List of pharaohs

Ancient Egyptian King Lists

Modern lists of pharaohs are based on historical records: Ancient Egyptian king lists and later histories, such as Manetho's Aegyptiaca, as well as archaeological evidence. Concerning ancient sources, Egyptologists and Historians alike call for caution about the credibility, exactitude and completeness of these sources, many of which were written long after the reigns they report. An additional problem is that ancient king lists are often damaged, inconsistent with one another and/or selective.

The following ancient king lists are known (given here by dynasties):

Lower Egypt

Lower Egypt geographically consisted of the northern Nile and the Nile delta. The following list may not be complete:

Upper Egypt

Regrouped here are predynastic rulers of Upper Egypt belonging to the late Naqada III period, sometimes informally described as Dynasty 00.

Predynastic Rulers: Dynasty 0

The following list of predynastic rulers may be incomplete. Since these kings precede the First Dynasty, they have been informally grouped as "Dynasty 0".

Fifth Dynasty

The Fifth Dynasty ruled from 2498 to 2345 BC.

Sixth Dynasty

The Sixth Dynasty ruled from 2345 to 2181 BC.

First Intermediate Period

The First Intermediate Period (2181–2060 BC) is a period of disarray and chaos between the end of the Old Kingdom and the advent of the Middle Kingdom.

The Old Kingdom rapidly collapsed after the death of Pepi II. He had reigned for more than 64 and likely up to 94 years, longer than any monarch in history. The latter years of his reign were marked by inefficiency because of his advanced age. The union of the Two Kingdoms fell apart and regional leaders had to cope with the resulting famine.

The kings of the 7th and 8th Dynasties, who represented the successors of the 6th Dynasty, tried to hold onto some power in Memphis but owed much of it to powerful nomarchs. After 20 to 45 years, they were overthrown by a new line of pharaohs based in Herakleopolis Magna. Some time after these events, a rival line based at Thebes revolted against their nomial Northern overlords and united Upper Egypt. Around 2055 BC, Mentuhotep II, the son and successor of pharaoh Intef III defeated the Herakleopolitan pharaohs and reunited the Two Lands, thereby starting the Middle Kingdom.

Seventh and Eighth Dynasties (combined)

The Seventh and Eighth Dynasties ruled for approximately 20–45 years. They comprise numerous ephemeral kings reigning from Memphis over a possibly divided Egypt and, in any case, holding only limited power owing to the effectively feudal system into which the administration had evolved. The list below is based on the Abydos King List dating to the reign of Seti I and taken from Jürgen von Beckerath's Handbuch der ägyptischen Königsnamen as well as from Kim Ryholt's latest reconstruction of the Turin canon, another king list dating to the Ramesside Era.

Ninth Dynasty

The Ninth Dynasty ruled from 2160 to 2130 BC. The Turin King List has 18 kings reigning in the Ninth and Tenth Dynasties. Of these, twelve names are missing and four are partial.

Tenth Dynasty

The Tenth Dynasty was a local group that held sway over Lower Egypt that ruled from 2130 to 2040 BC.

Eleventh Dynasty

The Eleventh Dynasty was a local group with roots in Upper Egypt that ruled from 2134 to 1991 BC. The 11th dynasty originated from a dynasty of Theban nomarchs serving kings of the 8th, 9th or 10th dynasty.

The successors of Intef the Elder, starting with Mentuhotep I, became independent from their northern overlords and eventually conquered Egypt under Mentuhotep II.

Middle Kingdom

The Middle Kingdom (2060–1802 BC) is the period from the end of the First Intermediate Period to the beginning of the Second Intermediate Period. In addition to the Twelfth Dynasty, some scholars include the Eleventh, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dynasties in the Middle Kingdom. The Middle Kingdom can be noted for the expansion of trade outside of the kingdom that occurred during this time. This opening of trade eventually led to the downfall of the Middle Kingdom, induced by an invasion from the Hyksos.

Eleventh Dynasty continued

The second part of the Eleventh Dynasty is considered to be part of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt.

Twelfth Dynasty

The Twelfth Dynasty ruled from 1991 to 1802 BC.

Second Intermediate Period

The Second Intermediate Period (1802–1550 BC) is a period of disarray between the end of the Middle Kingdom, and the start of the New Kingdom. It is best known as when the Hyksos, whose reign comprised the Fifteenth, made their appearance in Egypt.

