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 Tjuneroy (or Tjenry), 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[edit]

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 Ramesses II Usermaatra setepenra 30 Neferefre Khaneferra
2 Seti I Menmaatra 31 Shepseskare Shepseskara
3 Ramesses I Menpehtira 32 Neferirkare Kakai Neferirkara
4 Horemheb Djeserkheperura setepenra 33 Sahure Sahura
5 Name destroyed Name destroyed 34 Userkaf Userkaf
6 Name destroyed Name destroyed 35 Name destroyed Name destroyed
7 Name destroyed Name destroyed 36 Name destroyed Name destroyed
8 Name destroyed Name destroyed 37 Name destroyed Name destroyed
9 Name destroyed Name destroyed 38 Name destroyed Name destroyed
10 Name destroyed Name destroyed 39 Name destroyed Name destroyed
11 Amenhotep I Djeserkara 40 Khafre Khafra
12 Ahmose I Nebpehtira 41 Djedefre Djedefra
13 Mentuhotep II Nebhepetre 42 Khufu Khufu
14 Mentuhotep III Seankhkara 43 Sneferu Sneferu
15 Amenemhat I Sehetepibra 44 Huni Huni
16 Senusret I Kheperkara 45 Nebka Nebkara
17 Amenemhat II Nubkaura 46 Sekhemkhet Djoser-teti
18 Senusret II Khakheperra 47 Djoser Djoser
19 Senusret III Khakhaura 48 Khasekhemwy Beby
20 Amenemhat III Nimaatra 49 Hudjefa "Name missing"
21 Amenemhat IV Maatkherura 50 Sekhemib-Perenmaat? Neferkasokar
22 Sobekneferu Kasobekra 51 Seth-Peribsen? Neferkara
23 Pepi II Neferkare Neferkara 52 Senedj Senedj
24 Merenre Nemtyemsaf I Merenra 53 Wadjenes Wadjlas
25 Pepi I Meryre Pepi 54 Nynetjer Banetjeru
26 Teti Teti 55 Raneb Kakau
27 Unas Unis 56 Hotepsekhemwy Baunetjer
28 Djedkare Maatkara 57 Qa'a Qebehu
29 Menkauhor Menkauhor 58 Anedjib Merbapen

Proposed reconstruction[edit]

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 row Bottom row
No. Pharaoh Name likely written in the list No. Pharaoh Name likely written in the list
5 Amenhotep III Nebmaatra 34 Userkaf Userkaf
6 Thutmose IV Menkheperura 35 Khentkaus I? Khentkaus?
7 Amenhotep II Aakheperura 36 Thamphthis? Djedefptah/Djedefhor?
8 Thutmose III Menkheperra 37 Shepseskaf Shepseskaf
9 Thutmose II Aakheperenra 38 Menkaure Menkaura
10 Thutmose I Aakheperkara 39 Bicheris? Bakara/Baufra?

Other New Kingdom royal lists[edit]

References[edit]

  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[edit]

  • 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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