Unas or Wenis, also spelled Unis (, hellenized form Oenas or Onnos; died 2345 BC), was a king, the ninth and last ruler of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt during the Old Kingdom. Unas reigned for around 30 years in the mid-24th century BC (c. 2375–c. 2345 BC), succeeding Djedkare Isesi, who might have been his father.
Little is known of Unas's activities during his reign, which was a time of economic decline. Egypt maintained trade relations with the Levantine coast and Nubia, and military action may have taken place in southern Canaan. The growth and decentralization of the administration in conjunction with the lessening of the king's power continued under Unas, ultimately contributing to the collapse of the Old Kingdom some 200 years later.
Unas built a pyramid in Saqqara, the smallest of the royal pyramids completed during the Old Kingdom. The accompanying mortuary complex with its high and valley temples linked by a causeway was lavishly decorated with painted reliefs, whose quality and variety surpass the usual royal iconography. Furthermore, Unas was the first pharaoh to have the Pyramid Texts carved and painted on the walls of the chambers of his pyramid, a major innovation that was followed by his successors until the First Intermediate Period (). These texts identify the king with Ra and with Osiris, whose cult was on the rise in Unas's time, and were meant to help the king reach the afterlife.
Unas had several daughters and possibly one or two sons who are believed to have predeceased him. Manetho, a third-century BC Egyptian priest of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and author of the first history of Egypt, claims that with Unas's death the Fifth Dynasty came to an end. Unas was succeeded by Teti, the first king of the Sixth Dynasty, possibly after a short crisis. However, the archaeological evidence suggests that the Egyptians at the time made no conscious break with the preceding dynasty and the distinction between the Fifth and Sixth dynasties might be illusory.
The funerary cult of Unas established at his death continued until the end of the Old Kingdom and may have survived during the chaotic First Intermediate Period. The cult was still in existence or revived during the later Middle Kingdom (c. 2050 – c. 1650 BC). This did not prevent Amenemhat I and Senusret I (c. 1990 – c. 1930 BC) from partially dismantling the mortuary complex of Unas for its materials.
In parallel to the official cult, Unas may have received popular veneration as a local god of Saqqara until as late as the Late Period (664–332 BC), nearly 2,000 years after his death.
Attestations
Historical sources Unas is well attested by historical sources with three ancient Egyptian king lists dating to the New Kingdom period mentioning him. He occupies the 33rd entry of the Abydos King List, which was written during the reign of Seti I (1290–1279 BC). Unas's name is also present on the Saqqara Tablet (32nd entry) and on the Turin canon (third column, 25th row), both of which were written during the reign of Ramses II (1279–1213 BC). The Turin canon further credits Unas with 30 years of reign. These sources all place Unas as the ninth and final ruler of the Fifth Dynasty, succeeding Djedkare Isesi and preceding Teti on the throne. This relative chronology is corroborated by archaeological evidence, for example in the tomb of officials serving under these kings.
In addition to these sources, Unas was also likely mentioned in the Aegyptiaca, a history of Egypt written in the 3rd century BC during the reign of Ptolemy II (283–246 BC) by the Egyptian priest Manetho. No copies of the Aegyptiaca have survived to this day and it is known to us only through later writings by Sextus Julius Africanus and Eusebius. Africanus relates that the Aegyptiaca mentioned a pharaoh "Onnos" reigning for 33 years at the end of the Fifth Dynasty. Onnos is believed to be the hellenized form for Unas, and Africanus' 33-year figure fits well with the 30 years of reign given to Unas on the Turin canon.
Contemporaneous sources
The primary contemporaneous sources attesting to Unas's activities are the many reliefs from his pyramid complex. Excluding these, surprisingly few documents dating to Unas's reign have survived to this day, considering the 30-year length that later records give for his reign. Excavations at Abusir, the royal necropolis of the Fifth Dynasty, have produced only four dated inscriptions safely attributable to Unas. They explicitly mention his third, fourth, sixth and eighth years on the throne. Unas also left a rock inscription on the island of Elephantine, next to the First Cataract of the Nile in Nubia.
In addition, several alabaster vases bearing Unas's cartouche are known. A complete vessel and additional fragments originating from Byblos on the Levantine coast are now in the National Museum of Beirut. A vase of unknown provenance is located in the National Archaeological Museum of Florence and reads "Horus Wadjtawy, living eternally, king of Upper and Lower Egypt, son of Ra, Unas, living eternally". Another vessel, of unknown origins, is on display at the Louvre Museum. It is a , globular alabaster vase finely decorated with a falcon with outstretched wings and two uraei, or rearing cobras, holding ankh signs surrounding Unas's cartouche. An ointment jar bearing Unas's cartouche and Horus name is in the Brooklyn Museum. Finally, a fragment of a calcite vase rim bearing two cartouches of Unas is on display in the Petrie Museum.
Family Unas assumed the throne at the death of his predecessor Djedkare Isesi. Djedkare is thought to have been Unas's father, despite of the complete lack of evidence bearing on the question. The succession from Djedkare Isesi to Unas seems to have been smooth.
