Turin King List

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Turin King List

This article contains Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Egyptian hieroglyphs.

The Turin King List, also known as the Turin Royal Canon, is an ancient Egyptian hieratic papyrus thought to date from the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II, now in the Museo Egizio (Egyptian Museum)[1] in Turin. The papyrus is the most extensive list available of kings compiled by the ancient Egyptians, and is the basis for most chronology before the reign of Ramesses II.

1904 version of attempt to assemble parts of the Turin King list Creation and use

The papyrus is believed to date from the reign of Ramesses II, during the middle of the New Kingdom, or the 19th Dynasty. The beginning and ending of the list are now lost; there is no introduction, and the list does not continue after the 19th Dynasty. The composition may thus have occurred at any subsequent time, from the reign of Ramesses II to as late as the 20th Dynasty.

The papyrus lists the names of rulers, the lengths of reigns in years, with months and days for some kings. In some cases they are grouped together by family, which corresponds approximately to the dynasties of Manethoʼs book. The list includes the names of ephemeral rulers or those ruling small territories that may be unmentioned in other sources.

The list also is believed to contain kings from the 15th Dynasty, the Hyksos who ruled Lower Egypt and the River Nile delta. The Hyksos rulers do not have cartouches (enclosing borders which indicate the name of a king), and a hieroglyphic sign is added to indicate that they were foreigners, although typically on King Lists foreign rulers are not listed.

The papyrus was originally a tax roll, but on its back is written a list of rulers of Egypt – including mythical kings such as gods, demi-gods, and spirits, as well as human kings. That the back of an older papyrus was used may indicate that the list was not of great formal importance to the writer, although the primary function of the list is thought to have been as an administrative aid. As such, the papyrus is less likely to be biased against certain rulers and is believed to include all the kings of Egypt known to its writers up to the 19th or 20th Dynasty.

Discovery and reconstruction

The papyrus was found by the Italian traveler Bernardino Drovetti in 1820 at Luxor (Thebes), Egypt and was acquired in 1824 by the Egyptian Museum in Turin, Italy and was designated Papyrus Number 1874. When the box in which it had been transported to Italy was unpacked, the list had disintegrated into small fragments. Jean-Francois Champollion, examining it, could recognize only some of the larger fragments containing royal names, and produced a drawing of what he could decipher. A reconstruction of the list was created to better understand it and to aid in research. The Saxon researcher Gustav Seyffarth (1796–1885) re-examined the fragments, some only one square centimeter in size, and made a more complete reconstruction of the papyrus based only on the papyrus fibers, as he could not yet determine the meaning of the hieratic characters. Subsequent work on the fragments was done by the Munich Egyptologist Jens Peter Lauth, which largely confirmed the Seyffarth reconstruction.

In 1997, prominent Egyptologist Kim Ryholt published a new and better interpretation of the list in his book, "The Political Situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period c. 1800–1550 B.C." After another study of the papyrus, an updated version from Ryholt is expected. Egyptologist Donald Redford has also studied the papyrus and has noted that although many of the list's names correspond to monuments and other documents, there are some discrepancies and not all of the names correspond, questioning the absolute reliability of the document for pre-Ramesses II chronology.

Despite attempts at reconstruction, approximately 50% of the papyrus remains missing. This papyrus as presently constituted is 1.7 m long and 0.41 m wide, broken into over 160 fragments. In 2009, previously unpublished fragments were discovered in the storage room of the Egyptian Museum of Turin, in good condition.[2] A new edition of the papyrus is expected.

The name Hudjefa, found twice in the papyrus, is now known to have been used by the royal scribes of the Ramesside era during the 19th dynasty of ancient Egypt when the scribes compiled king lists such as the royal table of Sakkara and the royal canon of Turin and the name of a deceased pharaoh was unreadable, damaged, or completely erased.

Contents of the papyrus

The papyrus is divided into eleven columns, distributed as follows. The names and positions of several kings are still being disputed, since the list is so badly damaged.

