Editing Narmer (section)

==Name==
[[File:Narmer Palette verso serekh.png|thumb|right|[[Serekh]]s bearing the [[rebus]] symbols ''n'r'' ([[catfish]]) and ''mr'' ([[chisel]]) inside, being the phonetic representation of Narmer's name{{sfn|Wengrow|2006|p=207}}]]

The complete spelling of Narmer's name consists of the hieroglyphs for a [[Heterobranchus|catfish]] (''[[Wikt:nꜥr|nꜥr]]''){{efn| Although the catfish portrayed in Narmer's name has sometimes been described as an "[[electric catfish]]", based on its fin configuration, it is actually of the non-electric ''[[Heterobranchus]]'' genus.{{sfn|Brewer|Friedman|1989|p=63}}}} and a chisel (''[[wikt:mr|mr]]''), hence the reading "Narmer" (using the [[Rebus#Rebus principle|rebus principle]]). This word is sometimes translated as "raging catfish".{{sfn|Redford|1986|pp=136, n.10}} However, there is no consensus on this reading. Other translations of the adjective before "catfish" include "angry", "fighting", "fierce", "painful", "furious", "bad", "evil", "biting", "menacing", and "stinging".{{sfn|Pätznick|2009|pp=308, n.8}}{{sfn|Leprohon|2013|p=22}}{{sfn|Clayton|1994|p=16}} Some scholars have taken entirely different approaches to reading the name that do not include "catfish" in the name at all,{{sfn|Pätznick|2009|p=287}}{{sfn|Ray|2003|pp=131–138}}{{sfn|Wilkinson|2000|pp=23–32}} but these approaches have not been generally accepted.

Rather than incorporating both hieroglyphs, Narmer's name is often shown in an abbreviated form with just the catfish symbol, sometimes stylized, even, in some cases, represented by just a horizontal line.{{sfn|Raffaele|2003|pp=110, n. 46}}{{full citation needed|date=April 2025}} This simplified spelling appears to be related to the formality of the context. In every case that a ''[[serekh]]'' is shown on a work of stone or an official seal impression, it has both symbols. But, in most cases, where the name is shown on a piece of pottery or a rock inscription, just the catfish, or a simplified version of it appears.

Two alternative spellings of Narmer's name have also been found. On a mud sealing from [[Tarkhan (Egypt)|Tarkhan]], the symbol for the ''[[wikt:ṯꜣj|ṯꜣj]]''-bird (Gardiner sign ''G47'' "duckling") has been added to the two symbols for "Narmer" within the serekh. This has been interpreted as meaning "Narmer the masculine";{{sfn|von Beckerath|1999|p=36}} however, according to Ilona Regulski,{{sfn|Regulski|2010|p=126}} "The third sign (the [''ṯꜣj'']-bird) is not an integral part of the royal name since it occurs so infrequently." Godron{{sfn|Godron|1949|p=218}} suggested that the extra sign is not part of the name, but was put inside the serekh for compositional convenience.

In addition, two necropolis seals from [[Abydos, Egypt|Abydos]] show the name in a unique way: While the [[chisel]] is shown conventionally where the [[catfish]] would be expected, there is a symbol that has been interpreted by several scholars as an animal skin.{{sfn|Pätznick|2009|p=310}} According to [[Günter Dreyer|Dreyer]], it is probably a catfish with a bull's tail, similar to the image of Narmer on the [[Narmer Palette]] in which he is shown wearing a bull's tail as a symbol of power.<ref name="DPC"/>