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]

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 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
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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.
  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
  • 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)
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