Last updated

Wadjkare was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Eighth dynasty who reigned c. 2150 BC during the First Intermediate Period. He is considered to be a very obscure figure in Egyptian history. [1]


Wadjkare is mentioned only once: in a royal limestone tablet known as Coptos Decree R (Cairo museum; obj. JE 41894), which is said to have been created by the king himself. It contains a list of punishments for everyone who dares to damage or plunder a shrine dedicated to the god Min-of-Coptos. [2] However, from an archaeological standpoint there is nothing else known about this king. His existence is questioned by some scholars, because he is not mentioned in any Ramesside king list. [3]

A rock inscription in Nubia mentions a king that in the past was tentatively read as Wadjkare. [4] [5] It is believed nowadays that the royal name on the inscription is Menkhkare, the throne name of the Eleventh Dynasty local ruler Segerseni. [6]

Scholars such as Farouk Gomaà and William C. Hayes identify the Horus name Djemed-ib-taui with a ruler named Neferirkare and equate Wadjkare with an obscure ruler named Hor-Khabaw. [7] Hans Goedicke sees Wadjkare as the predecessor of Djemed-ib-taui and assigns both rulers to the 9th dynasty. [8]

Related Research Articles

Pepi II Neferkare Egyptian pharaoh of the Sixth dynasty for the Old Kingdom

Pepi II was a pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty in Egypt's Old Kingdom who reigned from c. 2278 BC. His throne name, Neferkare (Nefer-ka-Re), means "Beautiful is the Ka of Re". He succeeded to the throne at age six, after the death of Merenre I.

Pepi I Meryre Egyptian pharaoh

Pepi I Meryre was the third king of the Sixth dynasty of Egypt, ruling for over 40 years during the second half of the 24th Century BC, toward the end of the Old Kingdom period. Pepi I was the son of his second predecessor Teti, ascending the throne only after the brief and enigmatic reign of the shadowy Userkare. Pepi's mother was queen Iput, who may have been a daughter of Unas, final ruler of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt.

The Eighth Dynasty of ancient Egypt is a poorly known and short-lived line of pharaohs reigning in rapid succession in the early 22nd century BC, likely with their seat of power in Memphis. The Eighth Dynasty held sway at a time referred to as the very end of the Old Kingdom or the beginning of the First Intermediate Period. The power of the pharaohs was waning while that of the provincial governors, known as nomarchs, was increasingly important, the Egyptian state having by then effectively turned into a feudal system. In spite of close relations between the Memphite kings and powerful nomarchs, notably in Coptos, the Eighth Dynasty was eventually overthrown by the nomarchs of Heracleopolis Magna, who founded the Ninth Dynasty. The Eighth Dynasty is sometimes combined with the preceding Seventh Dynasty, owing to the lack of archeological evidence for the latter which may be fictitious.

Huni ancient Egyptian king

Huni was an ancient Egyptian king and the last pharaoh of the 3rd dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. Following the Turin king list, he is commonly credited with a reign of 24 years, ending c. 2613 BC.

Userkaf Ancient Egyptian pharaoh

Userkaf was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the founder of the Fifth Dynasty. He reigned for seven to eight years in the early 25th century BC, during the Old Kingdom period. He probably belonged to a branch of the Fourth Dynasty royal family, although his parentage is uncertain; he could have been the son of Khentkaus I. He had at least one daughter and very probably a son, Sahure, with his consort Neferhetepes. This son succeeded him as pharaoh.

Mentuhotep I Egyptian pharaoh

Mentuhotep I may have been a Theban nomarch and independent ruler of Upper Egypt during the early First Intermediate Period. Alternatively, Mentuhotep I may be a fictional figure created during the later Eleventh dynasty, which rose to prominence under Intef II and Mentuhotep II, playing the role of a founding father.

Merenre Nemtyemsaf II Egyptian pharaoh

Merenre Nemtyemsaf II was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the sixth and penultimate ruler of the 6th Dynasty. He reigned for 1 year and 1 month in the first half of the 22nd century BC, at the very end of the Old Kingdom period. Nemtyemsaf II likely ascended the throne as an old man, succeeding his long-lived father Pepi II Neferkare at a time when the power of the pharaoh was crumbling.

Seth-Peribsen ancient Egyptian ruler

Seth-Peribsen is the serekh name of an early Egyptian monarch (pharaoh), who ruled during the Second Dynasty of Egypt. His chronological position within this dynasty is unknown and it is disputed who ruled both before and after him. The duration of his reign is also unknown.

Sekhemib-Perenmaat Egyptian pharaoh

Sekhemib-Perenma'at, is the horus name of an early Egyptian king who ruled during the 2nd dynasty. Similar to his predecessor, successor or co-ruler Seth-Peribsen, Sekhemib is contemporarily well attested in archaeological records, but he does not appear in any posthumous document. The exact length of his reign is unknown and his burial site has yet to be found.