Column 1 — Gods of Ancient Egypt Column 2 — Gods of Ancient Egypt, spirits and mythical kings Column 3 — Rows 11-25 (Dynasties 1-2) Column 4 — Rows 1-25 (Dynasties 2-5) Column 5 — Rows 1-26 (Dynasties 6-8/9/10) Column 6 — Rows 12-25 (Dynasties 11-12) Column 7 — Rows 1-2 (Dynasties 12-13) Column 8 — Rows 1-23 (Dynasty 13) Column 9 — Rows 1-27 (Dynasty 13-14) Column 10 — Rows 1-30 (Dynasty 14) Column 11 — Rows 1-30 (Dynasties 14-17)

Turin King List with 2013 corrections of positions for some fragments – table representation of rows from the original papyrus, translated into hieroglyphs

These are the actual names written on the papyrus, omitting the years, summations and headings:

Second Column

Row Common name Name in list Transliteration Manuel de Codage

11 Menes Meni mni <-Y5kN35-M17->

12 Hor-Aha Teti ttij <-X1kX1-M17-Z4->

13 Djer Iti, Ita iti <-M17-X1-//-G7->

15 Djet Itui itjwi <-//-G4#12-M17->

16 Den Qenti qntj <-Aa8kX1*Z4-> <-U7kD21-U17- 17 Anedjib Merbiapen mr-biA-pn Q3kN35-//-> <-S29-G17-S29- 18 Semerkhet Semsem smsm G17-> <-//-D58-V28-G7- 19 Qa'a (Qe)beh qbH > <-//-G30-R4kQ3- 20 Hotepsekhemwy Baunetjer bAw-nTr G7-> <-//-E2- 21 Nebre Kakau kA-kAw D52kZ1*Z1*Z1-G7-> <-//-R8-D21kN35- 22 Nynetjer Banetjer bA-nTr G7-> 23 Wadjnes ..s ..s <-//-//-S29-G7->

24 Senedj Sened.. snDi <-G54-//->

25 Neferkara I Neferka nfr-kA <-O29-D28-Z1->

Third Column

Row Common name Name in list Transliteration Manuel de Codage

<-F35-D28-Z1- 2 Neferkasokar Neferkasokar nfr-kA-skr O34kV31kD21-Z5- G7-> <-D58-D58-N21- 3 Khasekhemwy Bebti bbtj G7->

4 Nebka Nebka nbkA <-V30-D28-Z1-> <-D45kD21- 5 Djoser Djoser..it Dsr..it M17-.:X1#12-G7-> <-D45kD21-X1kZ4- 6 Sekhemkhet Djoserti Dsrti G7-> 7 Hudjefa II Hudjefa HwDfA <-O34-I10-S29->

<-V28-Z5-A25-//- 8 Huni Huni Hwni G7-> <-S29-F35-I9kD21- 9 Sneferu Senefer snfr G7-> 10 Khufu — — //-//

11 Djedefre — — <-//-//-G7-> <-//-N28-D36-//- 12 Khafre ..kha.. ..xa.. G7-> 13 Lost — — <-//-//-G7->

14 Menkaure — — <-//-//-G7->

15 Shepseskaf — — <-//-//-G7-> 16 Unknown — — — 17 Userkaf ..kaf ..kAf <-//-//-D28kI9-G7-> 18 Sahure — — — 19 Neferirkare Kakai — — — 20 Shepseskare — — — 21 Neferefre — — — 22 Nyuserre — — — G5-<-G7-Y5kN35- 23 Menkauhor Menkahor mn-kA-Hr D28-Z1-G7-> 24 Djedkare Djed Dd <-R11-R11-> <-E34kN35-M17- 25 Unas Unis wnis S29-> Fourth Column

Row Common name Name in list Transliteration Manuel de Codage

1 Teti — — — 2 Userkare — — — 3 Pepi — — — Merenre 4 — — — Nemtyemsaf I 5 Pepi II — — — Merenre 6 — — — Nemtyemsaf II <-N35kX1*Z5-M17- 7 Neitiqerty Siptah Neitiqerty ntiqrti N29-D21kX1*Z4- G7-> 8 Lacuna — — — <-F35-D28-Z1-G7- 9 Menkare Neferka nfr-kA > 10 Neferkare II Nefer nfr <-F35-I9kD21-G7->

11 Ibi Ibi ibi <-M17-D58-E8->

12 Lost — — — 13 Lost — — — 18 Lost — — — 19 Lost — — — <-N5-F35-D28-Z1- 20 Neferkare VII Neferkare nfr-kA-ra G7#12-> <-F32kX1-A50- 21 Nebkaure Khety Khety Xti M17-M17-G7-> <-S29-M22-M22- 22 Senenh.. Senenh.. snnh.. N35kN35- A53-.:O4-//> 23 Lost — — —

24 Mer.. Mer.. mrr.. <-U7kD21-//->

25 Shed.. Shed.. Sd.. <-F30kD46#24-//->

26 H.. H.. H.. <-V28-//-> Fifth Column

Row Common name Name in list Transliteration Manuel de Codage

1 Lost — — — 2 Lost — — — 3 Lost — — — 4 Lost — — — 5 Lost — — — 6 Lost — — — 7 Lost — — — 8 Lost — — — 9 Lost — — — 12 Mentuhotep I Wah.. wAH.. <-V28#1234-//->

