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Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt > Hor-Aha

Hor-Aha

image of Hor-Aha
The picture depict a horusname of Hor Aha in hieroglyphs. drawing from pictures off stone's containing the name of the king

Hor-Aha is currently considered the second pharaoh of the first dynasty of Ancient Egypt. He lived around the 31st century BC. Roughly translated, "Hor", being a reference to the God Horus, means hawk, whereas "Aha" means fighter.

Around the 32nd century BC his father, Narmer had united Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. Hor-Aha (whose birth name is given as Ity, Hor-Aha being his throne name: 'Horus among the reeds') became Pharaoh at about the age of 30 and ruled until he was about 62 years old. Legend had it that he was carried away by a hippopotamus, the embodiment of the god Seth. Another story has it that Hor-Aha was killed by a hippopotamus whilst hunting, provided that Hor-Aha was the legendary 'Menes'.

There has been some controversy about Hor-Aha. Some believe him to be the same individual as the legendary pharaoh Menes and that he was the one to unify all of Egypt. Others claim he was the son of pharaoh Narmer who unified Egypt. Regardless, considerable historical evidence from the period points to Narmer as the king who first unified Egypt and to Hor-Aha as his son and heir.