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Senedj

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Senedj
Sened, Sendj, Sethenes
Cartouche name of Senedj in the Abydos King List (cartouche no. 13)
Cartouche name of Senedj in the Abydos King List (cartouche no. 13)
Pharaoh
Reign2773–2753 BC or later
PredecessorWadjenesorWeneg
Successoruncertain;Sekhemib,Peribsen,Neferkara I
Royal titulary
Nomen
Stone bowl from Giza
King of Upper- and Lower Egypt, Sened
nsw.t-btj snd
M23
X1		L2
X1		sn
d


Tomb of Shery (4th dynasty), Saqqara
Sened
Snd
V10Asn
d		V11A


Abydos King List
Senedj
Snd.j
V10Asn
d		iV11A


Saqqara King List
Senedj
Snd.j
V10AG54V11A


Turin Canon
Senedj
Snd.j
HASHG54V11AHASH
FatherWadjenes?
Dynasty2nd Dynasty

Senedj(also known asSenedandSethenes) was anearly Egyptianking (pharaoh), who may have ruled during the2nd Dynasty.His historical standing remains uncertain. His name is included in the kinglists of theRamesside era,although it is written in different ways: While theAbydos King Listimitates the archaic form, theRoyal Canon of Turinand theSaqqara King Listform the name with thehieroglyphicsign of a pluckedgoose.

It is unknown how long Senedj ruled over Egypt. The Royal Canon of Turin credits him with 70 years of rulership,[1]the ancient Egyptian historianManethostates thatSéthenes(as he calls Senedj) ruled for 41 years.[2]

Name sources[edit]

The possibly only known contemporary inscription from Senedj's reign was found in 1909 by Egyptologist Uvo Hölscher, who assisted the excavations at theKhephren- andMenkauratemple atGiza.Hölscher found a small, thin-walled and polisheddioriteshard, which once belonged to a flat bowl. At the left breakline an incised inscription gives the reading: "The king of Upper- and Lower Egypt, Senedj". The inscription goes from the right to the left and exceeds the breakline, but the king's name remains reconstructable. The precious artifact was published in 1912.[3]It was also examined byGeorge Andrew Reisner,who mentioned it shortly in his bookMycerinus, the Temples of the Third Pyramid at Giza.[4][5]

The next source referring to king Senedj dates back to the beginning or middle of the 4th Dynasty. The name, written in acartouche,appears in the inscription on afalse doorbelonging to themastabatombof the highpriestSheryatSaqqara.Shery held the title “overseer of all wab-priests of kingPeribsenin thenecropolisof king Senedj”, “overseer of the ka-priests of king Senedj” and “god's servant of Senedj”. Senedj's name is written inarchaicform and set in a cartouche, which is ananachronism,since the cartouche itself was not used until the end of3rd Dynastyunder kingHuni.[6][7]EgyptologistDietrich Wildungpoints to two further priests and possible relatives of Shery, who both also participated the funerary cult of Senedj,InkefandSiy.[8]

Senedj is also mentioned in papyrus P. Berlin 3038, which contains medical prescriptions and therapies for numerous diseases. One of these gives instructions for treating footcramps,and closes with the claim that the recipe for the ointment originates from a "book of vessels". This book is claimed to originate from the time of king Usáphais (identical with king HorusDenofDynasty I). King Senedj allegedly received the book as an inheritance gift.[9]

The latest mention of Senedj's name appears on a smallbronzestatuette in the shape of a kneeling king wearing the White Crown ofUpper Egyptand holding incense burners in its hands. Additionally, the figurine wears a belt which has Senedj's name carved at the back.[10][11]

EgyptologistPeter Munrohas written a report about the existence of a mud seal inscription showing the cartouche nameNefer-senedj-Ra,which he thinks to be a version of “Senedj”.[12]But since the finding was never photographed nor drawn and the alleged object meanwhile got lost, Munro's claim is highly questioned by many scholars.[11]

Identity[edit]

Thehorus nameof Senedj remains unknown. The false door inscription of Shery might indicate that Senedj is identical with king Seth-Peribsen and that the name "Senedj" was brought into the kinglists, because a seth-name was not allowed to be mentioned.[13][14]Other Egyptologists, such as Wolfgang Helck and Dietrich Wildung, are not so sure and believe that Senedj and Peribsen were different rulers. They point out that the false door inscription has the names of both strictly separated from each other. Additionally, Wildung thinks that Senedjdonatedan offeringchapelto Peribsen in his necropolis.[15][16]This theory in turn is questioned by Helck andHermann A. Schlögl,who point to the clay seals of kingSekhemibfound in the entrance area of Peribsen's tomb, which might prove that Sekhemib buried Peribsen, not Senedj.[17]

Reign[edit]

Egyptologists such as Wolfgang Helck,Nicolas Grimal,Hermann Alexander Schlögl andFrancesco Tiradrittibelieve that kingNynetjer,the third ruler of 2nd dynasty, left a realm that was suffering from an overly complex state administration and that Nynetjer decided to split Egypt to leave it to his two sons (or, at least, two chosen successors) who would rule two separate kingdoms, in the hope that the two rulers could better administer the states.[18][19]In contrast, Egyptologists such asBarbara Bellbelieve that an economic catastrophe such as afamineor a long lasting drought affected Egypt. Therefore, to better address the problem of feeding the Egyptian population, Nynetjer split the realm into two and his successors founded two independent realms until the famine came to an end. Bell points to the inscriptions of thePalermo stone,where, in her opinion, the records of theannual Nile floodsshow constantly low levels during this period.[20]

