The sixteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

 (notated Dynasty XVI) was a dynasty

Dynasty

A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...

 of pharaoh

Pharaoh

Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...

s that ruled in Upper Egypt

Upper Egypt

Upper Egypt is the strip of land, on both sides of the Nile valley, that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan north to the area between El-Ayait and Zawyet Dahshur . The northern section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Sohag is sometimes known as Middle Egypt...

 for 50 years during the Second Intermediate Period (c. 1650-1550 BCE), a period that saw the division of Upper and Lower Egypt

Upper and Lower Egypt

Ancient Egypt was divided into two regions, namely Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. To the north was Lower Egypt where the Nile stretched out with its several branches to form the Nile Delta. To the south was Upper Egypt, stretching to Syene. The two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt were united c....

 between the pharaohs at Thebes

Thebes, Egypt

Thebes is the Greek name for a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean, on the east bank of the river Nile within the modern city of Luxor. The Theban Necropolis is situated nearby on the west bank of the Nile.-History:...

 and the Hyksos

Hyksos

The Hyksos were an Asiatic people who took over the eastern Nile Delta during the twelfth dynasty, initiating the Second Intermediate Period of ancient Egypt....

 kings at Avaris

Avaris

Avaris , capital of Egypt under the Hyksos , was located near modern Tell el-Dab'a in the northeastern region of the Nile Delta, at the juncture of the 8th, 14th, 19th and 20th Nomes...

.

Identification

Of the two chief versions of Manetho

Manetho

Manetho was an Egyptian historian and priest from Sebennytos who lived during the Ptolemaic era, approximately during the 3rd century BC. Manetho wrote the Aegyptiaca...

's Aegyptiaca, Dynasty XVI is described by the more reliable Africanus

Sextus Julius Africanus

Sextus Julius Africanus was a Christian traveller and historian of the late 2nd and early 3rd century AD. He is important chiefly because of his influence on Eusebius, on all the later writers of Church history among the Fathers, and on the whole Greek school of chroniclers.His name indicates that...

 (supported by Syncellus

George Syncellus

George Syncellus was a Byzantine chronicler and ecclesiastic. He had lived many years in Palestine as a monk, before coming to Constantinople, where he was appointed syncellus to Tarasius, patriarch of Constantinople...

) as "shepherd [hyksos

Hyksos

The Hyksos were an Asiatic people who took over the eastern Nile Delta during the twelfth dynasty, initiating the Second Intermediate Period of ancient Egypt....

] kings", but by Eusebius

Eusebius of Caesarea

Eusebius of Caesarea also called Eusebius Pamphili, was a Roman historian, exegete and Christian polemicist. He became the Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine about the year 314. Together with Pamphilus, he was a scholar of the Biblical canon...

 as Theban

Thebes, Egypt

Thebes is the Greek name for a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean, on the east bank of the river Nile within the modern city of Luxor. The Theban Necropolis is situated nearby on the west bank of the Nile.-History:...

.

Ryholt

Kim Ryholt

Kim S B Ryholt is a Danish Egyptologist, who works at the Carsten Niebuhr Institute of Near Eastern Studies at the University of Copenhagen....

 (1997), followed by Bourriau (2003), in reconstructing the Turin canon

Turin King List

The Turin King List, also known as the Turin Royal Canon, is a hieratic papyrus thought to date from the reign of Ramesses II, now in the Museo Egizio at Turin...

, interpreted a list of Thebes-based kings to constitute Manetho

Manetho

Manetho was an Egyptian historian and priest from Sebennytos who lived during the Ptolemaic era, approximately during the 3rd century BC. Manetho wrote the Aegyptiaca...

's Dynasty XVI, although this is one Ryholt's "most debatable and far-reaching" conclusions.

History

The continuing war against Dynasty XV

Fifteenth dynasty of Egypt

The Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Second Intermediate Period. The Fifteenth Dynasty dates approximately from 1650 to 1550 BC.-Rulers:...

 dominated the short-lived Dynasty XVI. The armies of Dynasty XV, winning town after town from their southern enemies, continually encroached on Dynasty XVI, eventually threatening and then conquering Thebes itself. Ryholt (1997) has suggested that Dedumose I sued for a truce in the latter years of the dynasty, but one of his predecessors, Nebiriau I, may have been more successful and seems to have enjoyed a period of peace in his reign.

