| Senebkay | |
|---|---|
| Woseribre, Useribre, Seneb Kay | |
 Drawing of Senebkay'scartouche, from his tomb at Abydos | |
| Pharaoh | |
| Reign | c. 1650/1600 BC |
| Predecessor | ? |
| Successor | ? |
| Born | 17th century BCE |
| Died | 17th century BCE (35–40 years old) |
| Burial | Abydos, tomb CS9 |
| Dynasty | uncertain,Abydos Dynasty or16th Dynasty |
Woseribre Senebkay (alternativelySeneb Kay) was anancient Egyptian king during theSecond Intermediate Period. He is thought to have reigned somewhere between 1650 and 1600 BCE.[2] The discovery of his tomb in January 2014 supports the existence of an independentAbydos Dynasty, contemporary with theFifteenth andSixteenth Dynasties during the Second Intermediate Period.[3]
We know nothing about his reign except that he may have had a short reign at Abydos during a period of turmoil following the late 13th Dynasty.
He was violently killed at the age of 35/40, his skeleton showing clear signs of battle. Yet, he was interred in his tomb made from reused/usurped material from the nearby cemetery.
AtAbydos South, the Tomb of Senebkay (CS9) was discovered in 2014 byJosef W. Wegner of theUniversity of Pennsylvania and a team of Egyptian archaeologists.[4][5]
The four-chamber tomb has a decoratedlimestone burial chamber. Most blocks of the chamber were reused from older structures, such as the stela ofIdudju-iker. On the east, short wall there is a painted depiction of the twoWadjet-eyes. Left and right are standing the goddessNeith andNut. Over the scene is depicted a winged sun disc. On the North wall is depicted a standing goddess; her name is destroyed. There are short text lines mentioning the deitiesDuamutef andQebehsenuf. In the center of the wall appears the cartouche with the king's name Senebkay. The South wall is much destroyed. There are visible the remains of two female deities. Texts mention the deitiesAmset andHapi.[6] The texts record the pharaoh's titulary and call him the "king ofUpper and Lower Egypt, Woseribre, the son ofRe, Senebkay".[3] Senebkay's name was found inscribed inside a royalcartouche.
Senebkay's tomb did not house many funerary goods and may have been robbed in ancient times.[citation needed] Some of the burial equipment, such as the wooden canopic box, were taken from older tombs. The remains of the canopic box were originally part of a coffin that was inscribed for a king Sobekhotep,[7] likely from the nearby tombS10, now believed to belong toSobekhotep IV.[8]
The skeleton of Senebkay shows he was around 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 metres) tall and that he died at the age of 35 to 40 from multiple wounds, most likely sustained in battle.[9][10] There are eighteen (impact) wounds on his bones of lower back, feet and ankles. The cutting angles suggest he was hit from below, perhaps while he was on a chariot or on horseback. He was killed by several blows to the skull; the curvature of the wounds on the skull indicate the use ofbattle axes contemporary tothe Second Intermediate Period.[10]
The head of the king was once decorated with a mummy mask.[7]
His primary attestation is his tomb (CS9) at Abydos. His tomb was made by reusing material from the nearby cemetery.
A further possible object with his name is amagical wand bearing the nameSebkay. The wand was found atAbydos but could refer to one or possibly two kings of the earlier13th Dynasty.[11] The existence of the so-called Abydos Dynasty was first proposed byDetlef Franke[12] and later further developed byKim Ryholt in 1997.[3]
TheTurin King List 11:16-17, following a summation in 11:14, contains a new sequence of kings partly preserving prenomens of two kings Woser[...]re (wsr-...-r') and Woser[...] (wsr-...). It has been suggested that Woseribre Senebkay may fit here.[13][14]
His nomen Senebkay may render as Seneb + Kay, which could be a filiation for Seneb, son of Kay. The name Kay also appear for the early 13th Dynasty rulerSedjefakare Kay Amenemhat VII.