Bell's theory is refuted today by Egyptologists such asStephan Seidlmayer,who corrected Bell's calculations. Seidlmayer has shown that the annual Nile floods were at usual levels at Nynetjer's time up to the period of theOld Kingdom.Bell had overlooked that the heights of the Nile floods in the Palermo stone inscription only takes into account the measurements of thenilometersaroundMemphis,but not elsewhere along the river. Any long-lasting drought can therefore be excluded.[21]

It is also unclear if Senedj already shared his throne with another ruler, or if the Egyptian state was split at the time of his death. All known kinglists such as theSakkara list,theTurin King Listand theAbydos tablelist a kingWadjenesas predecessor of Senedj. After Senedj, the kinglists differ from each other in respect of the successors. While the Sakkara list and the Turin canon mention the kingsNeferka(ra),NeferkasokarandHudjefa Ias immediate successors, the Abydos list skips them and lists a kingDjadjay(identical with kingKhasekhemwy). If Egypt was already divided when Senedj gained the throne, kings like Sekhemib and Peribsen would have ruled Upper Egypt, whilst Senedj and his successors, Neferka(ra) and Hudjefa I, would have ruled Lower Egypt. The division of Egypt was brought to an end by king Khasekhemwy.[22]

Tomb[edit]

It is unknown where Senedj was buried.Toby Wilkinsonassumes that the king might have been buried at Saqqara. To support this view, Wilkinson makes the observation that mortuary priests in earlier times were never buried too far away from the king for whom they had practised the mortuary cult. Wilkinson thinks that one of the Great Southern Galleries within theNecropolis of KingDjoser(3rd Dynasty) was originally Senedj's tomb.[23]

References[edit]

  1. ^Alan H. Gardiner:The Royal Canon of Turin.Griffith Institute of Oxford, Oxford (UK) 1997,ISBN0-900416-48-3,p. 15 & table I.
  2. ^William Gillian Waddell:Manetho(=The Loeb Classical Library,Vol. 350). Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Mass.) 2004,ISBN0-674-99385-3,p. 37-41.
  3. ^Uvo Hölscher, Georg Steindorff:Das Grabdenkmal des Königs Chephren(=Veröffentlichungen der Ernst von Sieglin Expedition in Ägypten,1st Volume). Hinrischs'sche Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1912. page 106ff.
  4. ^George Andrew Reisner:Mycerinus, the Temples of the Third Pyramid at Giza.Harvard University Press, Boston 1931, page 105.
  5. ^Wilkinson, T.A.H. (2002).Early Dynastic Egypt.Taylor & Francis. p. 74-75.ISBN978-1-134-66420-7.Retrieved2024-01-19.
  6. ^Auguste Mariette:Les mastabas de l’Ancien Empire.Paris 1885, page 92–94
  7. ^Werner Kaiser:Zur Nennung von Sened und Peribsen in Sakkara,In:Göttinger Miszellen,no. 122, (1991), page 49–55.
  8. ^Dietrich Wildung: Die Rolle ägyptischer Könige im Bewußtsein ihrer Nachwelt (= Münchener Ägyptologische Studien. Bd. 17).Deutscher Kunstverlag,München/ Berlin 1969, p. 44-47.
  9. ^Wolfhart Westendorf:Erwachen der Heilkunst: die Medizin im alten Ägypten.Artemis & Winkler, 1992,ISBN3760810721,p. 48.
  10. ^Wolfgang Helck:Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit.(Ägyptologische Abhandlungen, Volume 45), Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1987,ISBN3-447-02677-4,page 103-106
  11. ^abDietrich Wildung:Die Rolle ägyptischer Könige im Bewusstsein ihrer Nachwelt.Part I (Münchener Ägytologische Studien 17). Deutscher Kunstverlag, München/Berlin 1969, page 45
  12. ^Peter Munro:Nefer-Senedj-Ra,In:Orientalia;Band 57 (1988); page 330.
  13. ^Kenneth Anderson Kitchen:Ramesside Inscriptions.page 234–235
  14. ^Jürgen von Beckerath:Handbuch der ägyptischen Königsnamen..Deutscher Kunstverlag, München/Berlin 1984,ISBN3-422-00832-2,page 171.
  15. ^Wolfgang Helck:Untersuchungen zur Thinitenzeit.page 105-106.
  16. ^Dietrich Wildung:Die Rolle ägyptischer Könige im Bewusstsein ihrer Nachwelt.page 45.
  17. ^Hermann Alexander Schlögl:Das Alte Ägypten.page 77-78 & 415.
  18. ^Nicolas Grimal:A History of Ancient Egypt.Wiley-Blackwell, Weinheim 1994,ISBN978-0-631-19396-8,page 55.
  19. ^Francesco Tiradritti & Anna Maria Donadoni Roveri:Kemet: Alle Sorgenti Del Tempo.Electa, Milano 1998,ISBN88-435-6042-5,page 80–85.
  20. ^Barbara Bell:Oldest Records of the Nile Floods,In:Geographical Journal,No. 136. 1970, page 569–573; M. Goedike:Journal of Egypt Archaeology,No. 42. 1998, page 50.
  21. ^Stephan Seidlmayer:Historische und moderne Nilstände: Historische und moderne Nilstände: Untersuchungen zu den Pegelablesungen des Nils von der Frühzeit bis in die Gegenwart.Achet, Berlin 2001,ISBN3-9803730-8-8,page 87–89.
  22. ^Hermann Alexander Schlögl:Das Alte Ägypten: Geschichte und Kultur von der Frühzeit bis zu Kleopatra.Beck, Hamburg 2006,ISBN3-406-54988-8,page 77-78 & 415.
  23. ^Toby Wilkinson:Early Dynastic Egypt.Routledge, London/New York 1999,ISBN0-415-18633-1,page 88 - 89.

External links[edit]

Preceded by Pharaoh of Egypt Succeeded by
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