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 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 ...

, found on a wall of the Temple of Seti I at

Abydos, Egypt Abydos ( or ; Sahidic ') is one of the oldest cities of ancient Egypt, and also of the Ta-wer, eighth Nome (Egypt), nome in Upper Egypt. It is located about west of the Nile at latitude 26° 10' N, near the modern Egyptian towns of El Araba ...

. It consists of three rows of 38

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 ...

s (borders enclosing the name of a king) in each row. The upper two rows contain names of the kings, while the third row merely repeats

Seti I Menmaatre Seti I (or Sethos I in Greek language, Greek) was the second pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom period, ruling or 1290 BC to 1279 BC. He was the son of Ramesses I and Sitre, and th ...

's throne name and nomen. Besides providing the order of 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 ...

kings, it is the sole source to date of the names of many of the kings of the Seventh and Eighth Dynasties, so the list is valued greatly for that reason. This list omits the names of many earlier pharaohs. The bulk of these appear to have been left out because although they claimed royal titles and rule over all Egypt, their actual authority was limited to only part of the country. This category includes all the rulers of the Ninth and Tenth Dynasties, the early rulers of the Eleventh Dynasty ( Mentuhotep I, Intef I, Intef II, and Intef III), all the rulers of the Thirteenth Dynasty, and all of the rulers of Second Intermediate Period (including 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 ( ...

Fifteenth Dynasty, who may also have been seen as illegitimate because they were not native Egyptian). The rulers of the chaotic Amarna Period (

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 ...

, Smenkhkare,

Neferneferuaten Ankhkheperure-Merit-Neferkheperure/Waenre/Aten Neferneferuaten (), or "Neferneferuaten", is the name of a queen regnant ('female pharaoh, king') of ancient Egypt who reigned in her own right near the end of the Amarna Period during the Eightee ...

Tutankhamun Tutankhamun or Tutankhamen, (; ), was an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled during the late Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt. Born Tutankhaten, he instituted the restoration of the traditional polytheistic form of an ...

, and Ay), seem to have been removed for reasons of political propaganda or as a form of ''

damnatio memoriae () is a modern Latin phrase meaning "condemnation of memory" or "damnation of memory", indicating that a person is to be excluded from official accounts. Depending on the extent, it can be a case of historical negationism. There are and have b ...

''; their reigns were within living memory in Seti's day, and the repudiation of the Amarna Period had been state policy since the reign of

Horemheb Horemheb, also spelled Horemhab, Haremheb or Haremhab (, meaning "Horus is in Jubilation"), was the last pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, 18th Dynasty of Egypt (1550–1292 BC). He ruled for at least 14 years between 1319 ...

(who had chosen Seti's father

Ramesses I Menpehtyre Ramesses I (or Ramses) was the founding pharaoh of ancient Egypt's Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, 19th Dynasty. The dates for his short reign are not completely known but the timeline of late 1290s BC, 1292–1290 BC is frequently cited ...

to succeed him). Two pharaohs known to have been women,

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 ...

and

Hatshepsut Hatshepsut ( ; BC) was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, Egypt, ruling first as regent, then as queen regnant from until (Low Chronology) and the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Thutmose II. She was Egypt's second c ...

, are also excluded, most likely due to their gender. Finally, Mentuhotep IV may have been excluded for political reasons (having possibly been overthrown by his vizer and successor

Amenemhat I :''See Amenemhat (disambiguation), Amenemhat, for other individuals with this name.'' Amenemhat I (Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian: ''Ỉmn-m-ḥꜣt'' meaning 'Amun is at the forefront'), also known as Amenemhet I, was a pharaoh of ancient ...

) or simply because his short and poorly documented reign was unknown to Seti and his scribes.

Contents of the king list

First Dynasty

Second Dynasty

Third Dynasty

Fourth Dynasty

Fifth Dynasty

Sixth Dynasty

Seventh/Eighth Dynasty

Eleventh/Twelfth Dynasty

Eighteenth Dynasty

Nineteenth Dynasty

References

External links

{{Commons category
Abydos TableAbydos Canon
13th-century BC inscriptions Abydos, Egypt Ancient Egyptian King lists Egyptian inscriptions