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Egyptian Artifacts

The Abydos King List

Something I was so excited to see in the British Museum was the Abydos King List. There are two surviving King Lists from temples π“‰Ÿπ“π“‰π“ͺ at Abydos, the cult center of Osiris π“Ήπ“Š¨π“€­. One temple π“‰Ÿπ“π“‰ is from Seti I 𓇳𓁦𓏠, and the other from his son Rameses II π“©π“›π“ˆ˜π“„Ÿπ“‹΄π“‡“, who were both pharaohs 𓉐𓉻π“₯ during the 19th Dynasty. Seti I’s 𓇳𓁦𓏠 list is still in the temple π“‰Ÿπ“π“‰ at Abydos, while Rameses II’s π“©π“›π“ˆ˜π“„Ÿπ“‹΄π“‡“ was excavated and brought to the British Museum.

While neither list is a 100% complete list, there are some glaring holes in the list – Hatshepsut π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“ŽΉπ“π“„‚π“π“€Όπ“ͺ, Akhenaten π“‡‹π“π“ˆ–π“‡³π“…žπ“π“ˆ–, Smenkhare π“‡³π“Šƒπ“‰»π“‚“π“‚¦π“†£, Tutankhamun π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“π“…±π“π“‹Ήπ“‹Ύπ“‰Ίπ“‡“, and Ay’s 𓇳𓆣𓆣π“ͺ𓁹𓐙𓏏 cartouches are missing. Obviously, these names were left off because these pharaohs 𓉐𓉻π“₯ are considered non-legitimate. Hatshepsut π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“ŽΉπ“π“„‚π“π“€Όπ“ͺ was the female pharaoh 𓉐𓉻, and Akhenaten-Ay is considered the Amarna Period, which was not well liked due to the drama of Akhenaten changing the religion and moving the capital of Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š–.

The point of the King Lists was not to preserve history for future generations, rather the main objective was to glorify the gods π“ŠΉπ“ŠΉπ“ŠΉ, and as we know, pharaohs 𓉐𓉻π“₯ were considered gods π“ŠΉπ“ŠΉπ“ŠΉ on Earth. These lists allowed Seti I 𓇳𓁦𓏠 and Rameses II π“©π“›π“ˆ˜π“„Ÿπ“‹΄π“‡“ to assert their legitimacy amongst the old pharaohs 𓉐𓉻π“₯ of Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š–.