Djer

Djer was the son of Hor-Aha and of Khenthap, a queen whom the Palermo Stone names as his mother. The first entry for his reign records his accession as the "uniting of Upper and Lower Egypt": the unity of the country was still a ceremony that each new king performed. Some scholars think that Neithhotep, Narmer's queen, governed for a time before Djer came of age, but this rests on indirect evidence.

The Palermo Stone and its Cairo fragment preserve entries for his first ten years and for several later ones. They record festivals, the making of images of gods and the height of the yearly Nile flood, on which the harvest depended. A seal impression shows Djer wearing both the White Crown of Upper Egypt and the Red Crown of Lower Egypt, and seals name officials who served him, such as Amka, who began his career under Djer and became royal steward under Djet.

The Cairo Stone names one of his years as the "year of smiting the land of Setjet", which may mean Sinai or the lands beyond it in south-western Asia. A rock inscription near Wadi Halfa in Nubia, with Djer's serekh above scenes of captives, has been taken as evidence of a campaign as far as the Second Cataract, but its date and authenticity are questioned. Canaanite pottery in Egyptian graves of this period shows lively trade with the southern Levant.

Djer's tomb O at Umm el-Qa'ab is a large brick-lined pit surrounded by rows of subsidiary graves. In a wall of the tomb Flinders Petrie found a mummified arm still wearing bracelets of gold and precious stones, perhaps belonging to a queen, the bracelets survive, but the arm itself was later thrown away. Objects with his name include a copper adze, ivory labels and a stela, and inscriptions with his name were also found in several large tombs at Saqqara.

Djer's Horus name presents him as the defender of the falcon god, and the Palermo Stone shows a king busy with ritual: the "Following of Horus", the festival of Sokar and the making of images of gods such as Min and Anubis. Around his tomb were buried the remains of 318 retainers, the largest number known for any king of the dynasty, which shows how far the custom of serving the king in death had developed.

Djer was succeeded by his son Djet. Merneith, possibly Djer's daughter, became Djet's wife and the mother of Den. Djer's tomb had a remarkable afterlife: by the Middle Kingdom it was believed to be the tomb of Osiris, god of the dead, and pilgrims left offerings at Umm el-Qa'ab for centuries. A stone bed with a figure of Osiris was later placed in the tomb, possibly by the 13th-Dynasty king Djedkheperu.