THE THIRD DYNASTY OF EGYPT

Susan Tomory

The letter I received from historian Count August Széchényi, whose book on Hunnic relations received a gold medal from the Árpád Academy, U.S.A., included a copy of Peter A. Clayton’s article, Die Pharaonen, written in German and published by the Weltbilt Verlag, Augsburg, Germany, in 1998.

Count Széchényi’s letter said the following: „As we can see from the attached material, we Huns already formed the III. Egyptian Pharaoh Dynasty. The IV. Dynasty was its continuation along the female line.

According to the epic poem, in about 2500 B.C., Gilgamesh, the King of Uruk, bore arms against HUN-BABA on account of the cedars of Lebanon. Hun-Baba must have been the ruler of the ÁRPÁD city-state. This was located where today’s Syria is located...”

Mr. Clayton’s article starts with the names of the following pharaohs of the 3rd. dynasty, the pictographic representation of their names and the dates of their rule. He also show’s King Huni’s statue, which was made of rose granite and resides presently in the Brooklyn Museum in New York State. The names of these rulers and the years they reigned are as follows: Sechemchet 2649-2643 B.C., Chaba[1] 2643-2637 B.C. and Huni 2637-2613 B.C.

In the little table next to the hieroglyphic names, the author also brings their „Horus” (divine) names, which convey the meaning of the names: Sechemchet = Of Great Stature, Chaba = The Appearance of the Shine of the Spirit, and Huni = The Crusher.

The Hungarian equivalent of these names is the subject of another study. I will only mention that the first syllable of Sechemchet’s name is related to the Sicul (Székely) cultic Sz-K word group, like szik (life, seed lobe of a plant), Szikúr (Lord of Life), szikla (rock, cliff), szikár (wirey, tall person), szék (chair, and the seat of a place), zeg-zúg = zigg-zagg. The name of Chaba (Csaba in Hungarian spelling) means Comet according to Adorján Magyar’s explanation, so it may easily be connected with an „appearance of light”. Huni’s name corresponds to its Magyar meaning: a male being (kan), a wedge, a weapon. In Magyar mythology Magor represented the fecund qualities of the Sun, his twin brother Hunor represented the Sun’s destructive powers, which are also necessary to maintain life (like the destruction of germs). It is this meaning the non-Magyar speaking writer of this article also found in Huni’s name.

The relief found in Wadi Maghara shows us two kings. One of them is Sechemchet. Two men carry his tall white crown in front of him, where the inscription of the King’s name can also be found. The other king wears a red crown. The writer of this article mentions that, before 1951, the archaeologists did not know anything about the dynasties that followed Djoser’s reign and only this relief of Maghara begins to shed some light upon this period, since the King’s name is mentioned in the inscription. Manetho does not even mention — says Clayton – the six Kings of the 3rd dynasty, even though the total number of their rule was 157 years. The western experts know only of three kings for sure; their rule adds up to 36 years. Our knowledge expanded considerably in 1951 – says Clayton – when an archaeologist by the name of Zakaria Goneim found the unfinished step pyramid at Saqqara.[2] The almost total darkness concerning the 3rd dynasty prompted archaeologist, Goneim, to further his inquiry into this period and to search the region thoroughly. It was during this period that a hill, which until then was considered a natural formation, attracted his attention. Upon further investigation, he found granite, alabaster and limestone fragments, which bespoke the artificial origin of this hill. The excavation showed a wall 8.20 meters high, which rested upon a rock (szikla in Magyar) base. The entire site is 518 meters long and 183 meters wide. This part of the building forms the base of the pyramid. The method of its construction resembles that of  Djoser’s pyramid. In all probability, Sechemchet died before the building was completed and this may be the reason that the building process was stopped. The finished building would have been 4.90 meters higher than Djoser’s pyramid.

On the north side of the building, one can see a roadway, which was cut into the rock and led to an underground grave. In the grave, 21 gold bracelets were found, a golden vessel and a very precious shell-shaped object resting in a wooden box that was already deteriorated at the time of the excavation. Not far from here was a large shell made of diorite.

Near these lay five small clay seals bearing Shechemchet’s name. It was beyond this hall that the excavators found the entrance of the unfinished burial chamber that resembled a cave. In the middle of the chamber stood an alabaster coffin, which was made of one slab of stone. To all appearances, this coffin was not disturbed by robbers after it was sealed.

The alabaster coffin was opened in the presence of several people, such as experts, the press, etc. in 1954. The opening was difficult due to the strong seal with which it was closed. The coffin was completely empty. Since the possibility of robbers was ruled out the only other explanation could be that the king was laid to rest in another corridor, among the many that were not yet excavated.

So the 3rd dynasty no longer used Saqqara for burial purposes. Chaba, who followed Sechemchet built his own pyramid at Saujet el-Arjan, two kilometers south of Gizeh. The mode of construction of this pyramid did not resemble the building style of the 2nd dynasty but rather the style of Sechemchet’s. The base of this pyramid is a geometrically perfect square, with steps filled with bricks; its elevation was 74 degrees, its total height 65 meters. Chaba’s name was inscribed with red ink at the funeral site and upon the vessels it contained.

Huni was the third and at the same time the last king of the dynasty. His grave was built in Meidum, which is about 80 kilometers south of Cairo. He was the first to build his pyramid upon a quadrangle base.

