The Turin King List: A Timeline of Ancient Egyptian Rulers

Among other primary sources on ancient Egypt, the papyrus scrolls discovered in Egypt are of particular interest to historians and Egyptologists. The Turin King List / Turin Royal Canon is one of the most valuable papyrus scrolls found so far. At the moment, this primary source is stored in the Museo Egizio in Turin. Compared to other primary sources, the Turin Papyrus is a piece of writing that was created for private/personal use: the author was not trying to create a political statement or record a history lesson for royal purposes. Instead, the creator of this papyrus aimed to compile a comprehensive list of kings and the duration of their rule in order to establish the correct history of the country.

The scroll contains information on the timeline of power of all rulers of Egypt – from the mythical beginning of the world to the end of the New Kingdom. For each ruler in the list, there is indication of the duration of the reign in years, months, and days. Therefore, the Turin King List is an extremely important source of information for modern historians and Egyptologists who seek to reconstruct the history of Egypt.

1. Discovery, condition, and preservation

There is limited information on the history of the discovery and current state of the Turin Papyrus.

A. Discovery in Luxor

The Turin Papyrus was discovered by the Italian scholar Bernardino Drovetti in the ancient city of Thebes (modern-day Luxor) at the beginning of the 19th century. When Drovetti discovered the papyrus, it was whole or almost whole – wrapped in a piece of fabric.

B. Damaged during transport

However, on the way to Europe, it was damaged due to improper care. When it arrived in Turin in 1824, the scroll had already been broken into many small pieces.

C. Reconstruction of fragments

It took many years for scholars to reassemble these fragments. In mid-19th century, Gardiner was able to reconstruct the papyrus by comparing fibers and ink strokes. The work on analyzing the current state of the papyrus continues to this day – experts use modern technology to try to find any fragments that may be missing.

2. Dating and purpose of the manuscript

The papyrus was written in the New Kingdom, during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II (1279-1213 BC) – more specifically, during the reign of the Nineteenth Dynasty.

A. Hieratic script

The text of the papyrus is written in Hieratic – a script used by Egyptian priests for thousands of years in writing administrative, literary, and accounting literature. Of particular importance is the fact that the text of the Turin Papyrus was written not on hieroglyphics, i.e. the writing traditionally used in monumental inscriptions.

B. Administrative parchment

The scroll was found on the back of an ancient document – a roll of papyrus used by Egyptian officials in accounting, on which tax assessments were recorded.

3. Structure and content

The scroll, when assembled, consists of eleven columns of text – in total, about 1.7 m. of writing. The author of the Turin Papyrus has grouped together several kings in a certain way in order to display the timeline of dynasties and kingdoms in Egypt.

A. Mythical gods-men and otherworldly entities

The papyrus starts with the reign of gods and mythical gods-men – Ptah, Ra, Osiris, Seth, Horus, Thoth, and others. All of them were given an extended reign of thousands of years each. Gods-men were followed by a list of otherworldly entities called the Followers of Horus.

B. Human dynasties

The human dynasties begin from the First Dynasty with Meni (Menes), the first historically known king of Egypt. From the First to the Twelfth, from the Seventeenth to the Eighteenth, and from the Nineteenth to the Twentieth dynasties, all the rulers are listed: human and divine, legitimate and usurping, native and foreign.

Group summaries

Moreover, every few lines the author makes group summaries, indicating the total number of years, months, and days that have passed since the beginning of the reign of a particular king, or since the change of the capital city. In addition, for each king, the throne name is indicated – the personal name of the ruler exactly as he was known in Egypt.

4. Value and significance for historical science

The significance of the Turin Papyrus is difficult to overestimate: it contains information about the history of Egypt that was deliberately hidden from the public.

A. Uncovering the truth

Many ancient and medieval kings were deliberately excluded from the official lists, while the existence of the Turin King List confirms their existence. For example, the Turin Papyrus contains information about female ruler Hatshepsut, about the Amarna Period rulers Akhenaten, Smenkhkare, Tutankhamun, Ay – all of whom were deliberately excluded from official history. Information about the Hyksos kings who previously ruled in Egypt is also preserved in the scroll. Thus, the authors of the official history of ancient Egypt deliberately falsified the history of Egypt, removing all the kings they did not consider worthy from the official lists.

B. Chronology of the intermediate periods

Furthermore, thanks to the Turin Papyrus, it is possible to track the history of the Intermediate Periods – the periods of chaos and numerous short-lived dynasties that were difficult to record due to the lack of sources. Many of the rulers who ruled during this time are known only from the Turin Papyrus, including the rulers of the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th dynasties.

5. Similar sources for comparison

A. Manetho’s history

Manetho was an Egyptian priest who lived in the third century BC and wrote a history of Egypt called Aegyptiaca. He divided the history of Egypt into 30 dynasties. The structure of the Turin King List is similar to Manetho’s history, which suggests that the author of the Turin Papyrus probably had access to the original document.

B. Monumental lists of kings

There are other similar sources to the Turin King List – for example, the Abydos King List or the Saqqara Tablet – both of which contain a list of kings of Egypt. However, compared to them, the Turin Papyrus contains much more information. The Abydos inscription traditionally contains only 76 names of kings – those whom Seti I wanted to present to the world. On the other hand, the Turin Papyrus contains more than 300 entries – it provides complete information about the history and chronology of Egypt.