The Thirteenth Dynasty was much weaker than the Twelfth Dynasty, and was unable to hold onto the two lands of Egypt. Either at the start of the dynasty, c. 1805 BC or toward the middle of it in c. 1710 BC, the provincial ruling family in Xois, located in the marshes of the eastern Delta, broke away from the central authority to form the Canaanite Fourteenth Dynasty.

The Hyksos made their first appearance during the reign of Sobekhotep IV, and around 1720 BC took control of the town of Avaris (the modern Tell el-Dab'a/Khata'na), conquering the kingdom of the 14th dynasty. Then, some time around 1650 BC the Hyksos, perhaps led by Salitis the founder of the Fifteenth Dynasty, conquered Memphis, thereby terminating the 13th dynasty. The power vacuum in Upper Egypt resulting from the collapse of the 13th dynasty allowed the 16th dynasty to declare its independence in Thebes, only to be overrun by the Hyksos kings shortly thereafter.

Subsequently, as the Hyksos withdrew from Upper Egypt, the native Egyptian ruling house in Thebes set itself up as the Seventeenth Dynasty. This dynasty eventually drove the Hyksos back into Asia under Seqenenre Tao, Kamose and finally Ahmose, first pharaoh of the New Kingdom.

Thirteenth Dynasty

The Thirteenth Dynasty (following the Turin King List) ruled from 1802 to around 1649 BC and lasted 153 or 154 years according to Manetho. This table should be contrasted with Known kings of the 13th Dynasty.

The position of the following kings is uncertain:

Fourteenth Dynasty

The Fourteenth Dynasty was a local group from the eastern Delta, based at Avaris, that ruled from either from 1805 BC or c. 1710 BC until around 1650 BC. The dynasty comprised many rulers with West Semitic names and is thus believed to have been Canaanite in origin. It is here given as per Ryholt, however this reconstruction of the dynasty is heavily debated with the position of the five kings preceding Nehesy highly disputed.

The position and identity of the following pharaohs is uncertain:

The Turin King List provides additional names, none of which are attested beyond the list.

Fifteenth Dynasty

The Fifteenth Dynasty arose from among the Hyksos people who emerged from the Fertile Crescent to establish a short-lived governance over much of the Nile region, and ruled from 1674 to 1535 BC.

Abydos Dynasty

The Second Intermediate Period may include an independent dynasty reigning over Abydos from c. 1650 BC until 1600 BC. Four attested kings may be tentatively attributed to the Abydos Dynasty, and they are given here without regard for their (unknown) chronological order:

Sixteenth Dynasty

The Sixteenth Dynasty was a native Theban dynasty emerging from the collapse of the Memphis-based 13 th dynasty c. 1650 BC and finally conquered by the Hyksos 15th dynasty c. 1580 BC. The 16th dynasty held sway over Upper-Egypt only.

The 16th Dynasty may also have comprised the reigns of pharaohs Sneferankhre Pepi III and Nebmaatre. Their chronological position is uncertain.

Seventeenth Dynasty

The Seventeenth Dynasty was based in Upper Egypt and ruled from 1650 to 1550 BC:

The early 17th Dynasty may also have comprised the reign of a pharaoh Nebmaatre, whose chronological position is uncertain.

New Kingdom

The New Kingdom (1550–1077 BC) is the period covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth dynasty of Egypt, from the 16th to the 11th century BC, between the Second Intermediate Period, and the Third Intermediate Period.

Through military dominance abroad, the New Kingdom saw Egypt's greatest territorial extent. It expanded far into Nubia in the south, and held wide territories in the Near East. Egyptian armies fought with Hittite armies for control of modern-day Syria.

Three of the best known pharaohs of the New Kingdom are Akhenaten, also known as Amenhotep IV, whose exclusive worship of the Aten is often interpreted as the first instance of monotheism, Tutankhamun known for the discovery of his nearly intact tomb, and Ramesses II who attempted to recover the territories in modern Israel/Palestine, Lebanon and Syria that had been held in the Eighteenth Dynasty. His reconquest led to the Battle of Qadesh, where he led the Egyptian armies against the army of the Hittite king Muwatalli II.

Eighteenth Dynasty

The Eighteenth Dynasty ruled from c. 1550 to 1292 BC:

Nineteenth Dynasty

The Nineteenth Dynasty ruled from 1292 to 1186 BC and includes one of the greatest pharaohs: Rameses II the Great:

Twentieth Dynasty

The Twentieth Dynasty ruled from 1190 to 1077 BC:

Third Intermediate Period

The Third Intermediate Period (1077–664 BC) marked the end of the New Kingdom after the collapse of the Egyptian empire. A number of dynasties of Libyan origin ruled, giving this period its alternative name of the Libyan Period.

