Saqqara Tablet

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The Saqqara Tablet, 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]

Contents

The inscription lists fifty-eight kings, from Anedjib and Qa'a (First Dynasty) to Ramesses II (Nineteenth Dynasty), in reverse chronological order, omitting "rulers from the Second Intermediate Period, the Hyksos, and those rulers... who had been close to the heretic Akhenaten". [2]

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. [3] Detailed and high resolution images are able to be viewed online and inside the book Inside the Egyptian Museum with Zahi Hawass [4]

Drawing of the Saqqara King List based on photographs and drawings from 1864-65. SaqqaraKingList.png
Drawing of the Saqqara King List based on photographs and drawings from 1864-65.

Kings in the list

The names are listed in reverse chronological order from the upper right to the bottom left, as they were meant to be read.

Upper rowBottom row
No.PharaohName written in the listNo.PharaohName written in the list
1 Ramesses II User-maat-ra-setep-en-ra30 Neferefre Kha-nefer-ra
2 Seti I Men-maat-ra31 Shepseskare Shepses-ka-ra
3 Ramesses I Men-peh-ti-ra32 Neferirkare Kakai Nefer-ir-ka-ra
4 Horemheb Djeser-kheperu-ra-setep-en-ra33 Sahure Sahura
5Name destroyedName destroyed34 Userkaf User-ka-f
6Name destroyedName destroyed35Name destroyedName destroyed
7Name destroyedName destroyed36Name destroyedName destroyed
8Name destroyedName destroyed37Name destroyedName destroyed
9Name destroyedName destroyed38Name destroyedName destroyed
10Name destroyedName destroyed39Name destroyedName destroyed
11 Amenhotep I Djeser-ka-ra40 Khafre Kha-f-ra
12 Ahmose I Neb-pehti-ra41 Djedefra Djed-ef-re
13 Mentuhotep II Nebhepetre42 Khufu Khufu
14 Mentuhotep III Se-ankh-ka-ra43 Sneferu Sneferu
15 Amenemhat I Se-hetep-ib-ra44 Huni Huni
16 Senusret I Kheper-ka-ra45 Nebka Neb-ka-ra
17 Amenemhat II Nub-kau-ra46 Sekhemkhet Djoser-teti
18 Senusret II Kha-kheper-ra47 Djoser Djoser
19 Senusret III Kha-khau-ra48 Khasekhemwy Beby
20 Amenemhat III Ni-maat-ra49 Hudjefa "Name missing"
21 Amenemhat IV Maat-kheru-ra50 Sekhemib-Perenmaat? Nefer-ka-sokar
22 Sobekneferu Ka-sobek-re51 Seth-Peribsen? Nefer-ka-ra
23 Pepi II Neferkare Nefer-ka-ra52 Senedj Senedj
24 Merenre Nemtyemsaf I Mer-en-ra53 Wadjenes Wadjlas
25 Pepi I Meryre Pepi54 Nynetjer Ba-netjeru
26 Teti Teti55 Raneb Kakau
27 Unas Unis56 Hotepsekhemwy Bau-netjer
28 Djedkare Maat-ka-ra57 Qa'a Qe-behu
29 Menkauhor Men-kau-hor58 Anedjib Merbapen

Proposed reconstruction

As names 5-10 and 35-39 are missing or badly damaged, the following names are suggested to have once been listed here. Note that this reconstruction is based on other kings lists and circumstantial evidence.

Upper rowBottom row
5 Amenhotep III 34 Userkaf
6 Thutmose IV 35 Khentkaus I?
7 Amenhotep II 36 Thamphthis?
8 Thutmose III 37 Shepseskaf
9 Thutmose II 38 Menkaure
10 Thutmose I 39 Bicheris?

Other New Kingdom royal lists

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References

  1. Robert Morkot. The Egyptians: An Introduction. Routledge, 2005. ISBN   0-415-27103-7. Page 74.
  2. Quoted from: Gerald Verbrugghe, John Moore Wickersham. Berossos and Manetho, Introduced and Translated. University of Michigan Press, 2001. Page 104.
  3. de Rougé, Emmanuel (1865). Album photographique de la mission remplie en Égypte. Paris. pp. 152, photographs 143–145.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. Hawass, Zahi (2010). Inside the Egyptian Museum with Zahi Hawass. Cairo: American Univ in Cairo Press. pp. 299, photographs 156-157. ISBN   9789774163722.

Bibliography