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Karnak King List

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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 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 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

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

Description of the list

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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 parenthesis.

Left side Right side
Top Row
Pharaoh Inscribed name Pharaoh Inscribed name
1. Name destroyed Name destroyed 32. Senusret III Khakare
2. Sneferu Sneferu 33. Sobekhotep IV Khaneferre
3. Sahure Sahure 34. Neferhotep I Khasekhemre
4. Nyuserre Ini Ini 35. Name destroyed Name destroyed
5. Djedkare Isesi Isesi 36. Sobekhotep I Sekhemre Khutawy
6. Name destroyed Name destroyed 37. Amenemhet VI Sankhibre
7. Name destroyed Name destroyed 38. Nebiryraw I Sewadjenre
8. Djehuti Sekhemre Sementawy 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 Mersekhemre
11. Intef I In(tef) 42. Sobekhotep VII Merkaure
12. Mentuhotep I Men(tuhotep)[a] 43. Sobekhotep VIII? Seusertawy
13. Intef the Elder Intef[b] 44. Unknown ...re
14. Teti Teti 45. Senusret IV Senefer(ib)re
15. Pepi I Meryre Pepi 46. Sobekhotep VI Khahotepre
16. Merenre Nemtyemsaf I Merenre 47. Sobekhotep II Khaankhre
Third Row
Pharaoh Inscribed name Pharaoh Inscribed name
17. Amenemhat I Sehotepibre 48. Rahotep (Sekhem)re Wahkhaure
18. Amenemhat II Nebukare 49. Sewahenre Senebmiu Sewahenre
19. Name destroyed Name destroyed 50. Merhotepre Sobekhotep Merhotepre
20. Name destroyed Name destroyed 51. Wegaf Khutawire
21. Amenemhat IV Maatkherure 52. Name destroyed Name destroyed
22. Sobekneferu Sobekneferu 53. Name destroyed Name destroyed
23. Sehetepkare Intef? Intef 54. Sobekemsaf I Sekhemre Wadjkhau
Bottom Row
Pharaoh Inscribed name Pharaoh Inscribed name
24. Senusret I Kheperkare 55. Unknown ...re
25. Seqenenre Tao Seqenenre 56. Pepi III? Senefer..re
26. Senakhtenre Ahmose Senakhtenre 57. Mentuhotep V? Sewadj..re
27. Bebiankh Seuserenre 58. Sekhemre Shedwaset? Sekhem..re
28. Nubkheperre Intef Nubkheperre 59. Name destroyed Name destroyed
29. Mentuhotep II Nebhepetre 60. Name destroyed Name destroyed
30. Mentuhotep III Seneferkare 61. Name destroyed Name destroyed
31. Mentuhotep IV (Nebtawy)re
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Detailed photos of the actual list in the Louvre

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Accompanied by the Horus name "-aa", meaning "the ancestor", which is still visible next to it.
  2. ^ Name is not written inside a cartouche

References

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  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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