Twenty-first Dynasty

The Twenty-First Dynasty was based at Tanis and was a relatively weak group. Theoretically, they were rulers of all Egypt, but in practice their influence was limited to Lower Egypt. They ruled from 1069 to 943 BC

Theban High Priests of Amun

Though not officially Pharaohs, the High Priests of Amun at Thebes were the de facto rulers of Upper Egypt during the Twenty-first and Twenty-second Dynasties, writing their names in cartouches and being buried in royal tombs.

Twenty-second Dynasty

The pharaohs of the Twenty-Second Dynasty were Libyans, ruling from around 943 to 728 BC:

Twenty-third Dynasty

The Twenty-Third Dynasty was a local group, again of Libyan origin, based at Herakleopolis and Thebes that ruled from 837 to c. 735 BC:

Rudamun was succeeded in Thebes by a local ruler:

Twenty-fourth Dynasty

The Twenty-fourth Dynasty was a short-lived rival dynasty located in the western Delta (Sais), with only two Pharaoh ruling from 732 to 720 BC.

Twenty-fifth Dynasty

Nubians invaded Lower Egypt and took the throne of Egypt under Piye although they already controlled Thebes and Upper Egypt in the early years of Piye's reign. Piye's conquest of Lower Egypt established the Twenty-fifth Dynasty which ruled until 656 BC.

They were ultimately driven back into Nubia, where they established a kingdom at Napata (656–590), and, later, at Meroë (590 BC – 4th century AD).

Late Period

The Late Period runs from around 664 to 332 BC, and includes periods of rule by native Egyptians and Persians.

Twenty-sixth Dynasty

The Twenty-sixth Dynasty ruled from around 664 to 525 BC.

The son and successor of Necho I, Psamtik I, managed to reunify Egypt and is generally regarded as the founder of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty.

Twenty-seventh Dynasty (First Persian period)

Egypt was conquered by the Persian Empire in 525 BC and constitutued a satrapy as part of this empire until 404 BC. The Achaemenid Shahanshahs were acknowledged as Pharaohs in this era, forming the 27th Dynasty:

Twenty-eighth Dynasty

The Twenty-eighth Dynasty lasted only 6 years, from 404 to 398 BC, with one Pharaoh:

Twenty-ninth Dynasty

The Twenty-ninth Dynasty ruled from 398 to 380 BC:

Thirtieth Dynasty

The Thirtieth Dynasty ruled from 380 until Egypt once more came under Persian rule in 343 BC:

Thirty-first Dynasty (Second Persian period)

Egypt again came under the control of the Achaemenid Persians. After the practice of Manetho, the Persian rulers from 343 to 332 BC are occasionally designated as the Thirty-first Dynasty:

Argead Dynasty

The Macedonians under Alexander the Great ushered in the Hellenistic period with his conquest of Persia and Egypt. The Argeads ruled from 332 to 309 BC:

Ptolemaic Dynasty

The second Hellenistic dynasty, the Ptolemies, ruled Egypt from 305 BC until Egypt became a province of Rome in 30 BC (whenever two dates overlap, that means there was a co-regency). The most famous member of this dynasty was Cleopatra VII, who in modern times is known simply as Cleopatra who was successively the consort of Julius Caesar and after Caesar's death, of Mark Antony, and had children with both of them. Cleopatra strove to create a dynastic and political union between Egypt and Rome but the assassination of Caesar and the defeat of Mark Antony doomed her plans. Caesarion (Ptolemy XV Philopator Philometor Caesar) was the last king of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt, he reigned jointly with his mother Cleopatra VII of Egypt, from September 2, 47 BC. He was the eldest son of Cleopatra VII, and possibly the only son of Julius Caesar, after whom he was named. Between the alleged death of Cleopatra, on August 12, 30 BC, up to his own alleged death on August 23, 30 BC, he was nominally the sole pharaoh. It is tradition that he was hunted down and killed on the orders of Octavian, who would become the Roman emperor Augustus, but the historical evidence does not exist.

Rome

Cleopatra VII had affairs with Roman Dictator Julius Caesar and Roman General Mark Antony, but it was not until after her suicide (after Marc Antony was defeated by Octavian, who would later be Emperor Augustus) that Egypt became a province of Rome in 30 BC. Subsequent Roman Emperors were accorded the title of Pharaoh, although exclusively while in Egypt. One Egyptian king-list lists the Roman Emperors as Pharaohs up to and including Decius. See the list of Roman Emperors.