Turin King List

The Turin King List, also called the Turin Royal Canon, is a list of the kings of Egypt. It was written in Egyptian hieratic script on papyrus. It is thought to date from the rule of Pharaoh Ramesses II. The list is now in the Egyptian Museum   in  Turin. The papyrus is the most complete list of kings written by the Egyptians. It is the basis working out the dates of kings before the rule of Ramesses II.


Creation and use
The papyrus is believed to have been written in the time of Ramesses II, during the middle of the New Kingdom, or the 19th Dynasty. The beginning and ending of the list are lost. There is no introduction, and the list stops after the 19th Dynasty. It may have been written at any later time, from Ramesses II to as late as the 20th Dynasty.

The papyrus lists the names of rulers, the lengths of their rule in years, with months and days for some kings. In some cases they are grouped together by family. This grouping is almost the same as the dynasties of Manetho’s book. The list includes the names of kings who only ruled for a very short time, or those ruling small areas that may not be in listed 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 (borders around the name of a king). They do have a hieroglyphic sign to show that they were foreigners.

The papyrus was a tax roll, but on its back is written a list of rulers of Egypt. It includes the mythical kings such as gods, demi-gods, and spirits, as well as human kings. As the papyrus was reused for the tax roll, it shows the list was not of great formal importance to the writer. The list is thought to have been used as an administrative aid. As such, the papyrus is not supposed to be biased against certain rulers and is believed to include all the kings of Egypt up through at least the 19th Dynasty.

Discovery and reconstruction
The papyrus was found by the Italian traveler Bernardino Drovetti in 1820 at Luxor (Thebes). In 1824 was put in the Egyptian Museum in Turin, Italy, and known as Papyrus Number 1874. When the box in which it had been taken to Italy was unpacked, the list had broken up into small pieces. Jean-Francois Champollion could read only some of the larger pieces which had royal names.

The Saxon researcher Gustav Seyffarth (1796–1885) looked carefully at some of the pieces, some only one square centimeter in size. He made a more complete reconstruction of the papyrus based only on the papyrus fibers, as he could not read the hieratic characters. Later work by the Munich Egyptologist Jens Peter Lauth, largely agreed with Seyffarth's work.

In 1997 Egyptologist Kim Ryholt published a new version of the list in his book, "The Political Situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period c.1800-1550 B.C." Egyptologist Donald Redford has also studied the papyrus and has noted that many of the list’s names match historic monuments and other documents. However there are some differences and not all of the names match. The list may not be completely accurate for pre-Ramesses II chronology.

About 50% of the papyrus is missing. It is 1.7 m long and 0.41 m wide, broken into over 160 pieces. In 2009 new pieces were discovered in the storage room of the Egyptian Museum of Turin, in good condition. wayback machine:  (in Italian) A new edition of the papyrus is expected.

The name Hudjefa, is listed twice in the papyrus. The name is now known to have been used by the royal scribes of Ramesses II when the name of a king was unreadable or missing.

Contents of the papyrus
The papyrus is divided into eleven columns. The names and positions of several kings are still uncertain as the list is so badly damaged.

Column 1 — Gods of Ancient Egypt
Column 2 — Rows 1-10 Spirits and mythical kings
Column 2 — Rows 11-25 (Dynasties 1-2)
Column 3 — Rows 1-25 (Dynasties 2-5)
Column 4 — Rows 1-26 (Dynasties 6-8/9/10)
Column 5 — Rows 12-25 (Dynasties 11-12)
Column 6 — Rows 1-2 (Dynasties 12-13)
Column 7 — Rows 1-23 (Dynasty 13)
Column 8 — Rows 1-27 (Dynasty 13-14)
Column 9 — Rows 1-30 (Dynasty 14)
Column 10 — Rows 1-30 (Dynasties 14-15)
Column 11 — Rows 1-17 (Dynasties 16-17)


This is the list of kings
Second column
Second ColumnRow  Common name 11  Menes  12  Hor-Aha  13  Djer  15  Djet    16  Den  17  Anedjib  18  Semerkhet  19  Qa'a 20  Hotepsekhemwy 21  Nebre 22  Nynetjer 23  Wadjnes  24  Senedj  25  Neferkara I 

Third column
Third ColumnRow  Common name  2  Neferkasokar  3  Khasekhemwy  4  Sanakhte 5  Djoser  6  Sekhemkhet 7  Hudjefa II   8  Huni  9  Sneferu  10  Khufu  11  Djedefre 12  Khafre  13  Lost  14  Menkaure  15  Shepseskaf 16  Unknown  17  Userkaf  18  Sahure 19  Neferirkare Kakai  20  Shepseskare  21  Neferefre  22  Nyuserre 23  Menkauhor  24  Djedkare  25  Unas 

Fourth Column
Fourth ColumnRow  Common name  1  Teti  2  Userkare 3  Pepi  4  Merenre Nemtyemsaf I  5  Pepi II  6  Merenre Nemtyemsaf II 7  Neitiqerty Siptah  8  Lacuna  9  Menkare  10  Neferkare II 11  Ibi  12  Lost  13  Lost 18  Lost 19  Lost 20  Neferkare III  21  Nebkaure Khety  22  Senenh..  23  Lost  24  Mer..  25  Shed..  26  H.. 

