Rock inscriptions recently studied in the desert east of Aswan are shedding new light on how Egypt’s earliest rulers exercised authority over 5,000 years ago. The inscriptions, carved into stone surfaces in the Wadi el Malik region and its side valleys, contain hieroglyphs, animal symbols, and scenes of violence. Collectively, they demonstrate how pre-dynastic kings used images to legitimize their rule during the rise of the world’s first territorial state.

The ruler tramples a man (lying). The two round circular areas behind this are not balls, but rather decapitated heads. Credit: Johann Thiele

Central to the research is an enigmatic figure known as King Scorpion. The тιтle is inscribed on a rock at Wadi Abu Subeira with the inscription, “Domain of the Horus King Scorpion.” Egyptologist Prof. Dr. Ludwig Morenz of the University of Bonn interprets the inscription as “the world’s oldest known place name sign,” first reported a few years ago. Along with Egyptian scholar Mohamed Abdelhay Abu Bakr, Morenz has now presented a more far-reaching interpretation of the carvings in their book Culture and Power in Pre-Pharaonic Egypt.

“This was the period when the Egyptian state emerged,” Morenz said. He claimed that Egypt already had a nearly 800-kilometer north-south extent in the late fourth millennium BCE.

The ruler tramples a man (lying). The two round circular areas behind this are not balls, but rather decapitated heads. Credit: Johann Thiele

The Aswan Eastern Desert, however, remained on the periphery. Wadi el Malik was a transit route, rich in minerals, and a hunting ground in wetter times. It was here that rulers carved their marks on rock, turning the landscape into a “royal rock art tableau,” as Morenz terms it. The leaders—such as King Horus-Falcon, King Bull, and even an early king named Scolopendra, after a venomous centipede—are found in sequence, each linked to powerful animal imagery.

The inscription of King “Bull” is on the top, the one with the placename in front. Credit: PH๏τo: Ludwig Morenz

“Most early ruler names refer to dangerous animals that embody authority,” Morenz said. That symbolism was used to emphasize the rulers’ role as earthly deputies of divine power, rather than as gods. For Scorpion, he was ᴀssociated with Bat, a celestial cow goddess linked to fertility, and Min, a god of the desert ᴀssociated with hunting. “They formed a divine couple, with Bat ᴀssociated with the fertile land along the Nile and Min with the peripheral regions,” Morenz added.

Also of equal significance are depictions of violence. One particularly gruesome image shows a ruler trampling an enemy while two severed heads appear in the background. These images depict “pharaoh-fashioning”—the crafting of kingship through imagery that portrays victory and mastery, Morenz noted.

The reliefs also illustrate religious life. A large figure of a boat pulled by 25 men probably indicates sacred processions, representing connections between the Nile Valley and the desert frontier.

Ruler’s hippopotamus hunt, combined with the motif of defeating enemies. Credit: Johann Thiele/ Matthias Lang edited with GigaMesh

New digital imaging methods have allowed researchers to uncover details invisible to the naked eye, highlighting faint engravings eroded by the pᴀssage of time. Morenz believes the work is only just starting to uncover the site’s potential. “This is an important region when it comes to our understanding of the emergence of the state at the socio-cultural periphery in the late fourth millennium,” he said.

The Egyptologist has called for more archaeological missions and hopes to have the area one day opened to the public. “I consider this so important that this H๏τ spot should also be made accessible to interested parties with tours and a visitor center,” said Morenz.

For the present, the carvings remain silent witnesses to the origins of Egyptian kingship, offering a glimpse into how rulers like Scorpion transformed the desert frontier into a canvas of divine power and political ambition.

More information: University of BonnPublication: Ludwig D. Morenz, Mohamed Abdelhay Abu Bakr: Kultur und Macht im vorpharaonischen Ägypten, Visualisierungen von Herrschaft in der sozio-kulturellen Peripherie des Wadi el Malik und des Wadi Na’am während des Vierten Jahrtausends (Culture and Power in Pre-Pharaonic Egypt, Visualizing Claims to Sovereignty in the Socio-Cultural Periphery of Wadi el Malik and Wadi Na’am during the Fourth Millennium), Katarakt, ᴀssuaner Archäologische Arbeitspapiere 4, EB-Verlag, 244 pages, 39.80 euros. The book presents the findings in three languages: German, English, and Arabic.