Sanakht Relief
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Sanakht (also read as Hor-Sanakht) is the
Horus name The Horus name is the oldest known and used crest of ancient Egyptian rulers. It belongs to the " great five names" of an Egyptian pharaoh. However, modern Egyptologists and linguists are starting to prefer the more neutral term "serekh name". T ...
of an
ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...
ian king (
pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...
) of the Third Dynasty during the
Old Kingdom In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning –2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth Dynast ...
. His chronological position is highly uncertain (though he is more likely to have reigned towards the end of the dynasty), and it is also unclear under which
Hellenized Hellenization or Hellenification is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language, and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonisation often led to the Hellenisation of indigenous people in the Hellenistic period, many of the te ...
name the ancient historian
Manetho Manetho (; ''Manéthōn'', ''gen''.: Μανέθωνος, ''fl''. 290–260 BCE) was an Egyptian priest of the Ptolemaic Kingdom who lived in the early third century BCE, at the very beginning of the Hellenistic period. Little is certain about his ...
could have listed him. Many Egyptologists connect Sanakht with the Ramesside cartouche name ''
Nebka Nebka (meaning "Lord of the '' ka''") is the throne name of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Third Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period, in the 27th century BCE. He is thought to be identical with the Hellenized name Νεχέρωχις ( ...
''. However, this remains disputed because no further royal title of that king has ever been found; either in contemporary source or later ones. There are two relief fragments depicting Sanakht originally from the
Wadi Maghareh Wadi Maghareh (also spelled Maghara or Magharah, meaning "The Valley of Caves" in Egyptian Arabic) is an archaeological site located in the southwestern Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. It contains pharaonic monuments and turquoise mines dating from th ...
on the
Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...
.


