Of all the dynasties, the history and chronology of the 2nd Dynasty are among the most difficult

to grasp. This is caused by a lack of consistent sources, itself probably the result of a difficult
political situation.
Most kinglists as well as Manetho mention several kings, that are not attested by the
archaeological record.

Archaeological record

Abydos List

Saqqara List

Turin Kinglist Manetho

Hotepsekhemwi
Nebre
Ninetjer
Weneg-sekhemwi (?)

Bedjaw
Ka-Kaw
Ba-en-Netjer
Wadjnes
Senedy

Baw-Netjer
Ka-Kaw
Ba-netjeru
Wadjnes
Sened

(Netjer)-Baw
Ka-Kkaw
(Ba)-en-Netjer

Neferkare

Aaka / Neferka
Neferkasokar
hudjefa

Neferkasokar
hudjefa

Bebti

Bebti

Peribsen
Sekhemib Perenmaat
Khasekhemwi

Djadjay

Sened

Bothos
Kaikhos
Binthris
Tlas
Sethens
Khaires
Nepherkheres
Sesokhris

Kheneres

The Turin Kinglist, the Saqqara list and Manetho all have 9 kings in this dynasty. 9 being the
number of an Ennead, an association of important gods, it has been proposed that the kinglists
contain some fictive names in order to represent the second dynasty as an Ennead. As most
kinglists seem to predate the division of what we now call the Early Dynastic Period into
separate dynasties, this proposal is rather difficult to support.
Several names are only attested in either Upper or Lower Egypt, which could perhaps mean that,
at least for some time during the 2nd Dynasty, Egypt was divided into two kingdoms.
The Horus Hotepsekhemwi is generally accepted to have been the first king of the 2nd Dynasty.
Because the name Hotepsekhemwi means the two powerful ones are at peace, it has been
suggested that this king reunified Egypt after some turmoil that may have divided the country at
the end of the 1st Dynasty. It must, however, be noted that Hotepsekhemwis name was found at
the entrance of the tomb of Horus Qa'a, the last king of the 1st Dynasty, not only an indication
that Hotepsekhemwi buried Qa'a and must therefore have been his successor, but also that he
took this name at the very start of his reign. This would seem to contradict that Hotepsekhemwi
inherited a divided country.
The succession of the first three kings of the 2nd Dynasty is found on the back of the right
shoulder of the statue of a priest named Hotepdief as

follows: Hotepsekhemwi, Nebre and Ninetjer.

The first and the latter of these kings had tombs at Saqqara, the necropolis of Memphis. Although
Nebre's tomb itself has not (yet) been localised, a funerary stela found in Memphis would imply
that it must be found in the Memphite region as well.
Some seal impressions found in Hotepsekhemwi's tomb bearing Nebre's name have led some
researchers to think that Nebre may have usurped his predecessor's tomb. Against this it should
be noted that the presence of Nebre's name in Hotepsekhemwi's tomb can equally mean that
Nebre buried his predecessor or that he had reasons to inspect it somewhere during his reign.
The move of the royal cemetery from Umm el-Qaab in Middle Egypt, where the kings of the 1st
Dynasty were buried, to the northern Saqqara represents an important change in tradition, but the
scarce archaeological sources have not allowed us to understand its historical, political and
religious significance. This move was probably related with the rising importance of Memphis,
even though it is not clear which was cause and which was effect.
Equally significant are the changed design of the royal tomb and the fact that the practice of
retainer sacrifice was abandoned. Where the 1st Dynasty tombs were more a collection of rooms
cut out into the ground, the known royal tombs of the early 2nd Dynasty consisted of long
corridors dug into the ground, with several narrow storage rooms to the left and right of them. At
the end of the corridor lay the burial chamber. This structure was presumably covered with a
mudbrick superstructure.
During the reign of Hotepsekhemwi, an early form of the solar god, named Netjer-akhti, meaning
"the god of the horizon" was worshipped. The name of Hotepsekhemwi's successor, Nebre,