Famine

Famine

A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...

, which had plagued Upper Egypt during late Dynasty XIII

Thirteenth dynasty of Egypt

The thirteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasties XI, XII and XIV under the group title Middle Kingdom. Other writers separate it from these dynasties and join it to Dynasties XIV through XVII as part of the Second Intermediate Period...

 and Dynasty XIV

Fourteenth dynasty of Egypt

The Eleventh , Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Middle Kingdom, though this dynasty overlaps partially with either the Thirteenth Dynasty or the Fifteenth Dynasty, during the Second Intermediate Period.It is associated with the...

, also blighted Dynasty XVI, most evidently in the reign of Neferhotep III

Neferhotep III

Sekhemre Sankhtawy Neferhotep III was the third or fourth ruler of the Theban 16th Dynasty after Djehuti and Sobekhotep VIII according to Ryholt. He is assigned a reign of 1 year in the Turin Canon and is known primarily by a single document from Thebes. Von Beckerath dates Neferhotep III to the...

.

Kings

From Ryholt's reconstruction of the Turin canon, 15 kings of Dynasty XVI can now be named, five of whom appear in contemporary sources. While most likely ruled from Thebes itself, some may have been local rulers from other important Upper Egyptian towns, including Abydos

Abydos, Egypt

Abydos is one of the most ancient cities of Upper Egypt, and also of the eight Upper Nome, of which it was the capital city. It is located about 11 kilometres west of the Nile at latitude 26° 10' N, near the modern Egyptian towns of el-'Araba el Madfuna and al-Balyana...

, El Kab

El Kab

El Kab is an Upper Egyptian site on the east bank of the Nile at the mouth of Wadi Hillal, about 80 km south of Luxor, consisting of prehistoric and Pharaonic settlements, rock-cut tombs of the early 18th Dynasty , remains of temples dating from the Early Dynastic period to the Ptolemaic...

 and Edfu

Edfu

Edfu is an Egyptian city, located on the west bank of the Nile River between Esna and Aswan, with a population of approximately sixty thousand people. For the ancient history of the city, see below...

. By the reign of Nebiriau I, the Dynasty XVI realm extended at least as far north as Hu. Not listed in the Turin canon (after Ryholt) is Wepwawetemsaf, who left a stele

Stele

A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...

 at Abydos and was likely a more local king.

Ryholt gives the list of Dynasty XVI kings as shown in the table below. Others, such as Helck, Vandersleyen, Bennett and others combine some of these rulers with the Seventeenth dynasty of Egypt

Seventeenth dynasty of Egypt

The Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Second Intermediate Period. The Seventeenth Dynasty dates approximately from 1580 to 1550 BC.-Rulers:...

. The estimated dates come from Bennett's publication.