13 Intef I — — — 14 Intef II ..n.. ..n.. <-//-N35-//-> 15 Intef III — — — 16 Mentuhotep II Nebhepetre nb-hpt-ra <-N5kV30-P8->

<-S29#34- 17 Mentuhotep III Seankhkare s-anx-kA-ra S34#34-N35kAa1- D28#34-> <- 20 Amenemhat I ..pib.. ..p-ib.. //-.:Q3-.:F34-.:Z1- G7-> 21 Senusret I ..ka.. ..kA.. <-//-D28-Z1-> 22 Amenemhat II — — — 23 Senusret II — — — 24 Senusret III — — — 25 Amenemhat III — — — Sixth Column

Row Common name Name in list Transliteration Manuel de Codage

<-N5-U5kD36-P8- 1 Amenemhat IV Maakherure mAa-xrw-ra V1-A2-> 2 Sobekneferu Sobeknefrure ..nfrw-ra <-N5- Wegaf or 5 Khutawire xwt-Awi-ra D43kN17kN17#1234- Sobekhotep I > <-N5#123- Sekhemkare 6 Sekhemkare sxm-kA-ra Y8#1234- Sonbef D28#1234-Z1-> Sekhemkare N5-Y5:.#34-G17- 7 Amenemhat..re imn-m-HAt Amenemhat V F4kX1*Z1-G7 N5-S29-R4kX1*Q3- 8 Hotepibre Sehetepibre sHtp-ib-ra F34 9 Iufni Iufeni iwfni i-Z7-f-n:A1

10 Amenemhet VI Seankhibre s-anx-ib-ra ra-s-anx-ib Semenkare 11 Semenkare smn-kA-ra ra-s-mn:n-kA Nebnuni 12 Sehetepibre Sehetepibre sHtp-ib-ra N5-s-R4:t*p-ib-Z1

13 Sewadjkare Sewadjkare swAD-kA-ra ra-s-wAD-kA

14 Nedjemibre Nedjemibre nDm-ib-ra ra-nDm-m-mDAt-ib Khaankhre 15 Sebek..p..re sbk-(Htp)-ra //-N5-I4-// Sobekhotep 16 Renseneb Renseneb rn..nbw r:n-A2-//-n:b-Y1 ra-Aw-Z7:t-Y1kZ2- 17 Awybre Hor I Autibre Awt-ib-ra ib-Z1

18 Amenemhat VII Sedjefakare sDfa-kA-ra ra-s-D:f-A-//-kA Sekhemre imn-m-hAt- M17-Y5kN35-G17- 19 Khutawy Amenemhatsebekhotep sbk-Htp F4kX1-I4-R4kX1-Q3 Sobekhotep N5-F12-//-Z1- 20 Khendjer User..re ..djer wsr..ra..nDr N5kN35-M36kD21 21 Imyremeshaw ..kare ..kA-ra <-N5-//-D28-G7->

