Sekhemkhet

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Persondata
NAME	Sekhemkhet
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	{{{Alt}}}
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Pharaoh of Egypt
DATE OF BIRTH	{{{Birth}}}
PLACE OF BIRTH	Ancient Egypt
DATE OF DEATH	{{{Death}}}
PLACE OF DEATH	Ancient Egypt

Preceded by: Djoser	Pharaoh of Egypt 3rd Dynasty	Succeeded by: Khaba
Sekhemkhet
Reign	2649 BC to 2643 BC 7 years Manetho and Palermo Stone
Horus name	Sekhemkhet Powerful in body[1]
Major Monuments	Buried Pyramid

Sekhemkhet was Pharaoh in Egypt during the Third dynasty. According to the Manethonian tradition, a king known as "Djoserty" reigned for a relatively brief period of seven years, and modern scholars believe Djoserty and Sekhemkhet are the same person. While the Turin Canon gives Sekhemkhet a reign of 6 years.[1], Toby Wilkinson's reconstruction of the Dynasty 5 Palermo Stone Annal document assigns a reign of 7 years to this king based on the number of year register preserved for him in Cairo Fragment One, register V.^[2] Wilkinson states that "this figure is fairly certain, since the [king's] titulary begins immediately after the dividing line marking the change of reign."^[3] Hence, the Manethonian tradition appears to be correct. His reign is thought to have been from about 2649 BC until 2643 BC or 2642 BC.

While there was a known successor to Djoser, Sekhemkhet's name was unknown until 1951, when the leveled foundation and vestiges of an unfinished Step Pyramid were discovered at Saqqara by Zakaria Goneim. Only the lowest step of the pyramid had been constructed at the time of his death. Jar seals found on the site were inscribed with this king's name. From its design and an inscription from his pyramid at Saqqara, it is thought that Djoser's famous architect Imhotep had a hand in the design of this pyramid. Archaeologists believe that Sekhemket's pyramid would have been larger than Djoser's had it been completed. Today, the site, which lies southwest of Djoser's complex, is mostly concealed beneath sand dunes and is known as the Buried Pyramid.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Hawass, Zahi. "Excavating the Old Kingdom". in Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1999.
• Leclant, Jean. "A Brief History of the Old Kingdom". in Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1999.
• Wilkinson, Toby. Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt: The Palermo Stone and Its Associated Fragments, Kegan Paul International, 2000.

[edit] External links

• Winston, Alan and Dunn, Jimmy. "King Sekhemkhet and his Pyramid at Saqqara"