Den seal impressions

First confirmed king list of ancient Egypt

In 1985, the German Archaeological Institute discovered seal impressions of a cylinder seal in the tomb of First Dynasty king Den. They were published by Günter Dreyer the following year.^[1] The impressions are the earliest confirmed king list for ancient Egypt.^[2]

The names are listed in following order:

Narmer
Hor-Aha
Djer
Djet
Den
Merneith (Den's mother and regent)

The list bolsters the argument that Narmer was the founder of the First Dynasty as opposed to being the last of the pre-unification kings of Thinis. Also of importance is the absence of Menes as scholarly consensus believe Menes was a later variation of Narmer's name.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b Cervello-Autuori, Josep (2003). "Narmer, Menes and the Seals from Abydos". In Hawass, Zahi (ed.). Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century: Proceedings of the Eighth International Congress of Egyptologists, 2000. Vol. 2. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press. pp. 168–75. ISBN 9789774247149.
^ Günter Dreyer: Ein Siegel der frühzeitlichen Königsnekropole von Abydos, in: MDAIK 43 (1986). 33-43