//-D28-Z1-G7- 22 Intef IV ..re ..ra W25kN35-X1kI9-G7 23 Seth Meribre ..ibre..seth ..ib-ra..stX N5-Y8-//-I5-Htp:t-p N5-N28kD36kY1-//- 25 Neferhotep I Khamaatreneferhotep xa..ra..nfr-Htp F35-R4kX1-Q3 <-N5-O6-X1kO1- 26 Sihathor (Re)Sahathor sA-Hwt-Hr G5-G7-G38-Z1-G7- > Khaneferre- xa-nfr-ra-sbk- <-N5-N28kD36-Y1- 27 Sobekhotep IV Sobekhotep Htp F35-I3-R4kX1-Q3-> Seventh Column Row Common name Name in list Transliteration Manuel de Codage N5-N28kD36*Y1- 1 Sobekhotep VI Khaheteprehotep xa-Htp-ra-Htp R4kX1-Q3-G7 ra-wAH-H-Y1-ib- wAH-ib-ra- 2 Wahibre Ibiau Wahibreibiau Z1-i-a:mw-A24-ib- ibiaw Z1 3 Merneferre Ay Merneferre mr-nfr-ra N5-U7kD21-F35 4 Merhotepre Ini Merhetepre mr-Htp-ra N5-U6-R4kX1*Q3 Sankhenre s-anx-n-ra- ra-s-anx-n:x-n-s- 5 Seankhenresewadjtu Sewadjtu swDtwi wAD-t-Z7 ra-U7:r-sxm-Z1-i- 6 Mersekhemre Ined Mersekhemre Ined mr-sxm-ra-ind in:n-d:wr swAD-kA-ra- N5-S29-M13-S28- 7 Hori Sewadjkare Hori Hri Z1-G7-G5-M17 Merkawre mr-kAw-ra- N5-U7kD21-Z1- 8 Merkawre Sobek.. Sobekhotep sbk.. D28-Z1-//-I3-// 9 Lost — — — 10 Lost — — — 11 Lost — — — 12 Lost — — — Djedneferre 13 ..mose i-m-s-s //-F31-S29-Z5 Dedumose <-N5-//-X1-H6->- 14 Ibi ..maat..re Ibi ..mAat-ra-ibi G7-M17-E8-M17-A1 <-N5-//-G43-D58- 15 Hor Webenre Hor ..wbn-Hr N35kN5->-G7-G5 N5-S29-//-D28-Z1- 16 Se..kare Se..kare s..kA-ra G7 Seheqenre 17 ..enre ..enra N5-//-Y1kN35 Sankhptahi 18 Lost — — — 19 Lost — — — 20 Sekhaenre ? ? <-//-Y1:.#34-G7-> 21 Lost — — — 22 Merkheperre Merkheperre mr-xpr-ra N5-U7kD21-L1 //-U7:.#234-D28- 23 Merkare Merka.. mr..kA.. Z1 Eighth Column Row Common name Name in list Transliteration Manuel de Codage G21-V28-S29-Z4- 1 Nehesy Nehesy nḥsi T14 N5-N28kD36*Y1- 2 Khatyre Khatyre xa.ti-ra U33-Z4 N5-V30kI9-F40- 3 Nebfautre Nebfaure nb-fAw-t-ra Z7kX1-Y1kZ2 N5-S29-V28-b- 4 Sehebre Sehabre sHb-ra W3kN5 N5-U7kD21-G42- 5 Merdjefare Merdjefare mr-DfA-ra G41kG37 N5-S29-M13-D28- 6 Sewadjkare III Sewadjkare swAD-kA-ra Z1 N5-N5kV30-I10kI9- 7 Nebdjefare Neb("erased")re nb-DfA-ra G42-Z7-G41kG37 N5-Z7-D58- 8 Webenre Webenre wbn-ra N35kN5-G7 9 Lost — — — 10 ..re ("erased")re ..ra..dfA N5-//-G41kG37 //-D58#3-N35kN5- 11 ..webenre ..wbn..ra G7 N5-F40-Z7kX1- 12 Autibre Autibre Aw-t-ib-ra Y1kZ2-F34-Z1 N5-O4-D21kY1- 13 Heribre Heribre hr-ib-ra F34-Z1 N5-V30-S29- 14 Nebsenre Nebsenra nb-sn-ra N35kZ2 15 Lost — — — N5-S29-L1- 16 Sekheperenre Sekheperenre s-xpr-n-ra D21kN35 17 Djedkherure Djedkherure Dd-xrw-ra N5-R11-G7-P8-Z7 N5-S29-S34- 18 Seankhibre Seankhibre s-anx-ib-ra N35kAa1-F34-Z1 N5-F35-X1kU15-//- 19 Kanefertemre (Ka)nefertemre kA-nfr-tm-ra G7 20 Sekhem..re Sekhem..re sxm..ra N5-S42-G17-// N5-D28-D52kE1-//- 21 Kakemure Ka..kemure kA..kmw-ra I6-Z7kX1-E1 22 Neferibre Neferib..re nfr-ib-ra N5-F35-F34-// 23 I..re I..re i..ra N5-M17-A2-// 24 Kha..re Kha..re xa..ra N5-N28kD36*Y1-// 25 Aakare Aakare aA-kA-ra N5-O29v-D28-// 26 Semen..re Semen..re smn..ra N5-S29-Y5kN35-// 27 Djed..re Djed..re Dd..ra <-N5-R11-R11-// Ninth Column Row Common name Name in list Transliteration Manuel de Codage 1 Lost — — N5-// 2 Lost — — — 3 Lost — — — 4 Lost — — — 5 Lost — — N5-// 6 Lost — — N5-// 7 Senefer..re Senefer..re s-nfr..ra N5-S29-F35-// N5-Y5kN35- 8 Men..re Men(ib)..re mn-ib..ra ib*Z1#1234 9 Djed.. Djed.. Dd.. R11*R11#34-// 10 Lost — — — 11 Lost — — — 12 Lost — — — 13 Lost — — — M17-K1kN35kV31A- 14 Inenek Inenek in-n-k // 15 Ineb Ineb inbi M17-A1-V30-// 16 'Apepi Ip.. ip.. M17-A1-Q3-// 17 Hab Hab hbi M17-O4-G1-D58 18 Sa Sa sA G39-Z1 19 Hepu Hepu Hpw Aa5kQ3-Z7-E1 20 Shemsu Shemsu Smsw T18-S29-Z7-D54 21 Meni Meni mni Y5kN35-M17-// 22 Werqa.. werqa.. wr-qAi G36kD21-N29-A28 23 Lost — — — 24 Lost — — — 25 ..ka ..ka ..kA.. <-//-A2-D28-Z1-> 26 ..ka ..ka ..kA.. <-//-D28-Z1-> 27 Lost .. .. <-//-Z1-G7-> <-//-D21kN35->- 28 ..ren..hepu ..ren..hepu.. ..rn-Hpw.. G7-Aa5kQ3-Z7-Y1 <-//-D28-Z1-G7->- G7-V30kN35- 29 Anati Anati in-nti N35kG1-U33-M17- D54 <-//-D28-Z1-G7->- 30 Bebnum ..ka.. Bebnem ..kA..bbnm G7-D58-D58- N35kZ2-G17-D54 31 Lost .. — — Tenth Column Row Common name Name in list Transliteration Manuel de Codage 1 I.. I.. iwf.. M17-// 2 Seth II Seth stH.. <-C7-G7-//-> 3 Sunu.. Sunu.. swnw <-T11-W24-Z7-//-> 4 Hor.. Hor.. ḥr.. <-G5-G7://-//-> 5 Lost — — — 6 Lost — — — <-D35-M17-D58- 7 Nib.. Nib.. nib.. E8-N35A#24-/-> <-U6://-N35://-G7- 8 Mer..en.. Mer..en.. mr..n.. [permanent dead link

