Seth-Peribsen (also known as Ash-Peribsen, Peribsen and Perabsen) is the serekh name of an early Egyptian monarch (pharaoh), who ruled during the Second Dynasty of Egypt ( 2890 – 2686 BC). His chronological position within this dynasty is unknown and it is disputed who ruled both before and after him. The duration of his reign is also unknown.Thomas Schneider: Lexikon der Pharaonen. Albatros, Düsseldorf 2002, , p. 195.
Peribsen's name is unusual, in that Set, not Horus, was his patron deity and in his royal titulary. This goes against the Egyptian tradition of a king choosing the falcon-shaped deity Horus as his royal patron. However, Khasekhemwy, Seth-Peribsen's presumed successor, and the last king of the Second Dynasty of Egypt also included the Seth animal in his king's name. This variation is not attested in any other period of ancient Egypt, despite the close connection of the gods throughout the entire dynastic period.Barbara Watterson, The Gods of Ancient Egypt (London, 1984) p.118
Peribsen's tomb was discovered in 1898 at Abydos. It was well preserved and showed traces of restoration undertaken during later dynastic periods.Laurel Bestock: The Early Dynastic Funerary Enclosures of Abydos. In: Archéo-Nil. Vol. 18, 2008, , p. 42–59.
Attestations Contemporaneous sources
The serekh for Peribsen was found pressed in earthen jar seals made of clay and mud and in inscriptions on alabaster, sandstone, porphyry and black schist vessels. These seals and vessels were excavated from Peribsen's tomb and at an excavation site in Elephantine. One clay seal with Peribsen's name was found inside the mastaba tomb K1 at Beit Khallaf.William Matthew Flinders Petrie, Francis Llewellyn Griffith: The royal tombs of the earliest dynasties/ 1901: Part II. (= Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund. Vol. 21, ). Offices of The Egypt Exploration Fund u. a., London 1901, Tafel XXII, Abb. 178–179, (Complete essay as PDF-file).Jeffrey A. Spencer: Early Egypt: The rise of civilisation in the Nile Valley. British Museum Press, London 1993, , p. 67–72 & 84.Katrandjiev, Hristo Ivanov, "Genesis of Branding: Methodological Framework for Studying Ancient Egyptian Cylinder Seals (3000 BC-2150 BC)", Economic Alternatives 2, pp. 235-255, 2023
Two large tomb stelae made of granite were found at his burial site. Their shape is unusual and they appear unfinished and rough. Egyptologists suspect that this was done deliberately, but the reasons are unknown.W. M. Flinders Petrie: The Royal Tombs of the Earliest Dynasties, Part II. London 1901, Tafel XXII, page 178–179.Jeffrey A. Spencer: Early Egypt: the rise of civilisation in the Nile Valley. British Museum Press, London 1993, page 67–72 & 84. A cylinder seal of unknown provenance shows Peribsen's name inside a cartouche and gives the epithet Merj-netjeru ("beloved of the gods"). This arrangement leads Egyptologists and archaeologists to the conclusion that the seal must have been created later, in memoriam, because the use of royal cartouches began long after Peribsen's reign. Another seal of the same material shows Peribsen's name without a cartouche, but with the royal title Nisut-Bity ("king of Upper- and Lower Egypt") instead.Francesco Tiradritti & Anna Maria Donadoni Roveri: Kemet: Alle Sorgenti Del Tempo. Electa, Milano 1998, , page 84–85.Peter Kaplony: Die Rollsiegel des Alten Reichs II: Katalog der Rollsiegel, Part II. Fondation égyptologique Reine Elisabeth, Brüssel 1981, page 13; tav. 1
Historical sources
Existing skeptical views about Peribsen's existence are based on New Kingdom Ramesside king lists, such as the Abydos King List, the Saqqara King List and the Royal Canon of Turin, which all omit Peribsen's name. These, however, are known to have been created nearly 1,500 years after his deathBernhard Grdseloff: Notes d'épigraphie archaïque. In: Annales du service des antiquités de l’Égypte. Vol. 44, 1944, , p. 279–306. and several Fourth Dynasty tombs of priests performing the funerary cult for Peribsen have been uncovered. These tombs report Peribsen's name correctly and their existence demonstrates that Peribsen was seen as a legitimate pharaoh, not subject to damnatio memoriae as Akhenaten later would be. Historians and Egyptologists therefore consider the possibility that Peribsen's name was actually forgotten over time or that his name was preserved in a distorted, misspelled form.Toby A. H. Wilkinson: Royal annals of ancient Egypt - The Palermo stone and its associated fragments. Routledge, London 2012, , p. 200–206.
Name Peribsen's royal name is a subject of curiosity for Egyptologists because it is connected to the deity Seth rather than Horus, as was traditional for the name of a pharaoh. Traditionally, the Horus name of the king was written within a serekh: the image of the facade of the royal palace beneath a falcon representing the god Horus (see Egyptian hieroglyphs). Instead, Peribsen chose to have the Set animal, representing Seth, on his serekh. Although Peribsen is the only known pharaoh to have the Set animal preside alone over his serekh, he is not the only king to associate himself with Seth. Examples include the 13th Dynasty pharaoh Seth Meribre,Digital Egypt for Universities, 13th dynasty rulers the 19th Dynasty rulers Seti I and Seti II and the 20th Dynasty king Setnakhte.Thomas Schneider: Lexikon der Pharaonen. Albatros Verlag, Düsseldorf 2002, , page 219, 228 & 231.Walter Bryan Emery: Ägypten - Geschichte und Kultur der Frühzeit. page 105 & 106.