Unas had at least two queens, Nebet and Khenut, who were buried in a large double mastaba adjacent to their husband's pyramid.
Children with unknown spouse(s) Unas had at least five daughters.
Hemetre Hemi Khentkaues Neferut Nefertkaues Iku Sesheshet Idut
Possible children with Nebet
Unas-Ankh (died c. 2365 BC): Unas and Nebet possibly had a son, the "king's son", "royal chamberlain", "priest of Maat" and "overseer of Upper Egypt". He died around 10 years into Unas's reign. The filiation of Unas-Ankh is indirectly hinted at by his name and titles and by the presence of his tomb near those of Nebet and Unas but is not universally accepted.
Possible children with Nebet or Khenut
Iput (c. 2375 BC – c. 2325 BC)
Possible children with unknown spouse(s) Two other sons have been proposed, but these filiations are conjectural and contested. Unas likely died without a male heir.
Nebkauhor Shepsespuptah
Reign
Duration
The duration of Unas's reign is uncertain. As indicated above, historical sources credit him with 30 and 33 years on the throne, figures that have been adopted by many Egyptologists, including Flinders Petrie, William C. Hayes, Darrell Baker, Peter Munro, and Jaromir Malek. In favor of such a long reign are scenes of a Sed festival found in Unas's mortuary temple. This festival was normally celebrated only after 30 years of reign and was meant to rejuvenate the pharaoh's strength and power. Mere depictions of the festival do not necessarily imply a long reign, however. For example, a relief showing pharaoh Sahure in the tunic of the Sed festival has been found in his mortuary temple, although both historical sources and archeological evidence agree that he ruled Egypt for less than 14 full years.
Other Egyptologists suspect a reign of less than 30 years for Unas, owing to the scarcity of artefacts datable to his reign as well as the lack of documents dated to beyond his eighth year on the throne. Hence, Jürgen von Beckerath believes that Unas ruled Egypt for 20 years while Rolf Krauss, David Warburton and Erik Hornung shortened this number to 15 years in their 2012 study of Egyptian chronology. Krauss and Miroslav Verner further question the credibility of the Turin Canon concerning the Fourth and Fifth Dynasties, so that the 30-year figure credited to Unas by the canon might not be reliable.
Excavations of the tomb of Nikau-Isesi under the direction of Naguib Kanawati at Saqqara have yielded evidence in support of a shorter reign. Nikau-Isesi was an official who started his career during the reign of Djedkare Isesi. He lived through that of Unas and died as overseer of Upper-Egypt under Unas's successor Teti. Nikau-Isesi is known to have died on the year of the eleventh cattle count during Teti's reign, an event consisting of counting the livestock throughout the country to evaluate the amount of taxes to be levied. It is traditionally believed that such counts occurred every two years during the Old Kingdom and every year during the later Middle Kingdom (). Thus, Nikau-Isesi would have lived for 22 years after Teti took the throne and together with the 30 years of reign credited to Unas, would have died past 70 years old. However, forensic examination of his mummy yielded an age at death of no more than 45 years old. This suggests that the cattle count occurred more than once every two years during Unas and Teti's time, possibly irregularly. If so, Unas's 30-year figure on the Turin canon, understood to mean 15 cattle counts, could translate into as little as 15 years, which together with just 11 years during Teti's reign would account for Nikau-Isesi's death at around 40 to 45 years of age.
Activities
Trade and warfare Owing to the scarcity of evidence dating to Unas's reign, we know very little about his activities. Existing trade relations with foreign countries and cities, in particular Byblos, seem to have continued during Unas's time on the throne. Reliefs from the causeway of his pyramid complex show two large seagoing ships coming back from an expedition to the Levantine coast with Syro-Canaanite men, who were either the boat crews or slaves. Another relief depicts a military campaign, Egyptians armed with bows and daggers attacking Canaanite nomads called the Shasu. Similar reliefs have been found in preceding pyramid complexes, such as that of Sahure, and they may thus be standard themes rather than depictions of actual events. Other sources tend to confirm the accuracy of these depictions; for example, the autobiography of Weni relates many punitive raids against Canaanite nomads in the early Sixth Dynasty.
To the South of Egypt, inscriptions of Unas on Elephantine record a visit of the king to Lower Nubia, possibly to receive tribute from local chieftains or because of growing unrest in the region. In addition, a relief from the causeway of Unas leading to his pyramid shows a giraffe, suggesting trade relations with Nubia.
Domestic
Unas's reign was a time of economic decline although, as the French Egyptologist Nicolas Grimal writes, it was "by no means a time of decadence". Indeed, the Egyptian state was still capable of mounting important expeditions to provide building stones for the king's pyramid complex. These expeditions are depicted on unique reliefs found in Unas's causeway and are also referred to in the autobiographical stela of an administration official. This official reports the transport of palmiform columns of red granite from Elephantine to Saqqara in only four days, a feat for which he was praised by the king. In addition to the important construction works undertaken in Saqqara for the construction of his pyramid complex, building activities also took place on Elephantine.