Identity

Sanakht's identity and position in the Third Dynasty is not entirely clear and remains the subject of debate. While Sanakht's existence is attested by seal fragments from
mastaba A mastaba ( , or ), also mastabah or mastabat) is a type of ancient Egyptian tomb in the form of a flat-roofed, rectangular structure with inward sloping sides, constructed out of mudbricks or limestone. These edifices marked the burial sites ...
K2 at
Beit Khallaf Beit Khallaf (Arabic: بيت خلاف ) is a small rural village located 10 kilometers west of Girga in Upper Egypt. Beit Khallaf is part of the area known as the Hajer line, which is composed of three other villages: Beit Allam, Beit Khuraybi, ...
and a graffito, his position as the founder of the Third Dynasty, as recorded by
Manetho Manetho (; ''Manéthōn'', ''gen''.: Μανέθωνος, ''fl''. 290–260 BCE) was an Egyptian priest of the Ptolemaic Kingdom who lived in the early third century BCE, at the very beginning of the Hellenistic period. Little is certain about his ...
and the Turin Canon, has been seriously undermined by recent archaeological discoveries at Abydos. These discoveries establish that it was likely
Djoser Djoser (also read as Djeser and Zoser) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 3rd Dynasty during the Old Kingdom, and was the founder of that epoch. He is also known by his Hellenized names Tosorthros (from Manetho) and Sesorthos (from Euse ...
who helped bury—and thus succeed—Khasekhemwy, rather than Sanakht. This is determined from seals bearing Djoser's name found at the entrance to the latter's tomb. Proponents of the theory that Sanakht was nonetheless the founder of the dynasty object that the presence of Djoser's seals in Khasekhemwy's tomb only shows that Djoser conducted cultural rituals in honor of this king, and does not necessarily imply that Djoser was Khasekhemwy's immediate successor. Sanakht could then have married Queen Nimaethap, with Nimaethap being the daughter of
Khasekhemwy Khasekhemwy (ca. 2690 BC; ', also rendered ''Kha-sekhemui'') was the last Pharaoh of the Second Dynasty of Egypt. Little is known about him, other than that he led several significant military campaigns and built the mudbrick fort known as S ...
rather than his wife. Together with Sanakht, they could be the parents of Djoser. Alternatively, some have considered Sanakht to be Djoser's elder brother. Presently, the dominant theory is that Sanakht's reign dates to the later Third Dynasty, after Djoser. Egyptologists Toby Wilkinson, Stephan Seidlmayer,
Kenneth Kitchen Kenneth Anderson Kitchen (1932 – 6 February 2025) was a British biblical scholar, Ancient Near Eastern historian, and Personal and Brunner Professor Emeritus of Egyptology and honorary research fellow at the School of Archaeology, Classics and ...
and
Rainer Stadelmann Rainer Stadelmann (24 October 1933 – 14 January 2019) was a German Egyptology, Egyptologist. He was considered an expert on the archaeology of the Giza Plateau. Biography After studying in Neuburg an der Donau in 1953, he studied Egyptology, ...
equate Sanakht with "Nebka", a name appearing in Ramesside king lists. In support of this theory is a clay seal fragment on which the lower part of a
cartouche upalt=A stone face carved with coloured hieroglyphics. Two cartouches - ovoid shapes with hieroglyphics inside - are visible at the bottom., Birth and throne cartouches of Pharaoh KV17.html" ;"title="Seti I, from KV17">Seti I, from KV17 at the ...
appears. In this cartouche Wilkinson, Seidlmayer and Stadelmann see traces of a ''Ka''-sign, the end of the name "Nebka". Likewise, Dietrich Wildung favors equating Nebka with Sanakht, although he questions the validity of the seal as evidence given that it is too badly damaged to read the inscription within the cartouche as "Nebka" with any certainty.Dietrich Wildung: ''Die Rolle ägyptischer Könige im Bewusstsein ihrer Nachwelt. Band 1: Posthume Quellen über die Könige der ersten vier Dynastien'' (= ''Münchner ägyptologische Studien'', vol. 17.). Hessling, Berlin 1969, p. 54 – 58. John D. Degreef, Nabil Swelim, and
Wolfgang Helck Hans Wolfgang Helck (16 September 1914 – 27 August 1993) was a German Egyptologist, considered one of the most important Egyptologists of the 20th century. From 1956 until his retirement in 1979 he was a professor at the University of Hamburg. ...
are against equating Nebka with Sanakht. They refer to the fact that the name "Nebka" is not attested on any monument nor in any document dating to before Djoser. Instead, Nabil Swelim identifies Nebka with the Horus name
Khaba Khaba (also read as Hor-Khaba) was a pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, active during the 3rd Dynasty of the Old Kingdom period. The exact time during which Khaba ruled is unknown but may have been around 2670 BC,Thomas Schneider: ''Lexikon der Pha ...
.Nabil Swelim: ''Some Problems on the History of the Third Dynasty.'', in: ''Archaeological and Historical Studies'', The Archaeological Society of Alexandria, Alexandria 1983, pp. 95, 217–220 and 224. He further identifies Sanakht with a king '' Mesochris'' mentioned by Manetho, regarding this as a
Hellenized Hellenization or Hellenification is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language, and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonisation often led to the Hellenisation of indigenous people in the Hellenistic period, many of the te ...
form of the throne name of Sanakht. He dated Sanakht's reign to between the seventh and eighth king of the Third Dynasty.
Jürgen von Beckerath Jürgen von Beckerath (19 February 1920 – 26 June 2016) was a German Egyptology, Egyptologist. He was a prolific writer who published countless articles in journals such as '':fr:Orientalia, Orientalia'', ''Göttinger Miszellen'' (GM), ''Journa ...
, Wolfgang Helck, Dietrich Wildung and Peter Kaplony proposed that Sanakht's Horus name is that of the shadowy '' Horus Sa'', seeing the name "Sa" as a short form of "Sanakht". From this, Wolfgang Helck holds that Sanakht's Nisut-Biti name was Weneg. King Weneg, however, is widely held to have ruled during the Second Dynasty, and Helck's theory has been greeted with skepticism.Wolfgang Helck: ''Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit'' (= ''Ägyptologische Abhandlungen'', vol. 45). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1987, , p. 20 & 21. Sanakht's name was once read "Hen Nekht" by Egyptologists such as Ernest Wallis Budge. Today, this reading is not in use anymore; the up-to-date reading is "Sanakht" or (seldom) "Nakht-Sa".


Reign

The exact duration of Sanakht's time on the throne is unknown. Unlike Djoser, few relics survive from his reign, which casts serious doubts on the traditional figure of 18 years of reign for this king, as given by both Manetho and the Turin Canon. It must be stressed that the Turin Canon and Manetho were more than one and two thousand years removed from the time of Egypt's Third Dynasty, and would be expected to contain some inaccurate or unreliable data. The Turin Canon, for instance, was transcribed on papyri that dates to the reign of the New Kingdom king,
Ramesses II Ramesses II (sometimes written Ramses or Rameses) (; , , ; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was an Pharaoh, Egyptian pharaoh. He was the third ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth Dynasty. Along with Thutmose III of th ...
, who ruled Egypt from 1279 to 1213 BC. Very little is known of Sanakht's activities during his reign. The presence of reliefs depicting him in the Sinai at
Wadi Maghareh Wadi Maghareh (also spelled Maghara or Magharah, meaning "The Valley of Caves" in Egyptian Arabic) is an archaeological site located in the southwestern Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. It contains pharaonic monuments and turquoise mines dating from th ...
together with those of Djoser and
Sekhemkhet Sekhemkhet (also read as Sechemchet) was an ancient Egyptian king (pharaoh) of the Third Dynasty of Egypt, 3rd Dynasty during the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom. His reign is thought to have been from about 2648 BC until 2640 BC. He is also kn ...
suggest an important Egyptian presence there at the time of the Third Dynasty.Illaria Incordino: ''The third dynasty: A historical hypothesis.'', in: ''Jean Claude Goyon, Christine Cardin: Proceedings of the Ninth International Congress of Egyptologists''. p. 966 Expeditions were launched to that location for the procurement of mineral resources, in particular
turquoise Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula . It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone for millennia due to its hue. The robi ...
.


