History of Ancient Egypt Second Dynasty

The names of the actual rulers of the Second Dynasty are in dispute. For the first five kings, the sources are fairly close in agreement:

Name	Years Reigned
Hotepsekhemwy	38
Raneb (also read Nebra)	39
Nynetier	23
Weneg	8
Senedj	20

However, the identity of the next two or three rulers is unclear: we may have both the Horus or Nebty and their birth names for these rulers; they may be entirely different individuals; or there may be legendary names here. On the left are the rulers most Egyptologists place here; on the right are the names that ultimately come from Manetho's Aegyptica:

Proposed Ruler	Manetho's List
Peribsen	Kaires
	Nepherkheres
Sekhemib-Perenmaat	Sesokhris

With the last ruler, we return to an agreement:

Name	Years Reigned
Khasekhemwy	30

Although Manetho states that their capital was at Tanis, the same as during the First dynasty, at least the first three kings were buried at Saqqara, suggesting that the center of power had moved to the nearby city of Memphis. Beyond this, little can be said about the events during this period; the annual records on the Palermo stone only survive for the end of the reign of Raneb and for parts of Nynetier 's. One important event possibly happened during the reign of Khasekhemwy: many Egyptologists read his name ("the Two Powers are Crowned") as commemorating the union of Upper and Lower Egypts.

External link

• Ancient Egypt: The Second Dynasty