Until now, it was believed that the building complex at Meidum was Snofru’s;  now it is apparent that it belonged to Huni. The entrance of the main building looks toward the north and it leads to a burial chamber. The building itself also served as a light-tower, according to Clayton’s article. The rest of the buildings were much smaller. There is a lesser pyramid toward the east, and several buildings on the road leading into a very fruitful valley. In these one can see beautiful reliefs. In building 17, the sought-after coffin was found, which, following the style of the Old Kingdom, was made of alabaster. Two princely graves were found in the north and east courtyards of the Huni pyramid, by Auguste Mariette, in 1871. The greatest treasures of Egyptian art are located here: beautiful reliefs of Meidum’s geese, Ahotep’s and Nofret’s statues. The profound love of nature of the Old Kingdom is evident in these representations and in Nofret’s crown, which is intertwined with flowers.[3] Another relief of three pairs of geese was also found in the graves of  Nefer-Maat and Atet. Huni ruled about 24 years, until 2613 B.C. and the third dynasty ended with him. Mr. Clayton’s article concluded that he was the founder of the true Egyptian architecture and art. The very obvious Magyar-Székely (Sicul) connection of this dynasty demands further research and explanation from the point of view of linguistics, ethnography and art, which shall be forthcoming.

***

To sum up these findings, I have added further explanations to the original Hungarian article, with some linguistic connections concerning the ethnic background and origin of these three kings.

The names of the three kings show Hunnic and Székely (Sicul) affiliations, moreover, Székely origin. These names are Sechemchet, Chaba and Huni.

The Székelys developed their life-sustaining words and religious vocabulary within the frame of the SZ-K consonantal group. Some of these words are the following: szék, szik, Szikúr, szak, szikla, szikra, szekfű, zeg-zúg, (home, sprout, Lord of the Sprout, segment, rock, spark, carnation, zig-zag line) These words belong to the most ancient layer of their language. Their ethnic name, Székely, of course, also belongs to this group.

Szikúr is the name of their God, who lives among them (székel), and gives and sustains life from the little sprout (szikecske) on.

Szék is the word of the Székely home, of their seat, their strength, their holy home. This name has lived with them since time immemorial, without any change of form or content. The word szék, as seat, brings to mind the immense Egyptian statues of kings seated in a chair (szék), which seems to tell us, within the Székely vocabulary, that the originators of these statues were Székelys. The name of Saqqara seems to belong into this word-group and seems to be connected with the Székely concept of God – Szikúr, and the name, Saqqara, may have meant originally that it was a city of God.

The Székelys carried the memory of their jagged, mountainous (sziklás, zeg-zugos) homeland (szék) to their new homes. It is not by chance that the first step-pyramid, with its zig-zag design, was built by them (Székely) onto a rock (szikla). Its builder was Sechemchet, who carries in his name the Sz-K syllable too. Their messages were written onto obelisks, called kőszeg in their language.

The Székelys preserved the memory of their Hunnic origins through millennia. The Hun name itself is the reciprocal form of the word Mag (base of the Magyar name), showing the different role they play in creation: the Mag carries the properties of the life-giving Sun, the Hun represents the invasive nature of the rays of the sun.

 And now, emerging from the mists of time, the Horus name of Sechemchet, founder of the 3^rd dynasty, is explained by non-Magyar speaking linguists as “of great stature”. The first syllable of his name (szik) gives the following meaning in Székely vernacular: a Man of Rock (Szikla ember).

The name of his son, Csaba, is still remembered by the Székelys with great love. He is the beloved Hunnic Prince riding with his warriors on the starry road of the Milky Way. Linguist and ethnographer Adorján Magyar explains this name as Comet. The meaning of his Horus (divine) name was translated by non-Magyar speaking scholars as “the shine of the soul”. Csaba, the Comet of the Székely-Magyars lights up the Magyar sky and Magyar souls even today.

Huni’s name carries the embodiment of the Hun-Székely connections. Huni’s Horus name means “the destroyer”. The name Hun, Kun is an extended form of the ék (wedge). Its symbol is the wedge of the rays of the sun, which give life and also destroy. Its form Kan (male) stresses life-giving properties. The Székely battle-ax, the fokos, the F variant of the ék (wedge) was used to build but it was also able to destroy invading enemies. The fokos has many angles and so it carries a zig-zag design.

The beloved flower of the Székelys was the szekfű (carnation), whose petals follow the same zig-zag design. Flowers are in Hungarian symbols of light (világ=light, virág=flower), and so the carnation too is a light-symbol. Following this line of thought it is no accident that flowers decorated ancient Hungarian royal crowns. We find this very eloquently described in a folk-song of the Middle Ages, in a collection of Éva Budaházi. The poem greats Holy King László, protector of the homeland, who is a pearl among pearls, star among the stars. The song remembers that he collected roses and wove them into his crown.

We find these flower crowns wherever the Székely-Magyar people traveled, from the Carpathian homeland to Sumer and Egypt, where we find these crowns of flowers too, according to this article about the Kings of the Third Dynasty. These crowns tell us eloquently that their wearers were the protectors and edifiers of Life on this Earth.

Journal of Hungarian Studies  No.10. page 27.