Sekhemib-Perenmaat

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Sekhemib-Perenmaat in hieroglyphs

serekh or Horus name

Sekhemib-Perenmaat, a poorly attested pharaoh of the Egyptian second dynasty, may have been the same individual also known as Peribsen, or more likely a separate individual who ruled Lower Egypt at the same time that Peribsen ruled Upper Egypt. Recent archaeological evidence from Saqqara supports the theory of a Sekhemib-Perenmaat--Khasekhemwy royal succession. Peribsen is attested exclusively in Upper Egyptian sites such as Abydos and Elephantine which also suggests that he had lost control of Lower Egypt during his reign. No Second Dynasty objects or texts containing Peribsen's name has ever been found in all of Saqqara. By contrast, Sekhemib-Perenmaat is attested in Saqqara and his tomb at Umm el-Qab lies close to the tomb of Khasekhemwy, the final king of the 2nd Dynasty. It has been argued that Sekhemib-Perenmaat was a predecessor of Khasekhemwy. This suggestion is now supported by the discovery of a fragmentary seal impression of Sekhemib-Perenmaat in the Umm el-Qaab tomb of Khasekhemwy (V, on sack-sealings from rooms 31-33, directly north of the burial chamber) by Gunther Dreyer. (Dreyer, MDAIK 59, 2003, p.115, pl. 24b). This find reinforces the hypothesis of a direct Sekhemib-Perenmaat--Khasekhemwy succession towards the end of the Egypt's second dynasty, notes Francesco Raffaele below. Where Peribsen fits into this new chronology is unknown at present.