Ahkmenrah Clothing Guide + Possible Dynasty Reign + Speculation about his name
(Disclaimer: This is just from my own personal research. I am in no means an expert on Ancient Egypt so I apologize for any gross errors made on my part. I just wanted to put this together for informative and fanfic purposes)
Sources:
Deshret (x)–while Ahkmenrah would have most likely been ruler of all Egypt, it could be that his family was born in Lower Egypt and as deference to his ancestors they would have worn the Red Crown more often than the Pschent or Double Crown (I really have no idea I’m just guessing)
Wesekh (x)–symbol of royalty and wealth, buried with the bearer
Shendyt (x)(x)(x)–wrapped with accordion pleating and tucked under a belt tied in the front
Shoulder cape (x)(x)
Ahkmenrah image (x)
An interesting thing I found that could lead to identifying when Ahkmenrah ruled, was the note that:
During the Middle Kingdom, which prospered until around 1600 BC (the capital had moved from Memphis to Thebes), more material was used in the masculine skirt, making it longer–sometimes down to the ankles–and fuller. The men also wore elaborate and ornamental pendants which were attached to their belts.
Ahk’s shendyt fits that description perfectly, and do you know what’s so important about Thebes? It’s the main cult center for Khonsu, the god who granted power to the Tablet! So if we go with a possible reign during the Middle Kingdom, we’ve got the 11-14th Dynasty to work with.
Now, I know Ahkmenrah said “fourth king of the fourth kings” and Kahmunrah said “fifth king of Egypt” which makes it really hard to figure out a timeline, so I’m just going to take a guess and say they mean within a certain dynasty, which I’m going to take a stab at and call the 13th Dynasty, which was about c.1795-1650. (around 3,000-4,000 years ago)
In the book “Egypt: Gods, Myths, and Religion” by Lucia Gahlin, it says that there were about 70 rulers during the 13th dynasty, so Ahkmenrah’s family could easily slip in there without altering history too much.
UNNECESSARY NERDY DISCUSSION
In Lucia Gahlin’s book, it also brings up the concept of spirit and soul in Ancient Egypt. There is no direct word for a soul, but they use the words ka, ba, and akh to describe different parts of a soul and their relation to each other. Ka is loosely translated to be “spirit” or “vital force” and more of a physical representation or the body. Ba deals with personality, moral essence, and let a person move about in the Afterlife. Akh is like the union of the two, and “is sometimes translated as ‘transfigured spirit’. Those who failed to achieve this transfiguration were condemned to eternal death.”
Sooo, if you notice we have Kahmunrah and Ahkmenrah, and given their personalities I believe that to be more accurate, Ahk’s name should be spelled Akhmenrah. Kahmunrah seems to symbolize a more power driven aspect of a soul, whereas Ahkmenrah is more balanced and wise. I don’t think this is a coincidence, so my guess is the creators spelled Ahkmenrah the way they did so people would pronounce the name properly. If they used a more correct spelling, we’d use a harsh “Ack” instead of long “Ahk”. (I hope that made some sort of sense)
And no, I’m not suggesting we should all start spelling his name Akhmenrah because it would be too much work to fix it now. I just thought it was worth pointing out.
There you go! I hope that helps anyone who was curious about any of this. Hurray for history, right?
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