Tomb

The location of Sanakht's tomb is not known with certainty. It was long thought that Sanakht's tomb was the large
mastaba A mastaba ( , or ), also mastabah or mastabat) is a type of ancient Egyptian tomb in the form of a flat-roofed, rectangular structure with inward sloping sides, constructed out of mudbricks or limestone. These edifices marked the burial sites ...
K2 at
Beit Khallaf Beit Khallaf (Arabic: بيت خلاف ) is a small rural village located 10 kilometers west of Girga in Upper Egypt. Beit Khallaf is part of the area known as the Hajer line, which is composed of three other villages: Beit Allam, Beit Khuraybi, ...
, as excavations there yielded relief fragments bearing his name. However, some Egyptologists now regard this mastaba as the burial of a high official, prince or queen rather than that of a pharaoh,Nicolas Grimal: ''A History of Ancient Egypt''. Blackwell-Publishing, Oxford 1992, , p. 64. while others continue to support the first hypothesis. In the mastaba were found the skeletal remains of a man over tall. According to Charles S. Myers, this stature was considerably taller than the average of prehistoric and later Egyptians. The specimen's skull was very large and capacious. Although his cranial index was unusually broad and almost
brachycephalic Brachycephaly (derived from the Ancient Greek '' βραχύς'', 'short' and '' κεφαλή'', 'head') is the shape of a skull shorter than average in its species. It is perceived as a cosmetically desirable trait in some domesticated dog and ...
, the proportions of his long bones were tropically adapted like those of most other ancient Egyptians; especially those from the predynastic period. His overall cranial features, however, were closer to those of dynastic period Egyptian skulls. Consequently, the mastaba has been associated with an anecdote related by Manetho in which he tells of a late Second Dynasty king, called ''Sesochris'', whom he describes as being particularly tall. The Egyptologist Wolfgang Helck proposed another hypothesis; namely, that Sanakht's tomb is an unfinished structure west of the
pyramid of Djoser The pyramid of Djoser, sometimes called the Step Pyramid of Djoser or Step Pyramid of Horus Netjerikhet, is an archaeological site in the Saqqara necropolis, Egypt, northwest of the ruins of Memphis.Bard, Kathryn A., and Jean-Philipee Lauer, ed ...
. While the case of Sanakht has often appeared in the medical literature as a potential case of
pituitary disease A pituitary disease is a disorder primarily affecting the pituitary gland. __TOC__ Table The main disorders involving the pituitary gland are: Overproduction or underproduction of a pituitary hormone will affect the respective end-organ. For ex ...
, no definitive consensus has existed for many years on whether it was
acromegaly Acromegaly is a disorder that results in excess growth of certain parts of the human body. It is caused by excess growth hormone (GH) after the growth plates have closed. The initial symptom is typically enlargement of the hands and feet. There ...
or
gigantism Gigantism (, ''gígas'', "wiktionary:giant, giant", plural γίγαντες, ''gígantes''), also known as giantism, is a condition characterized by excessive growth and height significantly above average height, average. In humans, this conditi ...
. In 2017 palaeopathologist Francesco M. Galassi and Egyptologist Michael E. Habicht from Zurich University's Institute of Evolutionary Medicine coordinated an international team of researchers to reassess this case. Their conclusion was that the alleged remains of Sanakht are clearly the oldest known case of gigantism in the world.Newsweek: Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Is World’s Oldest Case of Gigantism http://www.newsweek.com/ancient-egypt-giant-pharaoh-king-sanakht-647292


See also

*
List of Pharaohs The title "pharaoh" is used for those rulers of Ancient Egypt who ruled after the unification of Upper Egypt, Upper and Lower Egypt by Narmer during the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt, Early Dynastic Period, approximately 3100 BC. However, the sp ...
*
List of Egyptian pyramids This list presents the vital statistics of the pyramids listed in chronological order, when available. See also * Egyptian pyramids * Great Sphinx of Giza * Lepsius list of pyramids * List of Egyptian pyramidia * List of finds in Egyptian pyr ...
*
List of megalithic sites This is a list of monoliths organized according to the size of the largest block of stone on the site. A monolith is a large stone which has been used to build a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. In this list at l ...


References


External links


Egyptian kings: Sanakht
{{authority control 27th-century BC pharaohs Pharaohs of the Third Dynasty of Egypt People with gigantism Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown