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PHARAOH (Par'oh)
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PHARAOH (Par'oh), the Hebraized title of the king of Egypt (q.v.), in Egyptian Per-'o; Pheron in Herodotus represents the same. Its combination with the name of the king, as in Pharaoh-Necho, Pharaoh-Hophra, is in accordance with contemporary native usage: the name of the earlier Pharaoh Shishak (Sheshonk) is rightly given without the title. In hieroglyphic a king bears several names preceded by distinctive titles. In the IVth Dynasty there might be four of the latter: (1) identifying him with the royal god Horus; the name is commonly written in a frame representing the facade of a building, perhaps a palace or tomb, on which the falcon stands. (2) connecting him with the vulture and uraeus god-desses, Nekhabi and Buto of the south and north. (3) a hawk on the symbol of gold, signifying the victorious Horus. (4) the old titles of the rulers of the separate king- es doms of Upper and Lower Egypt, to be read stni, " butcher(?) " and byti, " beekeeper(?) " The personal name of the king followed (4), and was enclosed in a cartouche C i apparently symbolizing the circuit of the sun which alone bounded the king's rule. Before the IVth Dynasty the cartouche is seldom found: the usual title is (1), and (3) does not occur. In the Vth Dynasty the custom began of giving the king at his accession a special name connecting him with the sun: this was placed in the cartouche after (4), and a fifth title was added: (5) Si-re, " son of the Sun-god," to precede a cartouche containing the personal name. The king was briefly spoken of by his title stni (see 4), or Om", "his service," or Ity, " liege-lord." These titles were preserved in the sacred writing down to the latest age. An old term for the royal palace establishment and estate was Per-'o, " the Great House, " and this gradually became the personal designation of Pharaoh (cf. the Grand Porte), displacing all others in the popular language. (F. Li. G.)