The Saqqara Tablet, also known as the Saqqara King List or the Saqqara Table, now in the

Egyptian Museum The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, commonly known as the Egyptian Museum (, Egyptian Arabic: ) (also called the Cairo Museum), located in Cairo, Egypt, houses the largest collection of Ancient Egypt, Egyptian antiquities in the world. It hou ...

, is an ancient stone engraving surviving from the Ramesside Period of Egypt which features a list of

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 ( ...

s. It was found in 1861 in

Saqqara Saqqara ( : saqqāra ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in the markaz (county) of Badrashin in the Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for ...

, 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 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 ...

. The inscription lists fifty-eight kings, from Anedjib ( First Dynasty) to Ramesses II (

Nineteenth Dynasty The Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XIX), also known as the Ramessid dynasty, is classified as the second Dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom period, lasting from 1292 BC to 1189 BC. The 19th Dynasty and the 20th Dynasty fu ...

), in reverse chronological order. The names (each surrounded by a border known as 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 ...

), 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. Detailed and high resolution images are able to be viewed online and inside the book ''Inside the Egyptian Museum with Zahi Hawass'' Like with other Ramesside lists, the Saqqara Tablet omits the names of "rulers from the Second Intermediate Period, the

Hyksos The Hyksos (; Egyptian language, Egyptian ''wikt:ḥqꜣ, ḥqꜣ(w)-wikt:ḫꜣst, ḫꜣswt'', Egyptological pronunciation: ''heqau khasut'', "ruler(s) of foreign lands"), in modern Egyptology, are the kings of the Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt ( ...

, and those rulers... who had been close to the heretic

Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton ( ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning 'Effective for the Aten'), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eig ...

".Quoted from: Gerald Verbrugghe, John Moore Wickersham. ''Berossos and Manetho, Introduced and Translated''. University of Michigan Press, 2001. Page 104. Despite being nearly a slimmed down copy of the

Abydos King List The Abydos King List, also known as the Abydos Table or the Abydos Tablet, is a list of the names of 76 kings of ancient Egypt, found on a wall of the Temple of Seti I at Abydos, Egypt. It consists of three rows of 38 cartouches (borders enclos ...

, the Saqqara Tablet has some notable changes. For example, Neferirkare Kakai is listed under his

prenomen The praenomen (; plural: praenomina) was a first name chosen by the parents of a Ancient Rome, Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the ...

''Neferirkare'' like with every other pharaoh in the list, despite being listed under his nomen ''Kakai'' in the Abydos King List. Also, Neferkare, Neferkasokar, Hudjefa, Huni and

Sobekneferu Sobekneferu or Neferusobek () was the first confirmed queen regnant A queen regnant (: queens regnant) is a female monarch, equivalent in rank, title and position to a king. She reigns ''suo jure'' (in her own right) over a realm known ...

are listed in the Saqqara Tablet, despite being absent in the Abydos King List. Likewise,

Nyuserre Ini Nyuserre Ini (also Niuserre Ini or Neuserre Ini; in Greek language, Greek known as Rathurês, ''Ῥαθούρης''; died 2422 BC) was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, king, the sixth ruler of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt, Fifth Dynasty during the Ol ...

and

Userkare Userkare (also Woserkare, meaning "Powerful is the soul of Ra"; died 2332 BC) was the second Pharaoh, king of the Sixth dynasty of Egypt, Sixth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, Egypt, reigning briefly, 1 to 5 years, in the late 24th or the early 23rd ...

are absent for some unknown reason, despite being present in the Abydos King List. In addition, the early rulers of the First Dynasty (

Menes Menes ( ; ; , probably pronounced *; and Μήν) was a pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period of ancient Egypt, credited by classical tradition with having united Upper and Lower Egypt, and as the founder of the First Dynasty. The identity of M ...

Narmer Narmer (, may mean "painful catfish", "stinging catfish", "harsh catfish", or "fierce catfish"; ) was an ancient Egyptian king of the Early Dynastic Period, whose reign began at the end of the 4th millennium BC. He was the successor to the Prot ...

Hor-Aha Hor-Aha (or Aha or Horus Aha; ) is considered the second pharaoh of the First Dynasty of Egypt by some Egyptology, Egyptologists, while others consider him the first one and corresponding to Menes. He lived around the 31st century BC and is thoug ...

, Djer, Djet, Den, and

Semerkhet Semerkhet is the Horus name of an early Egyptian king who ruled during the First Dynasty. This ruler became known through a tragic legend handed down by the historian Manetho, who reported that a calamity of some sort occurred during Semerkhe ...

) are all excluded from the Saqqara Tablet for some unknown reason, despite being present in the Abydos King List. SaqqaraKingList

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.

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. Note that this reconstruction is based on other kings lists and circumstantial evidence.

Other New Kingdom royal lists

* Karnak King List *

Palermo Stone The Palermo Stone is one of seven surviving fragments of a stele known as the Royal Annals of the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. The stele contained a list of the kings of Egypt from the First Dynasty (c.3150–2890 BCE) through to the early par ...

* Turin King List * Medinet Habu king list

References

{{reflist

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) 13th-century BC inscriptions 1861 archaeological discoveries Ancient Egyptian King lists Egyptian Museum Archaeological discoveries in Egypt Saqqara