which means "Re (the sun) is the master", may demonstrate the new dynasty's support of the
solar god, whose cult was centred at Heliopolis, to the north east of Memphis.
There are several indications of a collapse of central authority at the end of the reign of the third
king of this dynasty, Ninetjer. Before order was re-established under a single rule at the end of
the Dynasty, the country appears to have been ruled by a number of poorly attested kings several
of which may have ruled over only parts of the country.
Ninetjer's immediate successor is known only by his Nebti-name, Weneg. This name has only
been found at Saqqara, which probably means that Weneg may only have held power over the
north of Egypt.
The second name mentioned after Ninetjer in the King-lists, Sened, is not known through any
contemporary sources at all. The oldest known sources mentioning this name are dated to the 4th
Dynasty. One of the sources, found in the tomb of a man named Sheri, refers to a mortuary cult
for Sened at Saqqara.
The same source also suggests a connection between Sened's cult and that of Peribsen, a king of
the 2nd Dynasty who is only attested in the south of Egypt. This could mean that Sened and
Peribsen either were the same person, or that they each ruled a part of the country at the same
time and that the division of Egypt at that time was one of peaceful co-existence.
The name Peribsen has not been found outside of the south of Egypt. He is the only known king
whose official name refers to the god Seth instead of Horus. The change in the titulary is
significant because it does not only represent an import break with the past, but also because in
the later religious tradition, both gods were sometimes considered as adversaries. This may
indicate a change in the royal ideology, or it may have been the result of the division of Egypt
into two territories.
Even though Peribsen enjoyed a funerary cult at Saqqara, at least from the 4th Dynasty on, he
was buried at the royal cemetery of the 1st Dynasty of Umm el-Qa'ab.
A name closely associated with Peribsen's is that of the Horus Sekhemib. Seal impressions with
this name have been found at the entrance of Peribsen's tomb. As was the case with
Hotepsekhemwi and Qaa, this probably means that Sekhemib saw to the last rites of Peribsen,
making him Peribsens successor. There are, however, many Egyptologists that tend to believe
that Peribsen probably his reign as Horus Sekhemib and then, for unknown reasons, changed his
name to Seth Peribsen.

The statue of Hotepdief has the names of the first three kings of the 2nd Dynasty on its shoulder.
From right to left: Hotepsekhemwi, Nebre and Ninetjer.

The last king of the 2nd Dynasty started his reign as Horus Khasekhem. Because this name is
only attested at Hierakonpolis, in the south of Egypt, it is believed that Khasekhem only ruled
this part of the country. Inscriptions from his reign point to rebellions and war against a "northern
enemy". If this northern enemy can be taken to be located in Egypt, it is possible that during
Khasekhem, the relationship between the two kingdoms had taken a turn for the war.
Khasekhems war would ultimately re-unite Egypt under one single reign, at which point the
Horus Khasekhem changed his name to Horus-Seth Khasekhemwi. This name combines the
traditional Horus with Peribsen's Seth. As both Peribsen and Khasekhemwi had a tomb at Umm
el-Qaab, it is very unlikely that Peribsen was the "northern enemy" the inscriptions refer to.
Khasehemwis name is modelled after the name of the founder of the dynasty, Hotepsekhemwi
and means "the two powerful ones have arisen", to which the addition "the two lords are at peace
within him" also hints at the re-unification of a divided country. This is confirmed by the fact that
Khasekhemwis name has been found throughout the country, the first king since Ninetjer for
whom this has been the case.
The table below lists the kings that are placed in the 2nd Dynasty.

Statue of Khasekhemwi, found in the South of Egypt.

Name

Manetho

Kinglists

Hotepsekhemwi

Bothos

Baw-Netjer / Bedjaw

Nebre

Kaiechs

Ka-Kaw

Ninetjer

Binthris

Ba-en-Netjer

Sethens (?)

Senedj (?)

Weneg (?)
Sekhemib
Peribsen
Khasekhem(wi)

Bebti / Djadjay

Dates
No dates can be
given for the
individual kings of
the 2nd Dynasty.