Saqqara Tablet Facts for Kids

The Saqqara Tablet is an ancient stone from Ancient Egypt. It has a list of Egyptian pharaohs, or kings, from the New Kingdom period. This important stone was found in a tomb at Saqqara in 1861. The tomb belonged to Tjenry, who was an important official for the pharaoh Ramesses II. Tjenry was a priest and was in charge of building royal monuments. Today, the Saqqara Tablet can be seen at the Egyptian Museum.

The list on the tablet includes 58 kings. It starts with kings like Anedjib and Qa'a from the First Dynasty and goes up to Ramesses II from the Nineteenth Dynasty. The list is written in reverse chronological order, meaning it starts with the most recent kings and goes backward in time. Some kings were left out of the list, such as those from the Second Intermediate Period, the Hyksos, and kings who were connected to Akhenaten, who was a pharaoh with unusual religious ideas.

Each king's name on the tablet is surrounded by a special oval border called a cartouche. The stone is quite old and damaged, so only 47 of the names can still be read clearly. There are also some mistakes in the list. For example, it only shows four kings from the Third Dynasty. The order of kings is only completely correct for the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty. The first known picture of this king list was shared in 1865.

Drawing of the Saqqara King List based on old photographs and drawings.

Kings on the Saqqara Tablet

The names of the kings are listed on the tablet starting from the top right and going down to the bottom left. This is how they were meant to be read.

Top Row Kings			Bottom Row Kings
No.	Pharaoh	Name on Tablet	No.	Pharaoh	Name on Tablet
1	Ramses II	User-maat-ra Setep-en-ra	30	Neferefre	Kha-nefer-ra
2	Seti I	Men-maat-ra	31	Shepseskare	Shepses-ka-ra
3	Ramses I	Men-pehty-ra	32	Neferirkare Kakai	Nefer-ir-ka-ra
4	Horemheb	Djeser-kheperu-ra Setep-en-ra	33	Sahure	Sahura
5	Amenhotep III	Neb-maat-ra	34	Userkaf	User-ka-f
6	Thutmose IV	Men-kheperu-ra	35	Thamphthis?	Name destroyed.
7	Amenhotep II	Aa-kheperu-ra	36	Bicheris?	Name destroyed.
8	Thutmose III	Men-kheper-ra	37	Djedefptah	Name destroyed.
9	Thutmose II	Aa-kheper-en-ra	38	Shepseskaf	Name destroyed.
10	Thutmose I	Aa-kheper-ka-ra	39	Menkaura	Name destroyed.
11	Amenhotep I	Djeser-ka-ra	40	Khafra	Kha-f-ra
12	Ahmose I	Neb-pehti-ra	41	Djedefra	Djed-ef-re
13	Mentuhotep II	Nebhepetre	42	Khufu	Khufu
14	Mentuhotep III	Se-ankh-ka-ra	43	Sneferu	Sneferu
15	Amenemhat I	Se-hetep-ib-ra	44	Huni	Huni
16	Senusret I	Kheper-ka-ra	45	Khaba	Neb-ka-ra
17	Amenemhat II	Nub-kau-ra	46	Sekhemkhet	Djoser-teti
18	Senusret II	Kha-kheper-ra	47	Djoser	Djoser
19	Senusret III	Kha-khau-ra	48	Khasekhemwy	Beby
20	Amenemhat III	Ni-maat-ra	49	Hudjefa	"Name missing"
21	Amenemhat IV	Maat-kheru-ra	50	Sekhemib-Perenmaat?	Nefer-ka-sokar
22	Sobekneferu	Sobek-ka-ra	51	Seth-Peribsen?	Nefer-ka-ra
23	Pepi II Neferkare	Nefer-ka-ra	52	Senedj	Senedj
24	Merenre Nemtyemsaf I	Mer-en-ra	53	Wneg	Wadjlas
25	Pepi I Meryre	Pepi	54	Nynetjer	Ba-netjeru
26	Teti	Teti	55	Raneb	Kakau
27	Unas	Unis	56	Hotepsekhemwy	Bau-netjer
28	Djedkare	Maat-ka-ra	57	Qa'a	Qe-behu
29	Menkauhor	Men-kau-hor	58	Anedjib	Merbapen

Other Ancient Egyptian King Lists

Historians use several lists to learn about ancient Egyptian kings. Here are some other important ones:

Saqqara Tablet facts for kids

Kings on the Saqqara Tablet

Other Ancient Egyptian King Lists

See also