Dynasty XVI

Name	Horus name	Comments	Consort
Name lost
Djehuti Djehuti Djehuti, Djehuty or Thuty was a pharaoh of Ancient Egypt dating to the Second Intermediate period. Djehuti's prenomen, Sekhemre Sementawy, means "The Power of Re who Establishes the Two Lands."...	Sekhemre-sementawi	ca 1649 BC	Queen Mentuhotep Mentuhotep (queen) Mentuhotep was an Ancient Egyptian queen of the Second Intermediate Period. Her main title was Great Royal Wife. Another title was Khenemetneferhedjet She is only known from her burial equipment found in the 19th century in Thebes. The inscriptions of her coffin were copied, but the original...
Sobekhotep VIII Sobekhotep VIII Sekhemre Susertawi Sobekhotep VIII was an Egyptian king during the 16th or 17th Theban dynasty of Egypt and is believed to be the successor of Djehuti according to Kim Ryholt. He reigned over Upper Egypt during the time of the Hyksos conquest of Memphis and Lower Egypt...	Sekhemre-seusertawi	ca 1645 BC
Neferhotep III Neferhotep III Sekhemre Sankhtawy Neferhotep III was the third or fourth ruler of the Theban 16th Dynasty after Djehuti and Sobekhotep VIII according to Ryholt. He is assigned a reign of 1 year in the Turin Canon and is known primarily by a single document from Thebes. Von Beckerath dates Neferhotep III to the...	Sekhemre-seankhtawi	ca 1629 BC
Mentuhotep VI Mentuhotep VI Sankhenre Mentuhotep VI was a Pharaoh of Egypt of the 16th or 17th Theban dynasty based in Upper Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period. He was the successor of Neferhotep III and is assigned a reign of 1 year in the Turin Canon. Mentuhotep VI is attested by a single stela from Thebes...	Seankhenre	ca 1628 BC
Nebiriau I	Sewadjenre	ca 1627 BC
Nebiriau II Nebiriau II Nebiriau II or Nebiryerawet was a king of the 16th or 17th Theban dynasty who ruled Upper Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period of Ancient Egypt. He is commonly assumed by some Egyptologists to be the son of Sewadjenre Nebiriau I, his predecessor given the rarity of the name Nebiriau in...	Neferkare ?	ca 1601 BC
	Semenre Semenre Semenre was a poorly attested 16th dynasty Theban king during the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt who succeeded the equally obscure Nebiriau II...	ca 1601 BC
Bebi-Ankh Seuserenre Bebiankh Seuserenre Bebiankh was a native Ancient Egyptian king of the 16th Theban dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period and the successor of king Semenre. He is assigned a reign of 12 years in the Turin Canon...	Seuserenre	ca 1600 BC
Shedwast Sekhemre Shedwast Sekhemre Shedwast was a native Ancient Egyptian king of the 16th Theban dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period and the successor of king Bebiankh....	Sekhemre	ca 1588 BC
Dedumose I	Djedhetepre
Dedumose II Dedumose II Dedumose II was a native Ancient Egyptian king of the 16th Theban dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period. His Horus name was Djedneferre.-Dating Issues:Williams and other place Dedumose as the last king of Egypt's 13th Dynasty...	Djedneferre
Montemsaf Djedankhre Montemsaf Djedankhre Montemsaf was a native Ancient Egyptian king of the 16th Theban dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period.King Djedankhre Montemsaf is known from inscriptions in Gebelein and Edfu....	Djedankhre
Mentuhotep VI	Merankhre		Queen Sitmut

Helck however gives a different list of rulers for the 16th dynasty:

Dynasty XVI (Helck)

Name	Horus name	Comments	Consort
Anat-her Anat-her Anat-her was a ruler of the Hyksos Sixteenth dynasty of Egypt around 1600 BCE during what is often referred to as the Second Intermediate Period....
User-Anat
Semqen Semqen Semqen was the third ruler of the Hyksos Sixteenth Dynasty of Egypt.Semqen and Anat-her are thought to be rulers who come from the very early part of the Sixteenth dynasty of Egypt.A scarab with the name of Semqen is mentioned by Petrie....
Bebi-Ankh Seuserenre Bebiankh Seuserenre Bebiankh was a native Ancient Egyptian king of the 16th Theban dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period and the successor of king Semenre. He is assigned a reign of 12 years in the Turin Canon...	Seuserenre
Pepi III Pepi III Pepi III is the seventh pharaoh of the Hyksos Sixteenth dynasty of Egypt....	Sneferankh-re
Nebmaatre Nebmaatre Nebmaatre was a ruler dated to the Second Intermediate Period of Ancient Egypt. The king may date to the 17th dynasty based on an axe blade inscribed with his name...
Nikare Nikare Nikare may have been a seventh dynasty king of ancient Egypt during the First Intermediate Period. His name is only attested on the Abydos King List.-References:*, Accessed November 9, 2006.*, Accessed November 9, 2006....
Meribre
Nubankhre
Ahotepre Aahotepre Ammu Ahotepre was a minor Hyksos pharaoh of Dynasty XIV of ancient Egypt.-Identification:Ryholt identified 'Ammu Ahotepre in his reconstruction of the Turin canon....
Anetjerre
Kha-userre
Saket
Wadjet
Qar
Yakbaam
Amu
Nia...