The Saqqara Tablet, also known as the Saqqara King List or the Saqqara Table, now in the Egyptian Museum, is an ancient stone engraving surviving from the Ramesside Period of Egypt which features a list of pharaohs. It was found in 1861 in Saqqara, in the tomb of Tjuneroy (or Tjenry), an official ("chief lector priest" and "Overseer of Works on All Royal Monuments") of the pharaoh Ramesses II. [1]
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The inscription lists fifty-eight kings, from Anedjib (First Dynasty) to Ramesses II (Nineteenth Dynasty), in reverse chronological order. The names (each surrounded by a border known as a cartouche), of which only forty-seven survive, are badly damaged. As with other Egyptian king lists, the Saqqara Tablet omits certain kings and entire dynasties. The list counts backward from Ramesses II to the mid-point of the First Dynasty, except for the Eleventh and Twelfth Dynasties, which are reversed. A well known photograph of the king list was published in 1865. [2] Detailed and high resolution images are able to be viewed online and inside the book Inside the Egyptian Museum with Zahi Hawass [3] Each cartouche ends with the phrase ma'a, meaning "the justified", which was typical for honouring deceased kings.
Like with other Ramesside lists, the Saqqara Tablet omits the names of "rulers from the Second Intermediate Period, the Hyksos, and those rulers... who had been close to the heretic Akhenaten". [4] Despite being nearly a slimmed down copy of the Abydos King List, the Saqqara Tablet has some notable changes. For example, Neferirkare Kakai is listed under his prenomen Neferirkare like with every other pharaoh in the list, despite being listed under his nomen Kakai in the Abydos King List. Also, Neferkare, Neferkasokar, Hudjefa, Huni and Sobekneferu are listed in the Saqqara Tablet, despite being absent in the Abydos King List. Likewise, Nyuserre Ini and Userkare are absent for some unknown reason, despite being present in the Abydos King List. In addition, the early rulers of the First Dynasty (Menes/Narmer, Hor-Aha, Djer, Djet, Den, and Semerkhet) are all excluded from the Saqqara Tablet for some unknown reason, despite being present in the Abydos King List. The Saqqara Tablet additionally omits all kings who reigned between Pepi II and Mentuhotep II.