Q3kN35kN35-S29- 9 Penensetensepet Penensetensepet pnnstt-n-spt K3kX1*X1-N35- S29-Q3kX1 <-T28kD21- 10 Kherethebshepesu Kherethebshepesu xrt-Hb-Spsw W3kX1*B1-Z3A- A50-Z3A-//-> <-Aa1kD43-Z7-//- 11 Khut..hemet Khut..hemet xw..Hmt.. N42kX1-B1-//-> 12 Lost — — — 15 Semqen? — — — 16 Aperanat? — — — 17 Sakir-Har — — — 18 Khyan — — — 19 Apepi — — — 20 Khamudi Khamudi xA-mdw-i xA-A-m-Z7-d:y-T14 23 Lost — — — 24 Lost — — — <-O34kV31kX1*Z5- 25 Zeket.. Zeket.. skt.. //-Z1-G7-//-> 26 Ar.. Ar.. Ar.. <-D36kD21-//-> 27 Lost — — — 28 Lost — — — //-G7-N35-M17-G1- 29 ..nia.. ..nia.. ..niA.. // Eleventh Column Row Common name Name in list Transliteration Manuel de Codage Sekhemre 1 Sementawy Sekhem..re sxm..ra <-N5-S42-Z1-//-> Djehuti Sekhemre <-N5-S42-Z1-G7- 2 Susertawi Sekhem..re sxm..ra //-> Sobekhotep VIII Sekhemre <-N5-S42-Z1-G7- 3 Sankhtawy Sekhemre S.. sxm-ra-s.. S29-//-> Neferhotep III Sewadjenre <-N5-S29-M13- 4 Sewadjenre.. swAD-n-ra.. Nebiryraw I N35:.#234-//-> #b-<-N5-V30-M17- 5 Nebiriaure Nebiriaure nb-iri-Aw-ra D21kZ4-F40-Z7- Y1kZ2->#e #b-<-N5-V30-M17- 6 Nebiretaure Nebiretaure nb-iri-Awt-ra D21kZ4-X1:.-F40- Z7-Y1kZ2->#e #b-<-N5-S29- 7 Semenre Semenre smn-ra Y5kN35-U32- Y1:.*Z1->#e Seuserenre #b-<-N5-S29-F12- 8 Seuserre.. s-wsr-ra.. Bebiankh S29-D21kD36->#e <-N5-S42- Sekhemre sxm-ra-Sd- 9 Sekhemre Shedwaset F30kD46-A24-R19- Shedwaset wAst X1kO49-G7-> 10 Lost — — — 11 Lost — — — 12 Lost — — — 13 Lost — — — 14 Lost — — — <-N5-F12- 16 User..re User..re wsr..ra D21:.#1234-//-> 17 User.. User.. wsr.. <-F12#3-//->

The Manuel de Codage text was written using the Open Source hieroglyphic editor JSesh.