EGYPT HISTORY , TOURISM: Ancient Egypt

The second dynasty of ancient Egypt is combined with the first dynasty under the group title Early Dynastic Period. (From 2890 to 2686 BC). About 204 years consisting of 7 kings, the capital at that time was Thinis. Manetho defined this dynasty to duration of 302 years, spanning 9 kings. While the number of kings is disputed, the duration seems to be 204 years with all sources.

The second dynasty is marked by political schisms; Egypt may have been divided between kings, along traditional borders between Upper and Lower Egypt.

The kings of second dynasty:

Hotepsekhemwy

Raneb

Nynetjer

Senedj

Seth - Peribsen

Sekhemi - Perenmaat

Khasekhemwy

Second dynasty of Egypt

Hotepsekhemwy

Hotepsekhemwy was the first king of the Second dynasty of Egypt. His name means (Pleasing in Powers.) Little is known about his reign. Hotepsekhemwy may have become king through marriage to a princess, may even have carried through the late king's funeral. There are several sealing bearing his name outside Qa'a's tomb at Abydos. The king seems to have been buried at Saqqara, deviating from the Abydos custom with former rulers.

Predecessor (Qa`a)
Successor (Raneb)

Hotepsekhemwy

Raneb

There is little information about Raneb, Manetho recorded that Raneb (Ra is Lord) reigned for 39 years, his reign is important because of its chronological position during the Egyptian empire's formative years. Raneb was Hotepsekhemwy's son, or perhaps his brother.

Also many modern scholars believe that his reign was much shorter, lasting between ten and nineteen years years. In fact, some scholars seem to believe that Raneb's reign and that of his predecessor, Hotepsekhemwy, should together be 38 or 39 years, with both therefore having shorter reigns then provided by Manetho.

He is one of the first kings to incorporate the sun god's name, Re, into his own name, a tradition that will be followed by most of the pharaohs in Egypt. he started a number of cults to different gods, including worship of Mendes, Menvis, and a cult to the sacred goat in the delta.

Predecessor (Hotepsekhemwy)
Successor (Nynetjer)

Raneb Stela Metropolitan Museum

Nynetjer

Nynetjer was the third king of the second dynasty, the capital (Memphis). He ruled ancient Egypt for almost 40 years and he was famous for his festivals and marvelous temples.

Traces of Nynetjer are found with mud sealing at Saqqara. It is suggested that an underground gallery here was his tomb.

The end of his reign seems to have been marked by poor harvests, internal tension, and possibly even civil war. His name has been found on inscriptions from a number of mastaba tombs in Saqqara, Giza, Helwan and Abydos.

Predecessor (Raneb)
Successor (Senedj)

Nynetjer

Senedj

Senedj was a king during the Second Dynasty of Egypt who ruled for 20 years.

When pharaoh Senedj was in power Egypt was probably divided once again into its southern and northern parts, with him as the king in Lower Egypt from the capital Memphis.

Manetho gives him a reign of 41 years and calls him Sethenes. If that name has something to do with the god Seth we don't know, but Egyptian records refer to him as Senedj. His tomb has not as yet been identified.

Predecessor (Nynetjer)
Successor (Seth-Peribsen)

Seth - Peribsen

Seth-Peribsen was a king during the Second dynasty of Egypt who ruled for seventeen years, he was buried in Umm el-Qa'ab in Abydos.

His burial stelae (in the British Museum) show a Seth-creature rather than the more common Horus, and this might reveal that the king did not rule over the whole area of Egypt.

Predecessor (Senedj)
Successor (Sekhemib-Perenmaat)

Seth-Peribsen

Sekhemi - Perenmaat

Sekhemib-Perenmaat pharaoh of the Egyptian second dynasty,was a separate king who ruled Lower Egypt at the same time that Peribsen ruled Upper Egypt.

Predecessor ( Seth-Peribsen )

Successor (Khasekhemwy)

Sekhemib-Perenmaat

Khasekhemwy

Khasekhemwy (his name means "The Two Powerful Ones Appear") was the fifth and final king of the Second dynasty of Egypt. Little is known of Khasekhemwy, other than that he led several significant military campaigns and built several monuments.