Jump to content

Karnak King List

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Iry-Hor (talk | contribs) at 21:09, 17 June 2013 (→Description of the list: wikify). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Drawing of the list in 1843

The Karnak king list, a list of early Egyptian kings engraved in stone, was located in the southwest corner of the Festival Hall of Thutmose III, in the middle of the Precinct of Amun-Re, in the Karnak Temple Complex, in modern Luxor, Egypt. Composed during the reign of Thutmose III, it listed sixty-one kings beginning with Sneferu from Egypt's Old Kingdom. Only the names of thirty-nine kings are still legible, and one is not written in a cartouche (a border used normally to surround the name of a king).

It is not a complete list of the Egyptian Pharaohs, as other kings are known from other ancient lists, but this list is valuable as it contains the names of kings of the First and Second Intermediate periods, which are omitted in most other king lists.

It was first described by James Burton in 1825.[1] In 1843, a German expedition directed by egyptologist Karl Richard Lepsius was traveling up the River Nile to Karnak. A French adventurer named Emile Prisse dismantled and "stole" the blocks containing the king list one night in order to secure it for France, and sent it home.[2][3] Severely damaged, it is now on display at the Louvre[4] in Paris.

Drawing of the list

Drawing of the Karnak King List. The colored bits remain, the white are more or less lost.

Description of the list

The list features the name of the Pharaoh followed by the actual one inscribed on the list. The list comprises three sections and is divided at the center. The numbering follows Lepsius,[5] counting from the sides, toward the center.

Left side Right side
Top Row
Pharaoh Inscribed name Pharaoh Inscribed name
1. Unknown Nefer-ka-re 32. Senusret III Kha-ka-re
2. Sneferu S-neferu 33. Sobekhotep IV Kha-nefer-re
3. Sahure Sahu-re 34. Neferhotep I Kha-sekhem-re
4. Nyuserre Ini Ini 35. Destroyed destroyed
5. Djedkare Isesi Isesi 36. Sobekhotep II Sekhem-re-khu-tawy
6. Destroyed destroyed 37. Amenemhat V S-ankh-ib-re
7. Destroyed destroyed 38. Nebiryraw I Se-wadj-en-re
8. Djehuti Sekhem-re-semen-tawy 39. Unknown ...kau(re)
Second Row
Pharaoh Inscribed name Pharaoh Inscribed name
9. Destroyed destroyed 40. Destroyed destroyed
10. Unknown Intef 41. Neferhotep II Mer-sekhem-re
11. Unknown In... 42. Sobekhotep VII Mer-kau-re
12. Unknown Men... 43. Sobekhotep VIII? Se-user-tawy
13. Unknown Intef 44. Unknown ...re
14. Unknown Teti 45. Unknown Senefer..re
15. Unknown Pepi 46. Sobekhotep V Kha-hotep-re
16. Merenre Nemtyemsaf I? Mer-en-re 47. Sobekhotep I Kha-ankh-re
Third Row
Pharaoh Inscribed name Pharaoh Inscribed name
17. Amenemhat I Se-hotep-ib-re 48. Unknown Wahkhaure
18. Amenemhat II Nebu-ka-re 49. Senebmiu Se-wah-en-re
19. Destroyed destroyed 50. Sobekhotep VI Mer-hotep-re
20. Destroyed destroyed 51. Wegaf Khu-tawi-re
21. Amenemhat IV Maat-khe-ru-re 52. Destroyed destroyed
22. Sobekneferu Sobek-neferu 53. Destroyed destroyed
23. Unknown Intef 54. Rahotep Sekhem-re-wah-khau
Bottom Row
Pharaoh Inscribed name Pharaoh Inscribed name
24. Senusret I Kheper-ka-re 55. Unknown ...re
25. Seqenenre Tao II Se-qen-en-re 56. Unknown Senefer..re
26. Senakhtenre Tao I Se-nakht-en-re 57. Unknown Sewadj..re
27. Bebiankh Se-user-en-re 58. Unknown Sekhem..re
28. Nubkheperre Intef Nub-kheper-re Intef 59. Destroyed destroyed
29. Mentuhotep II Neb-hepet-re 60. Destroyed destroyed
30. Mentuhotep III Se-nefer-ka-re 61. Destroyed destroyed
31. Destroyed destroyed

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Burton, James: "Excerpta Hieroglypica", Plate Ia, Cairo, 1825
  2. ^ "L'Illustration, Journal Universel", Vol. VII, p 244-245, Paris 1846
  3. ^ Monderson, Frederick. "Temple of Karnak: The Majestic Architecture of Ancient Kemet" p. 58
  4. ^ Chapelle des ancêtres in the Sully wing, Rez-de-chaussée, Room 12, Catalogue number E13481bis
  5. ^ Abhandlungen der Königlichen Preußischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1852 (1853) p.455
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Karnak king list.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Karnak_King_List&oldid=560352604"