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Pharaoh ( Arabic '''فرعون ''') ( Hebrew ''' '''); is a title used to refer to the rulers of Egypt in the pre-Christian and pre-Islamic period. ETYMOLOGY The term 'Pharaoh' is a corruption from the Egyptian ''Pr-Aa'' meaning 'Great House', used in the Old Kingdom as part of phrases like 'smr pr-Aa' meaning 'Courtier of the Great House', with specific reference to the buildings of the court or palace itself.1 From the Twelfth Dynasty onwards the word appears in a wish formula 'Great House, may it live, proper and be in health', but still with reference to the buildings of the court rather than the person of the king. The earliest certain instance where 'Pr Aa' is used specifically to address the king is in a letter to Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) in the mid- Eighteenth Dynasty ( 1539 - 1292 BC ) which is addressed to 'Pharaoh, given life, prosperity and health, the Master'.2 From the Nineteenth Dynasty onwards it is used as regularly as '''''hm.f''''' 'His Majesty'. Therefore the term evolved from one specifically refering to a building to a respectful designation for the king, both specifically and for his office itself, just as the Ottoman Sultan might be referred to as the Sublime Porte . The final development occurred when Proper Names were added to the title, as in the Pharaoh Hopra of the Old Testament in . The earliest examples of this in Egyptian occur during the reigns of the Libyan Shoshenqs of the Twenty-Second Dynasty and Twenty-Third Dynasty . 1 ''Ancient Egyptian Grammar'' (3rd ed.), A. Gardiner (1957) 71-76 2 ''Hieratic Papyrus from Kahun and Gurob'', F. LL. Griffith, 38, 17. Although see also ''Temples of Armant'', R. Mond and O. Myers (1940), pl.93, 5 for an instance possibly dating from the reign of Tuthmoses III. REGALIA AND TITLES The king of Egypt wore a double Crown , created from the Red Crown of Lower Egypt and the White Crown of Upper Egypt . It was adorned by a Uraeus , which was doubled under the Twenty-fifth Dynasty . Egyptologist Bob Brier has noted that despite its widespread depiction in royal portraits, no actual ancient Egyptian crown has been discovered. Tutankhamun 's tomb, discovered largely intact, did contain such regal items as his crook and flail, but did not contain a crown. Crowns were assumed to have magical properties, and Brier's speculation is that there were items a dead pharaoh could not take with him and, therefore, had to be passed along to his living successor. The official titulary of the king by the New Kingdom consisted of Five Names ; for some rulers, we know only one or two of them. OPEN PROBLEMS There are many questions surrounding the ancient Egyptian kings/pharaohs. Below are just a few:
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