history for the mention of an early Egyptian king of phenomenal
stature. To such a king both Manetbo and Eratosthenes allude. According to the
former historian he was Sesochris, penultimate king of the Second (Thinite) Dynasty;
according to the latter he was Momcheiri, first king of the Third (Memphite) Dynasty.
It is in the highest degree probable that these are two names of one and the same king.
The view I here offer,seoms to solve many difficulties.
Mr. Randall-Maclver's measurements mnakeit probable that from the late prehistoric
times onward, a people distinguished by broader heads, louger noses, a-ndother characters
gradually made their way and became absorbed into the long-headed population of This
and its neighbourhood. These broader-headed people formed the ruling class of the
earliest dynasties.
According to history and tradition they founded Memphis, and
doubtless multiplied there. By the Third Dynasty, according to Manetho, they beganto
build houses of hewn stone, and probably they constructed the earliest Egyptian
pyramids. They developed at Memphis a remarkable school of sculpture, soon producing
the most life-like wooden statue of a man that has ever been made ; he, too, was broadheaded. Up to the time of Hen Nekht, the broader-headed line of kings styled themselves Thinite, and continued to be buried near Tbis, in conformity with the ancient
tradition of the people with whom they had come into contact. In the end, however,
Memphis outvied This, and kings who succeeded Hen Nekht began to forsake the
simple Thinite burials for the pyramids of Saqqarah, Gizeh, and Abousir. Thus Hen
Nekht may be considered in name and culture to be of the Third. or Memphite Dynasty;
but, by his burial near This, came to be regarded as belonging to the previous Thinite
Dynasty.
The broader-headed race above mentioned is commonly thought to have arrived
first in the Nile Valley at Koptos (Quft) from Punt, a land sacred to the later Egyptians,
the situation of which it is conjectured was near Somaliland and the opposite coast,
There is, however, some geological evidence to show that the Red Sea extended in
historic times through the lakes near to Ismailia. Accordingly the people of Punt,
wandering northward from their home along the shores of the Red Sea, could conceivably
have made their way with ease to the Nile Valley nearer Memphis. It is, however, not
less probable that Asia rather than Punt was the home of this broader-headed race.
The earliest dynastic Egyptians used the Babylonian seals and the Babylonian cubit.
To Asia and Central Europe we are wonit to look for the broader-headed people.
Moreover, according to the Greek legend,* Memphis was founded by the marriage of
Memphis, daughter of the Nile, with Epaphus, who born of' the Grecian lo (Isis) was
carried off when a babe to Syria, and brouglht back by his mother to Egypt.
Scotland:
Pigmentation.
Gray:
Tocher.
128
The Frequency and Pigmnentation Value of Surnames of School Children in

East Aberdeenshire. By J. F. Tocher, F.I.C., and J. Gray, B. Sc.
IU
In the course of a pigmentation survey carried out by us in East Aberdeenshire in
1896 and 1897 we obtained the statistics of the surnames and pigmentatio-n of 14,561
(practically the whole) school children there. An analysis of the physical characteristics,
apart from the surnames, has already been published.t The present paper deals with
the distribution of the frequency of surnames and their correlation with pigmentation.
We have found that among the 14,561 children there are 751 different surnames. The
frequency of these surnames varies between 1 and 267, Milne being the most frequent,
the next in order being Smith, Taylor, Stephen, and Bruce. If the surnames are
* Cf. Ridgeway, Eatrly Age of Greece, I. 217.
t Joworn.AntAfr,Inst. Vol. XXX., pp. 104-125,

1bZ5 j


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127. The Bones of Hen Nekht, an Egyptian King of the Third Dynasty.

Author(s): Charles S. Myers

This content downloaded from 130.216.158.78 on Sat, 30 Aug 2014 00:59:33 AM

The Bones of Hen Nekht, an Egyptian King of the Third Dyncasty.

Charles S. Myers (Cf. MAN, 1901. 131).

This content downloaded from 130.216.158.78 on Sat, 30 Aug 2014 00:59:33 AM

The Frequency and Pigmnentation Value of Surnames of School Children in

t Joworn.AntAfr,Inst. Vol. XXX., pp. 104-125,

This content downloaded from 130.216.158.78 on Sat, 30 Aug 2014 00:59:33 AM

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