Neferkaure Egyptian pharaoh

Neferkaure was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt during the First Intermediate Period. According to the Abydos King List and the latest reconstruction of the Turin canon by Kim Ryholt, he was the 15th king of the Eighth Dynasty. This opinion is shared by the egyptologists Jürgen von Beckerath, Thomas Schneider and Darell Baker. As a pharaoh of the Eighth Dynasty, Neferkaure's seat of power was Memphis and he may not have held power over all of Egypt.

Neferkauhor Egyptian pharaoh

Neferkauhor Khuwihapi was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Eighth Dynasty during the early First Intermediate Period, at a time when Egypt was possibly divided between several polities. Neferkauhor was the sixteenth and penultimate king of the Eighth Dynasty and as such would have ruled over the Memphite region. Neferkauhor reigned for little over 2 years and is one of the best attested kings of this period with eight of his decrees surviving in fragmentary condition to this day.

Neferirkare Egyptian pharaoh

Neferirkare was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Eighth Dynasty during the early First Intermediate Period. According to the egyptologists Kim Ryholt, Jürgen von Beckerath and Darrell Baker he was the 17th and final king of the Eighth Dynasty. Many scholars consider Neferirkare to have been the last pharaoh of the Old Kingdom, which came to an end with the 8th Dynasty.

Osorkon IV Egyptian pharaoh

Usermaatre Osorkon IV was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh during the late Third Intermediate Period. Traditionally considered the very last king of the 22nd Dynasty, he was de facto little more than ruler in Tanis and Bubastis, in Lower Egypt. He is generally – though not universally – identified with the King Shilkanni mentioned by Assyrian sources, and with the biblical So, King of Egypt mentioned in the second Books of Kings.

Neithhotep Ancient Egyptian queen consort

Neithhotep or Neith-hotep was an ancient Egyptian queen consort living and ruling during the early First Dynasty. She was once thought to be a male ruler: her outstandingly large mastaba and the royal serekh surrounding her name on several seal impressions previously led Egyptologists and historians to the erroneous belief that she may have been an unknown king.

Djau was a vizier of Upper Egypt during the 6th dynasty. He was a member of an influential family from Abydos; his mother was the vizier Nebet, his father was called Khui. His two sisters Ankhesenpepi I and Ankhesenpepi II married Pharaoh Pepi I. Djau was already in office when his nephew Pepi II became pharaoh. He is mentioned in two royal decrees, one from Abydos, the other from Coptos; one of them is dated to Year 11. It is unknown when he died, but when the tomb of Pepi II was decorated, he was no longer vizier. He was buried in Abydos, but the exact place of his tomb is not known.

Khenthap was allegedly a queen of Ancient Egypt. She is said to have lived during the 1st Dynasty. Her historical figure is very obscure, since there are no contemporary sources for her name. She appears only once in a much later inscription.

Coptos Decrees

The Coptos Decrees are 18 complete or fragmentary ancient Egyptian royal decrees ranging from the 6th Dynasty to the late 8th Dynasty. The decrees are numbered with letters of the Latin alphabet, starting with "Coptos Decree a" and ending with "Coptos Decree r". The earliest of the series were issued by Pepi I and Pepi II Neferkare to favor the clergy of the temple of Min, while the others are datable to the reign of various kings of the Eighth Dynasty, and concern various favors granted to an important official from Coptos named Shemay and to his family members. The decrees reflect the waning of the power of the pharaoh in the early First Intermediate Period.

Oryx nome

The Oryx nome was one of the 42 nomoi in ancient Egypt. More precisely, it was the 16th nome of Upper Egypt. It was named after the Scimitar oryx, and was roughly located in the territories surrounding the modern city of Minya in Middle Egypt.

Nomen (Ancient Egypt) part of Ancient Egyptian royal titulary; one of the pharaohs five names

The nomen of Ancient Egyptian pharaohs was one of the "great five names". It was introduced by king Djedefre, third pharaoh of the 4th Dynasty, as an emendation to the traditional nswt-bity crest. The nomen was later separated from the prenomen to become an independent royal name.


  1. Thomas Schneider: Lexikon der Pharaonen. Albatros, Düsseldorf 2002, ISBN   3-491-96053-3, p. 170 - 171.
  2. Nigel C. Strudwick: Texts from the Pyramid Age. BRILL, Leiden 2005, ISBN   9004130489, p. 123-124.
  3. Margaret Bunson: Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Infobase Publishing, 2009, ISBN   1438109970, p. 429.
  4. Henri Gauthier, "Nouvelles remarques sur la XIe dynastie". BIFAO 9 (1911), p. 136.
  5. Alan Gardiner, Egypt of the Pharaohs: an introduction, Oxford University Press, 1964, p. 121.
  6. Jürgen von Beckerath, Handbuch der Ägyptischen Königsnamen (MÄS 49), Philip Von Zabern, 1999, pp. 80-81.
  7. Farouk Gomaà: Ägypten während der Ersten Zwischenzeit (= Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients. Reihe B: Geisteswissenschaften, vol. 27). Reichert, Wiesbaden 1980, ISBN   3-88226-041-6. p. 57, 59, 127.