Saqqara Tablet
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 Tjenry (or Tjuneroy), an official ("chief lector priest" and "Overseer of Works on All Royal Monuments") of the pharaoh Ramesses II.[1]
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]
![](../I/m/SaqqaraKingList.png)
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 row | Bottom row | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Pharaoh | Name written in the list | No. | Pharaoh | Name written in the list |
1 | Ramses II | User-maat-ra Setep-en-ra | 30 | Neferefre | Kha-nefer-ra |
2 | Seti I | Men-maat-ra | 31 | Shepseskare | Shepses-ka-ra |
3 | Ramses I | Men-pehty-ra | 32 | Neferirkare Kakai | Nefer-ir-ka-ra |
4 | Horemheb | Djeser-kheperu-ra Setep-en-ra | 33 | Sahure | Sahura |
5 | Amenhotep III | Neb-maat-ra | 34 | Userkaf | User-ka-f |
6 | Thutmose IV | Men-kheperu-ra | 35 | Thamphthis? | Name destroyed. |
7 | Amenhotep II | Aa-kheperu-ra | 36 | Bicheris? | Name destroyed. |
8 | Thutmose III | Men-kheper-ra | 37 | Djedefptah | Name destroyed. |
9 | Thutmose II | Aa-kheper-en-ra | 38 | Shepseskaf | Name destroyed. |
10 | Thutmose I | Aa-kheper-ka-ra | 39 | Menkaura | Name destroyed. |
11 | Amenhotep I | Djeser-ka-ra | 40 | Khafra | Kha-f-ra |
12 | Ahmose I | Neb-pehti-ra | 41 | Djedefra | Djed-ef-re |
13 | Mentuhotep II | Nebhepetre | 42 | Khufu | Khufu |
14 | Mentuhotep III | Se-ankh-ka-ra | 43 | Sneferu | Sneferu |
15 | Amenemhat I | Se-hetep-ib-ra | 44 | Huni | Huni |
16 | Senusret I | Kheper-ka-ra | 45 | Nebka | Neb-ka-ra |
17 | Amenemhat II | Nub-kau-ra | 46 | Sekhemkhet | Djoser-teti |
18 | Senusret II | Kha-kheper-ra | 47 | Djoser | Djoser |
19 | Senusret III | Kha-khau-ra | 48 | Khasekhemwy | Beby |
20 | Amenemhat III | Ni-maat-ra | 49 | Hudjefa | "Name missing" |
21 | Amenemhat IV | Maat-kheru-ra | 50 | Sekhemib-Perenmaat? | Nefer-ka-sokar |
22 | Sobekneferu | Sobek-ka-ra | 51 | Seth-Peribsen? | Nefer-ka-ra |
23 | Pepi II Neferkare | Nefer-ka-ra | 52 | Senedj | Senedj |
24 | Merenre Nemtyemsaf I | Mer-en-ra | 53 | Wneg | Wadjlas |
25 | Pepi I Meryre | Pepi | 54 | Nynetjer | Ba-netjeru |
26 | Teti | Teti | 55 | Raneb | Kakau |
27 | Unas | Unis | 56 | Hotepsekhemwy | Bau-netjer |
28 | Djedkare | Maat-ka-ra | 57 | Qa'a | Qe-behu |
29 | Menkauhor | Men-kau-hor | 58 | Anedjib | Merbapen |
Other New Kingdom royal lists
- Abydos king list
- Karnak king list
- Turin King List
- Medinet Habu king list
References
- Robert Morkot. The Egyptians: An Introduction. Routledge, 2005. ISBN 0-415-27103-7. Page 74.
- Quoted from: Gerald Verbrugghe, John Moore Wickersham. Berossos and Manetho, Introduced and Translated. University of Michigan Press, 2001. Page 104.
- de Rougé, Emmanuel (1865). Album photographique de la mission remplie en Égypte. Paris. pp. 152, photographs 143–145.
- Hawass, Zahi (2010). Inside the Egyptian Museum with Zahi Hawass. Cairo: American Univ in Cairo Press. pp. 299, photographs 156-157. ISBN 9789774163722.
Bibliography
- Auguste Mariette: La table de Saqqarah in Revue Archeologique Vol 10, Paris 1864, p. 168-186, Pl. 17
- Emmanuel de Rougé: Album photographique de la mission remplie en Égypte, Paris 1865, Photographs, No. 143-145
- Auguste Mariette: Monuments divers recueillis en Égypte et en Nubie (Tables), Paris 1872, Vol. II, Pl. 58
- Eduard Meyer: Ägyptische Chronologie, Pl. 1, (Berlin 1904)