Karnak King List

Karnak King List
Drawing of the list in 1843
Createdc. 1450 BC
Discoveredbefore 1826
Luxor, Luxor Governorate, Egypt
Present locationParis, Ile-de-France, France

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 (Intef the Elder) is not written in a cartouche.

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 Lepsius was traveling up the Nile River to Karnak. A French adventurer, Émile d'Avennes, 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

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

Left side
Top Row
# Ruler Inscribed name Hieroglyphs
1. Neferkare I? (Neferkare)[a]

(reconstitution)
2. Sneferu Sneferu





3. Sahure Sahure
4. Nyuserre Ini Ini

5. Djedkare Isesi Isesi
6.
Names lost
7.
8. Sekhemre Sementawy Djehuty Sekhemre Sementawy


Second Row
# Ruler Inscribed name Hieroglyphs
9.
Name lost
10. Intef II Intef

11. Intef I? In(tef)

12. Mentuhotep I? Men(tuhotep)[b]



13. Intef the Elder Intef[c]



14.
Name lost
15. Pepi I Meryre Pepi


16. Merenre Nemtyemsaf I Merenre






Third Row
# Ruler Inscribed name Hieroglyphs
17. Amenemhat I Sehotepibre






18. Amenemhat II Nebukare




19.
Names lost
20.
21. Amenemhat IV Maakherure







22. Sobekneferu Sobekneferu





23. Sehetepkare Intef? Intef


Bottom Row
# Ruler Inscribed name Hieroglyphs
24. Senusret I Kheperkare



25. Seqenenre Tao Seqenenre






26. Senakhtenre Ahmose Senakhtenre






27. Bebiankh Seuserenre






28. Nubkheperre Intef Nubkheperre




29. Mentuhotep II Nebhepetre







30. Mentuhotep III Seneferkare




31. Mentuhotep IV? (Nebtawy)re




Right side
Top Row
# Ruler Inscribed name Hieroglyphs
32. Senusret III? (Khakaure)[d]

(reconstitution)
33. Sobekhotep IV Khaneferre





34. Neferhotep I Khasekhemre

35. Unknown Sekhemre Snefertawy
36. Sobekhotep I Sekhemre Khutawy

37. Amenemhat VI Sankhibre



38. Nebiryraw I Sewadjenre

39. Snaaib? (…)khau(re)

Second Row
# Ruler Inscribed name Hieroglyphs
40.
Name lost
41. Neferhotep II Mersekhemre





42. Sobekhotep VII Merkaure


43. Sobekhotep VIII? Seusertawy






44. Unknown (…)(re)

45. Senusret IV? Senefer(ib)re





46. Sobekhotep VI Khahotepre




47. Khaankhre Sobekhotep Khaankhre






Third Row
# Ruler Inscribed name Hieroglyphs
48. Sekhemre Wahkhau Rahotep Wahkhaure



49. Sewahenre Senebmiu Sewahenre






50. Merhotepre Sobekhotep Merhotepre




51. Wegaf Khutawire







52.
Names lost
53.
54. Sobekemsaf I Sekhemre Wadjkhau






Bottom Row
# Ruler Inscribed name Hieroglyphs
55. Unknown (…)re





56. Seneferankhre? Senefer(…)re





57. Sewadjare Mentuhotep? Sewadj(n)re



58. Sekhemre Shedwaset? Sekhem(…)re





59.
Names lost
60.
61.
Detailed photos of the actual list in the Louvre

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Original portion is lost but it can be inferred that Neferkare I was placed here.
  2. ^ Accompanied by the Horus name "Tepia", meaning "the ancestor", which is still visible next to it.
  3. ^ Name is not written inside a cartouche
  4. ^ Original portion is lost but it can be inferred that Senusret III was placed here.

References

  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
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