| Semenkare Nebnuni | |
|---|---|
| Nebnun, Nebnennu, Nebennu | |
 Nebnuni (right) offering to Ptah (left) on a stele from Gebel el-Zeit | |
| Pharaoh | |
| Reign | x years, x months, 22 days 1785-1783 BC (Ryholt)[1] 1741 BC (Franke)[2] |
| Predecessor | Amenemhat VI (Ryholt) |
| Successor | Sehetepibre |
| Dynasty | 13th Dynasty |
Semenkare Nebnuni (alsoNebnun andNebnennu) is a poorly attested pharaoh of the early13th Dynasty during theSecond Intermediate Period. He is mainly known for his position in the Turin King List.
Based on his lack of filiative nomen, Ryholt has suggested that he was of non-royal birth.[3]
The only contemporary attestation of Nebnuni is afaience stele showing the king beforePtah "South of his wall", amemphite epithet of the god, and on the other beforeHorus, "Lord of the foreign countries".The stele is also inscribed with Nebnuni's nomen and prenomen. The stele was discovered atGebel el-Zeit on theRed Sea coast in theSinai, where mines ofgalena were located.[4]
TheTurin canon 7:11 (Gardiner 6:11) mentions: "The Dual KingSemenkara... 22 days ...".[1][5] He is preceded by 7:10 Sankhibra (Amenemhat) and succeeded by 7:12 Sehotepibra.
According to Egyptologists Darrell Baker andKim Ryholt, Nebnuni was the ninth ruler of the 13th Dynasty.[1][5] Alternatively,Jürgen von Beckerath andDetlef Franke see him as the eighth king of the dynasty.[6][7][8]
The Egyptologist Kim Ryholt credits Nebnuni with a reign of two years, from 1785 BC until 1783 BC. Alternatively, Egyptologists Rolf Krauss, Detlef Franke and Thomas Schneider give Nebuni only one year of reign in 1739 BC.[2]Although little is known of Nebnuni's reign, the existence of his stele shows that during this period, rulers of the 13th Dynasty still wielded sufficient power to organize mining expeditions in the Sinai for the supply of construction materials and the production of luxury items. Finally, Ryholt points to the lack of royal connections between Nebnuni and his predecessor. He thus concludes that Nebnuni may have usurped the throne.[1][5]
| Preceded by | Pharaoh of Egypt Thirteenth Dynasty | Succeeded by |
