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).
| Karnak King List | |
|---|---|
 Drawing of the list in 1843 | |
| Created | c. 1450 BC |
| Discovered | before 1826 Luxor, Luxor Governorate, Egypt |
| Present location | Paris, Ile-de-France, France |
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 edit
Description of the list edit
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. Name destroyed | Name destroyed | 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. Name destroyed | Name destroyed |
| 5. Djedkare Isesi | Isesi | 36. Sobekhotep I | Sekhem-re-khu-tawy |
| 6. Name destroyed | Name destroyed | 37. Amenemhet VI | S-ankh-ib-re |
| 7. Name destroyed | Name 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. Name destroyed | Name destroyed | 40. Name destroyed | Name destroyed |
| 10. Intef II? | Intef | 41. Neferhotep II | Mer-sekhem-re |
| 11. Intef I? | In... | 42. Sobekhotep VII | Mer-kau-re |
| 12. Mentuhotep I? | Men... | 43. Sobekhotep VIII? | Se-user-tawy |
| 13. Intef the Elder? | Intef | 44. Unknown | ...re |
| 14. Teti | Teti | 45. Unknown | Senefer..re |
| 15. Pepi I Meryre | Pepi | 46. Khahotepre Sobekhotep | Kha-hotep-re |
| 16. Merenre Nemtyemsaf I | Mer-en-re | 47. Sobekhotep II | Kha-ankh-re |
| Third Row | |||
| Pharaoh | Inscribed name | Pharaoh | Inscribed name |
| 17. Amenemhat I | Se-hotep-ib-re | 48. Rahotep | (Sekhem)re Wahkhaure |
| 18. Amenemhat II | Nebu-ka-re | 49. Sewahenre Senebmiu | Se-wah-en-re |
| 19. Name destroyed | Name destroyed | 50. Merhotepre Sobekhotep | Mer-hotep-re |
| 20. Name destroyed | Name destroyed | 51. Wegaf | Khu-tawi-re |
| 21. Amenemhat IV | Maat-khe-ru-re | 52. Name destroyed | Name destroyed |
| 22. Sobekneferu | Sobek-neferu | 53. Name destroyed | Name destroyed |
| 23. Sehetepkare Intef? | Intef | 54. Sobekemsaf I | Sekhem-re-wadj-khau |
| Bottom Row | |||
| Pharaoh | Inscribed name | Pharaoh | Inscribed name |
| 24. Senusret I | Kheper-ka-re | 55. Unknown | ...re |
| 25. Seqenenre Tao | Se-qen-en-re | 56. Senusret IV? | Senefer..re |
| 26. Senakhtenre Ahmose | Se-nakht-en-re | 57. Nebiryraw I | Sewadj..re |
| 27. Bebiankh | Se-user-en-re | 58. Djehuti? | Sekhem..re |
| 28. Nubkheperre Intef | Nub-kheper-re | 59. Name destroyed | Name destroyed |
| 29. Mentuhotep II | Neb-hepet-re | 60. Name destroyed | Name destroyed |
| 30. Mentuhotep III | Se-nefer-ka-re | 61. Name destroyed | Name destroyed |
| 31. Mentuhotep IV | ...re | ||
Gallery edit
See also edit
Notes edit
- ^ Burton, James: "Excerpta Hieroglypica", Plate Ia, Cairo, 1825
- ^ "L'Illustration, Journal Universel", Vol. VII, p 244-245, Paris 1846
- ^ Monderson, Frederick. "Temple of Karnak: The Majestic Architecture of Ancient Kemet" p. 58
- ^ Chapelle des ancêtres in the Sully wing, Rez-de-chaussée, Room 12, Catalogue number E13481bis
- ^ Abhandlungen der Königlichen Preußischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1852 (1853) p.455
External links edit
- Lepsius drawing from APAW 1852 from Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- Karnak king list with complete hieroglyphics, sources and pictures