The debate continues over why Peribsen chose this name. Earlier theories favoured the idea that Egypt was split into two realms during Peribsen's time or that he was a heretic who sought to start a new monotheistic religion with Seth as the only worshipped god. However, newer evidence and evaluations tend to show that the Egyptian kingdom was unified, but witnessed a vast and profound reform during the Second Dynasty. Seal impressions from tombs of this era reveal great changes in the titles held by high officials, pointing to a reduction of their power. Further seal impressions show that several deities were worshipped under Peribsen, refuting the monotheism theory. Other contemporary inscriptions indicate that Egyptian grammar was perfected during his time: In particular, the earliest seal impressions with complete sentences date back to Peribsen's reign. Thus, Peribsen's reign was in fact a time of cultural and religious advancement.Herman te Velde: Seth, God of Confusion. A study of his role in Egyptian mythology and religion (= Probleme der Ägyptologie. Bd. 6). Reprint with come corrections. Brill, Leiden 1977, , p. 109-111.Thomas Schneider: Lexikon der Pharaonen. Albatros, Düsseldorf 2002, , p. 219, 228 & 231.
Peribsen's choice of patron, and his rule during the shadowy period of the mid-Second Dynasty, have led Egyptologists and historians to search for possible explanations for both his name and the troubled times he lived in. The following sections discuss some of the theories that they have put forth.
Religious theories uniting Peribsen with Seth
Older theories A theory that was popular until the mid-20th century, supported by Egyptologists Percy Newberry, Jaroslav Černý,Jaroslav Černý: Ancient Egyptian religion. Hutchinson’s University Library, London u. a 1952, p. 32–48, Online article . Walter Bryan EmeryWalter B. Emery: Ägypten. Fourier, Wiesbaden 1964, , p. 105–108. and held that Peribsen was a heretic who sought to introduce a new, monotheistic state religion to Egypt, with Seth as the only worshipped god. Peribsen's actions were thought to be similar to those of the much later 18th Dynasty pharaoh Akhenaten, who had required Egyptians to serve only the Aten. Newberry proposed that the priests of Horus and Seth fought each other "in the manner of a War of the Roses" during the second half of the Second Dynasty.
The "heretic Peribsen" theory was based on three observations: that the name "Peribsen" was excluded from later king lists (or perhaps substituted with the Ramesside name "Senedj"), that the king's tomb had been destroyed and plundered during antiquity and, finally, that the tomb stelae of Peribsen, that once displayed the Set animal, were badly scratched with the clear intention of effacing the Seth image. Egyptologists hypothesized these were the actions of religious opponents to the Sethian priest-caste.P.E. Newberry: The Seth rebellion of the 2nd Dynasty, in: Ancient Egypt., no. 7, 1922, page 40–46. Lauer and Firth relied on the "heretic Peribsen" theory to explain the enormous quantity of stone vessels inscribed with the name of First and Second Dynasty kings found beneath Djoser's pyramid in bags bearing seals of Khasekhemwy and Djoser. They proposed that Peribsen had plundered the tombs of his predecessors, followers of Horus, and scattered their funerary equipment. These vessels were gathered in the royal treasury during Khasekhemwy's reign following his reunification of Egypt, and finally put beneath the Step Pyramid by Djoser, in an act of pious devotion.Phillipe Flandrin: Jean-Phillipe Lauer: Saqqarah, Une vie, Entretiens avec Phillipe Flandrin, Petite Bibliotheque Payot 107, 1988
Contemporary theories Today this theory, as well as Lauer and Firth's conclusions, is widely questioned. Archaeological evidence of Peribsen has been found almost entirely in Upper Egypt. In particular, his name does not appear in Lower Egyptian records surviving from that time. It is argued that Peribsen may not have ruled over all of Egypt and therefore did not have the authority to force a change in state religion. Another piece of evidence that argues against the "heretic Peribsen" theory is the false door of the priest Shery at Saqqara. Shery held office during the early Fourth Dynasty. The inscription on the false door connects the name of Peribsen in one sentence with another shadowy king of the Second Dynasty, Senedj. According to the addendum, Shery was "overseer of all wab-priests of king Peribsen in the necropolis of king Senedj, in his mortuary temple and at all other places". This implies that the funerary cult of Peribsen continued at least until the Fourth Dynasty, inconsistent with the assumption that Peribsen's name was not allowed to be mentioned. Additionally, Egyptologists such as point out that Shery was not the only Fourth Dynasty priest participating in the funerary cult of Peribsen. Inkef, possibly a brother or cousin of Shery, also held the title of a "supervisor of Ka-priests of Peribsen".
Seal impressions found in Peribsen's tomb at Abydos show several deities: Ash, Min and Bastet, suggesting they were venerated during Peribsen's time on the throne. This finding argues against Peribsen worshipping a single god, or promoting monotheism.Auguste Mariette: Les mastabas de l'Ancien Empire. Paris 1885, page 92–94.Nicolas Grimal: A History of Ancient Egypt. Wiley-Blackwell, Weinheim 1994, , page 55–56.Werner Kaiser: Zur Nennung von Sened und Peribsen in Saqqara B3. In: Göttinger Miszellen: Beiträge zur ägyptologischen Diskussion, No. 122. Ägyptologisches Seminar der Universität Göttingen, Göttingen 1991, , page 49–55. The heretic theory of Newberry, Černý, Grdseloff and others was devised from the very limited archaeological information available during their lifetimes. Most of the clay seal impressions found were still undeciphered and untranslated in their time.
In the opinion of Sainte Fare Garnot (1956) and te Velde (1956), the name of "Peribsen" accords religious meaning, even before association with a deity. The name "Peribsen" literally means "He who comes forth by their will" or "His heart and will comes forth for them." The Egyptian syllable sn means "them, their, those", revealing a clear plural writing.