| Menkare | |
|---|---|
 The cartouche of Menkare on theAbydos King List. | |
| Pharaoh | |
| Reign | Probably short, c. 2181 BC |
| Predecessor | Netjerkare Siptah |
| Successor | Neferkare II |
| Dynasty | Eighth Dynasty |
Menkare was anancient Egyptianpharaoh, the first or second[1] ruler of theEighth Dynasty. Menkare probably reigned a short time at the transition between theOld Kingdom period and theFirst Intermediate Period, in the early 22nd century BC.[2] The rapid succession of brief reigns at the time suggests times of hardship, possibly related to a widespreadaridification of theMiddle East, known as the4.2 kiloyear event. As a pharaoh of the Eighth Dynasty, according toManetho, Menkare's seat of power would have beenMemphis.
Menkare's only secure historical source is theAbydos king list, a list of kings redacted during the reign ofSeti I for religious purposes and which today serves as the primary historical source for kings of the early First Intermediate Period. ThepraenomenMenkare appears on the 41st entry of the list. Another king list redacted during the earlyRamesside period, theTurin canon, may have listed Menkare as well. Unfortunately, a large lacuna affects the papyrus of the canon where Menkare's name would have been listed.[3]
The tomb of queen Neit in South Saqqara houses a relief showing the queen in front of a damaged royal cartouche.[4] The EgyptologistPercy Newberry proposed that the cartouche readsMenkare, which would thus be the sole contemporaneous attestation for this king having survived to this day.[5] This opinion is shared by Gae Callender, who reexamined Jéquier's plates of the inscription.[6]
Another possible, though not contemporaneous, attestation of Menkare is a cylinder seal made of glazedsteatite, now in theBritish Museum under the catalog number 30557, and inscribed with the text "The Good God, Lord of the Two Lands, Menkare".[7][8] The seal dates to the26th Dynasty, some 1700 years after Menkare's lifetime. The attribution of the seal to Menkare is unlikely: given that Menkare is a rather obscure king, some scholars have suggested instead that the seal bears a mistake and actually refers to the better known pharaohMenkaure, builder of thethird pyramid of Giza.[2]
In an old hypothesis, the EgyptologistFlinders Petrie suggested that Menkare should be equated with queenNitocris, a legendary figure appearing in Herodotus'Histories andManetho'sAegyptiaca and who is believed to have lived close to Menkare's lifetime. Petrie based his hypothesis on the fact that Nitocris is credited with the construction of the third pyramid of Giza by Manetho. Since this pyramid was in fact built by Menkaure, Petrie surmised that Manetho fell victim to a tradition which had confused Menkare and Menkaure.[9] Similarly, the seal would seem to be another manifestation of this confusion. Petrie's hypothesis has been thoroughly disproven by modern analyses of the Turin canon however, and Nitocris is now known to originate from the names of the real rulerNetjerkare Siptah.[3] The attribution of the seal remains uncertain.[2]
| Preceded by | Pharaoh of Egypt Eighth Dynasty | Succeeded by |