Fifth Column
Fifth ColumnRow  Common name  1  Lost  2  Lost  3  Lost 4  Lost  5  Lost  6  Lost 7  Lost  8  Lost  9  Lost ' 12  Mentuhotep I  13  Intef I  14  Intef II  15  Intef III  16  Mentuhotep II  17  Mentuhotep III  20  Amenemhat I 21  Sesostris I  22  Amenemhat II  23  Sesostris II 24  Sesostris III  25  Amenemhat III 

Sixth Column
Sixth ColumnRow  Common name  1  Amenemhet IV 2  Sobekneferu 5  Wegaf or Sobekhotep I 6  Sekhemkare Sonbef  7  Sekhemkare Amenemhat V  8  Hotepibre  9  Iufni  10  Amenemhet VI 11  Semenkare Nebnuni  12  Sehetepibre  13  Sewadjkare 14  Nedjemibre  15  Khaankhre Sobekhotep  16  Renseneb  17  Awybre Hor I  18  Amenemhat VII  19  Sekhemre Khutawy Sobekhotep  20  Khendjer  21  Imyremeshaw  22  Intef IV  23  Seth Meribre 24  Sobekhotep III  25  Neferhotep I  26  Sihathor 27  Sobekhotep IV 

Seventh Column
Seventh ColumnRow  Common name  1  Sobekhotep V  2  Wahibre Ibiau  3  Merneferre Ay  4  Merhotepre Ini  5  Sankhenre Sewadjtu 6   7  Hori 8  Merkawre Sobekhotep  9  Lost  10  Lost  11  Lost 12  Lost  13  Djedneferre Dedumose  14  Ibi 15  Hor  16  Se..kare  17  Seheqenre Sankhptahi  18  Lost  19  Lost  20  Sekhaenre  21  Lost  22  Merkheperre 23  Merkare 

Eighth Colunm
Eighth ColumnRow  Common name  1  Nehesy  2  Khatyre  3  Nebfautre  4  Sehebre  5  Merdjefare 6  Sewadjkare III 7  Nebdjefare  8  Webenre  9  Lost  10  ..re 11  ..webenre  12  Autibre  13  Heribre  14  Renebsen 15  Lost  16  Sekheperenre  17  Djedkherure  18  Seankhibre 19  Kanefertemre  20  Sekhem..re  21  Kakemure  22  Neferibre  23  I..re  24  Kha..re  25  Aakare  26  Semen..re 27  Djed..re 

Ninth Column
Ninth ColumnRow  Common name  1  Lost  2  Lost  3  Lost  4  Lost  5  Lost  6  Lost  7  Senefer..re  8  Men..re  9  Djed..  10  Lost  11  Lost 12  Lost  13  Lost  14  Inenek  15  Ineb  16  'Apepi  17  Hab  18  Sa  19  Hepu  20  Shemsu  21  Meni  22  Werqa..  23  Lost  24  Lost  25  ..ka  26  ..ka  27  Lost  28  ..ren..hepu  29  Anati  30  Bebnum 31  Lost 

Tenth Column
Tenth ColumnRow  Common name 1  I..  2  Seth II 3  Sunu.. 4  Hor..  5  Lost  6  Lost  7  Nib..  8  Mer..en..  9  Penensetensepet  10  Kherethebshepesu  11  Khut..hemet  12  Lost 15  Semqen?  16  Aperanat?  17  Sakir-Har  18  Khyan  19  Apepi  20  Khamudi  23  Lost  24  Lost  25  Zeket..  26  Ar..  27  Lost 28  Lost  29  ..nia..

Eleventh Column
Eleventh ColumnRow  Common name  1  Sekhemre Sementawy Djehuti 2  Sekhemre Susertawi Sobekhotep VIII  3  Sekhemre Sankhtawy Neferhotep III 4  Sewadjenre Nebiryraw I  5  Nebiriaure  6  Nebiretaure  7  Semenre 8  Seuserenre Bebiankh  9  Sekhemre Shedwaset  10  Lost  11  Lost  12  Lost 13  Lost  14  Lost  16  User..re  17  User.. 

Related pages

List of pharaohs
 Abydos King List
 Karnak king list
Palermo Stone (An older fragmented king list)

References

Bibliography
Alan Gardiner, editor. Royal Canon of Turin. Griffith Institute, 1959. (Reprint 1988. )
Beckerath, Jürgen von. “Some remarks on Helck's 'Anmerkungen zum Turiner Konigspapyrus‘.“ Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 81, (1995): 225-227.
Beckerath, Jürgen von. “The Date of the End of the Old Kingdom of Egypt.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 21, no. 2 (April 1962): 140-147.
Bennett, Chris. “A Genealogical Chronology of the Seventeenth Dynasty.” Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 39, (2002): 123-155.
George Adam Smith, "Chaldean Account of Genesis" (Whittingham & Wilkins, London, 1872) (Reprint 2005. Adamant Media Corporation, ) p290  Contains a different translation of the Turin Papyrus in a chart about "dynasty of gods".
Kenneth A. Kitchen "King Lists" The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Ed. Donald B. Redford. Copyright © 2001, 2005 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press.
K. Ryholt, The Political Situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period. Carsten Niebuhr Institute Publications, vol. 20. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 1997. .
K. Ryholt, ‘The Turin King-List’, Ägypten und Levante 14, 2004, pp. 135–155. This is a detailed description of the king-list, the information it provides, and its sources.
Málek, Jaromír. “The Original Version of the Royal Canon of Turin.” Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 68, (1982): 93-106.
Spalinger, Anthony. “Review of: ‘The Political Situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period, c. 1800-1550 B. C.’ by K.S.B. Ryholt.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 60, no. 4 (October 2001): 296-300.

Other websites
 Description and Translation of the king list.
Hieroglyphs with translation  including Ryholt's new positions of the pieces.

Category:Manuscripts
Category:2nd millennium BC in Egypt
Category:2nd millennium BC works