Predecessor Banetjer | Successor Senedj | |
 | ||
Reign length of reign unknown (2nd Dynasty; around 2740 B.C.) | ||
Wadjenes (ancient Eyptian Wadj-nes, which means "fresh of tongue"), also known as Wadjlas, Ougotlas and Tlas, is the name of an early Egyptian king who may have ruled during the 2nd dynasty. Since the name form "Wadjenes" is not contemporarily attested as the name of a king, but frequently appears in Ramesside kinglists, Egyptologists to this day are trying to connect Wadjenes with contemporary Horus-kings.
Reign
Very little is known about Wadjenes's reign. The Turin Canon lists Wadjenes as ruling for 54 years, whilst Manetho assigns 17 years to him. Egyptologists evaluate both lists as misinterpretations by Ramesside scribes or as an exaggeration. If Wadjenes was an independent ruler (as Richard Weill and Peter Kaplony believe) he was evidently the last to rule over a unified realm, since his name is found in both Memphite and Thinite royal chronicles. It is largely accepted by Egyptologists that the immediate successor of king Ninetjer left a divided Egypt, which was headed by two kings who ruled at the same time. The theory is based on the unusual serekh name of a king called Peribsen, who succeeded Ninetjer and who placed the crest animal of Seth above his name. Since the deity Seth was of Ombite origin, king Peribsen was probably of Ombite origin, too, and he definitely ruled only in Upper Egypt. His name is missing from the Ramesside Memphite kinglists, because they were all written by Memphite priests and they did not accept any non-Memphite ruler as a rightful ancestor.