Second Dynasty of Egypt

Template:Infobox Former Country Template:Egyptian Dynasty list The Second Dynasty of ancient Egypt (or Dynasty II, Template:Circa – Template:Circa<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>) is the latter of the two dynasties of the Egyptian Archaic Period, when the seat of government was centred at Thinis. It is most known for its last ruler, Khasekhemwy, but is otherwise one of the most obscure periods in Egyptian history.

Though archaeological evidence of the time is very scant, contrasting data from the First and Third Dynasties indicates important institutional and economic developments during the Second Dynasty.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Writing

The Second Dynasty of Egypt sees the advent of the first known complete sentences in Egyptian hieroglyphs. Probably the first known such sentence is a seal impression from Peribsen's tomb, at the end of the Second Dynasty, dating to ca. 2660–2650 BC. The sentence relates to the unification of Egypt: “Sealing of everything of Ombos (i.e., Naqada): He of Ombos has joined the Two Lands for his son, the Dual King Peribsen.”<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Conflicts

The base of a lime statue of king Khasekhemwy has depictions of killed enemies on its four sides, recording a military campaign against the 'northern rebels', referring to the inhabitants of the Nile Delta.<ref name="ASH">Ashmolean Museum notice</ref> On the front, the number of slain enemies is given as 47,209 dead, with a symbol generally considered as designating "Libyans".<ref name="ASH"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This scene seems to record the victory of King Khasekhem over a northern Egyptian population led by their ruler, Besh.<ref name="BJK">Template:Cite book</ref> The name Besh may be a variation or nomen of Peribsen, or more probably the name of a Libyan northern tribe near the Fayum.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This iconography of the king crushing enemies at his feet would remain a central theme of royal iconography for the next three millennia.<ref name="ASH"/>

Rulers

For the first three pharaohs, sources are fairly close in agreement and the order is supported by an inscription on the statuette of Hetepdief, who served in the mortuary cults of these three kings.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Name		Years Reigned	Burial
Hotepsekhemwy	File:Hetepsekhemwy cropped.jpg	25–29	Gallery Tomb A, Saqqara?
Nebra (also known as Kakau)	File:Raneb-Stela MetropolitanMuseum.png	10–14	Gallery Tomb A, Saqqara?
Nynetjer	File:Statue of Ninetjer Rijksmuseum van Oudheden 03 (cropped).jpg	40	Gallery Tomb B, Saqqara

But the identity of the next few rulers is unclear. Surviving sources might be giving the Horus name or the Nebty name and the birth names of these rulers. They may also be entirely different individuals, or could be legendary names. This might never be resolved.

It has been theorised that following the reign of Nynetjer, the country was split and ruled by two successors due to the overly complex state administration of the whole of Egypt.<ref>Nicolas Grimal: A History of Ancient Egypt. Wiley-Blackwell, Weinheim 1994, Template:ISBN, p. 55.</ref>

The following list contains various king names from different sources:

Name		Years reigned (Manetho)<ref name="Manetho">Template:Cite web</ref>	Notes	Burial
Weneg / Wadjenes	File:Abydos KL 02-04 n12.jpg	17	Listed as the fourth king of the dynasty on the Turin, Saqqara and Abydos king lists. Only attested in Lower Egypt.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Weneg is generally accepted as a nebti (or throne) name and it is unknown what his horus name was.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Theorised to be the same person as Raneb,<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Sekhemib-Perenmaat<ref>Wolfgang Helck: Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit. Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1987, Template:ISBN, pp. 103–107.</ref> or a completely separate king from the others of the Second dynasty. Known as Tlas in Manetho's Aegyptica.<ref name="Manetho" />
Senedj	File:Abydos KL 02-05 n13.jpg	41	Listed as the fifth king of the dynasty on the Turin, Saqqara and Abydos king lists. Horus name unknown. Theorised to be the same person as Horus Sa<ref>Template:Citation</ref> or Peribsen.<ref>Kenneth Anderson Kitchen: Ramesside Inscriptions. page 234–235</ref><ref>Jürgen von Beckerath: Handbuch der ägyptischen Königsnamen.. Deutscher Kunstverlag, München/Berlin 1984, Template:ISBN, page 171.</ref> Known as Sethenes in Manetho's Aegyptica.<ref name="Manetho" />	Tomb P, Umm El Qa'ab (?)
Neferkara I	File:Neferkarsakkara.png	17	Only attested in later documents dated long after the time period of the Second dynasty. Listed as the sixth king of the dynasty in the Saqqara and Turin King lists, but omitted from the Abydos King List. May have only ruled Lower Egypt. Known as Khaires in Manetho's Aegyptica.<ref name="Manetho" />
Neferkasokar	File:Neferkasokarsakkara.png	25	Only attested in later documents dated long after the time period of the Second dynasty. Listed as the seventh king of the dynasty in the Saqqara and Turin King lists, but omitted from the Abydos King List. May have only ruled Lower Egypt. Known as Nephercheres in Manetho's Aegyptica.<ref name="Manetho" />
Hudjefa I	File:Hudjefa.png	48	Name literally means "erased" or "missing", showing that this king's name was unknown or lost by the Nineteenth Dynasty. Listed as the eighth king of the dynasty on the Saqqara Tablet, but omitted from the Abydos King List. May have only ruled Lower Egypt. Theorised to be the same person as Peribsen and may have been deliberately omitted.<ref>Wolfgang Helck: Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit: Ägyptologische Abhandlungen., Volume 45. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 1987, Template:ISBN, p. 125.</ref> Known as Sesochris in Manetho's Aegyptica.<ref name="Manetho" />
Seth-Peribsen	File:Peribsen.jpg	?	Name connected to Seth deity rather than the traditional Horus. Attested by contemporary inscriptions, but not on later king lists. Only attested in Upper Egypt.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	Tomb P, Umm El Qa'ab
Sekhemib-Perenmaat	File:CalciteVesselFragmentNameOfSekhemibPerenmmat-BritishMuseum-August21-08 retouched.jpg	?	Attested by contemporary inscriptions, but not on later king lists. May be the same person as Seth-Peribsen<ref>Walter Bryan Emery: Ägypten – Geschichte und Kultur der Frühzeit. Fourier, Munich 1964, p. 106.</ref> or his immediate successor.<ref>Wolfgang Helck: Untersuchungen zur Thintenzeit. (Ägyptologische Abhandlungen, Volume 45), Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1987, Template:ISBN, pp. 104–111, 183.</ref><ref name=HAS>Hermann A. Schlögl: Das Alte Ägypten. Geschichte und Kultur von der Frühzeit bis zu Kleopatra. Verlag C. H. Beck, München 2006, Template:ISBN, p. 78.</ref>	Tomb P, Umm El Qa'ab (?)
Nubnefer	File:Nubnefer.png	?	Birth name of a king, unknown placement. Name does not appear on any known official king lists. May be birth name of Raneb<ref>I. E. S. Edwards: The early dynastic period in Egypt; Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1964; p. 25.</ref> or a completely separate ephemeral king who ruled at some point following Nynetjer's reign.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

With the last ruler, the sources return to an agreement:

Name		Years Reigned	Notes	Burial	Consort(s)
Khasekhemwy	File:Limestone statue of Khasekhemwy.jpg	17–18	Known as Kheneres in Manetho's Aegyptica.<ref name="Manetho" /> Reigned for 30 years according to Manetho.<ref name="Manetho" />	Tomb V, Umm El Qa'ab	Nimaathap

Manetho states Thinis was the capital, as in the First Dynasty, but the first three kings were buried at Saqqara, suggesting the center of power had moved to Memphis. Beyond this, little can be said about the events during this period as the annual records on the Palermo stone only survive to the end of the reign of Nebra and for parts of Nynetjer's. One important event, the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, might have occurred during the reign of Khasekhemwy as many Egyptologists read his name as "the Two Powers arise".

Comparison of regnal lists

File:SecondDynastyKingLists.png

The surviving Turin, Abydos and Saqqara king lists, all from the New Kingdom of Egypt, provide a list of kings of this dynasty, though the Abydos list omits Neferkara, Neferkasokar, and Hudjefa I.

Historical Pharaoh	Abydos King List	Saqqara Tablet	Turin King List	Manetho<ref name="Manetho" />
Hotepsekhemwy	Bedjau	Baunetjer	Baunetjer	Boethos
Nebra	Kakau	Kakau	Kakau	Kaiekhos
Nynetjer	Banetjer	Banetjeru	Banetjer	Binothris
Weneg	Wadjnas	Wadjlas	[...]s	Tlas
Senedj	Sendi	Senedj	Sened[...]	Sethenes
Neferkara I	–	Neferkare	Neferka	Khaires
Neferkasokar	–	Neferkasokar	Neferkasokar	Nephercheres
Hudjefa	–	Hudjefa	–	Sesochris
Khasekhemwy	Djadjay	Bebti	Bebti	Kheneres

See also

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• Early Dynastic Period (Egypt)
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