Saqqara Tablet

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]

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 I, 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.

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. Pharaohs that are known have the damaged part of the inscribed name in parentheses.

Upper row

Nineteenth Dynasty

# Pharaoh Name written in the list Hieroglyphs
1. Ramesses II (Usermaatre) setepenre



2. Seti I (Men)maat(re)


3. Ramesses I Men(pehtire)



Eighteenth Dynasty

# Pharaoh Name written in the list Hieroglyphs
4. Horemheb (Djeserkheperure) setepen(re)





5.
Names lost
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. Amenhotep I Djeserkare



12. Ahmose I Nebpehtire



Eleventh Dynasty

# Pharaoh Name written in the list Hieroglyphs
13. Mentuhotep II Nebhepetre


14. Mentuhotep III Seankhkare


Twelfth Dynasty

# Pharaoh Name written in the list Hieroglyphs
15. Amenemhat I Sehetepibre



16. Senusret I Kheperkare


17. Amenemhat II Nubkaure



18. Senusret II Khakheperre



19. Senusret III Khakhaure



20. Amenemhat III (Nimaat)re


or


21. Amenemhat IV Maakherure



22. Sobekneferu Kasobekre


Sixth Dynasty

# Pharaoh Name written in the list Hieroglyphs
23. Pepi II Neferkare Neferkare


24. Merenre Nemtyemsaf I Merenre


25. Pepi I Meryre Pepi


26. Teti Teti



Fifth Dynasty

# Pharaoh Name written in the list Hieroglyphs
27. Unas Unis



28. Djedkare Isesi Maatkare


29. Menkauhor Kaiu Menkauhor


Bottom row

Fifth Dynasty (Continued)

# Pharaoh Name written in the list Hieroglyphs
30. Neferefre Khaneferre



31. Shepseskare Shepseskare


32. Neferirkare Kakai Neferirkare


33. Sahure Sahure


34. Userkaf Userka(f)


Fourth Dynasty

# Pharaoh Name written in the list Hieroglyphs
35.
Names lost
36.
37.
38.
39.
40. Khafre Khaf(re)



41. Djedefre Djedefre


42. Khufu Khufu



43. Sneferu Sneferu



Third Dynasty

# Pharaoh Name written in the list Hieroglyphs
44. Huni Huni



or



or



45. Nebka Nebkare



46. Sekhemkhet Djoser-teti



47. Djoser Djoser



Second Dynasty

# Pharaoh Name written in the list Hieroglyphs
48. Khasekhemwy Bebti


49. Hudjefa I Hudjefa



or



50. Sekhemib-Perenmaat? Neferkasokar




51. Sneferka? Neferkare


52. Seth-Peribsen? Senedj


53. Wadjenes Wadjlas



54. Nynetjer Banetjeru



55. Nebra Kakau




56. Hotepsekhemwy Baunetjer


First Dynasty

# Pharaoh Name written in the list Hieroglyphs
57. Qa'a Qebehu


58. 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. Jürgen von Beckerath proposes king Nyuserre as the holder of cartouche #35; he thinks it is possible that Nyuserre was simply misplaced to the beginning of the 5th Dynasty. The Saqqara king list would therefore give the following succession: Khafre → Bikheris → Menkaure → Shepseskaf → Thamphthis → Nyuserrê → Userkaf.[5] However, in recent years, it's been thought that the holder of cartouche #35 should actually be Queen Khentkaus; which would make the Saqqara king list succession be: Khafre → Bikheris → Menkaure → Shepseskaf → Thamphthis → Khentkaus → Userkaf.[6][7] Note that this reconstruction is based on other kings lists and circumstantial evidence.

Upper row (Eighteenth Dynasty)

# Pharaoh Name likely written in the list Possible hieroglyphs
5. Amenhotep III (Nebmaatre)


or


6. Thutmose IV (Menkheperure)




7. Amenhotep II (Aakheperure)




8. Thutmose III (Menkheperre)



9. Thutmose II (Aakheperenre)




10. Thutmose I (Aakheperkare)



Bottom row (Fourth Dynasty)

# Pharaoh Name likely written in the list Possible hieroglyphs
35. Nyuserre Ini or Khentkaus I (Nyuserre)?, (Khentkaus)?




(if Nyuserre)
or




(if Khentkaus)
36. Thamphthis? (Djedefptah)?, (Djedefkaf)?, (Djedefhor)?



or


37. Shepseskaf (Shepseskaf)



38. Menkaure (Menkaure)




39. Bikheris? (Bakare)?, (Baufra)?


Other New Kingdom royal lists

References

  1. ^ Robert Morkot. The Egyptians: An Introduction. Routledge, 2005. ISBN 0-415-27103-7. Page 74.
  2. ^ 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)
  3. ^ Hawass, Zahi (2010). Inside the Egyptian Museum with Zahi Hawass. Cairo: American Univ in Cairo Press. pp. 299, photographs 156-157. ISBN 9789774163722.
  4. ^ Quoted from: Gerald Verbrugghe, John Moore Wickersham. Berossos and Manetho, Introduced and Translated. University of Michigan Press, 2001. Page 104.
  5. ^ Jürgen von Beckerath: Chronologie des pharaonischen Ägypten. Die Zeitbestimmung der ägyptischen Geschichte von der Vorzeit bis 332 v. Chr. (= Münchner ägyptologische Studien, vol. 46). von Zabern, Mainz 1997, ISBN 3-8053-2310-7, p. 158.
  6. ^ Verner, Miroslav. "Further Thoughts on the Khentkaus Problem." Discussions in Egyptology 38 (1997), pp. 109, 113-114.
  7. ^ Hermann Alexander Schlögl: Das Alte Ägypten. pp. 99–100.

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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