Table of Contents
The Turin King List, also known as the Turin Royal Canon, is an ancient Egyptian hieratic papyrus from the reign of Ramesses II (c. 1279–1213 BCE, 19th Dynasty). It is one of the most important sources for Egyptian chronology.
Discovered in Thebes around 1820 by Bernardino Drovetti and now housed in the Museo Egizio in Turin, Italy, the document is badly fragmented (over 300 pieces, with significant losses). It was a practical administrative copy written on the back of a discarded tax roll. It lists rulers from mythical times through historical kings, often with reign lengths in years, months, and sometimes days.
Content and Structure
The papyrus originally covered:
- Mythological section — Gods, demigods, and spirits (Columns 1–2).
- Historical section — Human rulers from the Early Dynastic Period onward, up to the late Second Intermediate Period (surviving portions end before or around the early New Kingdom).
It is valued for attempting completeness (including minor rulers) and providing reign lengths, though damage, scribal errors, and copying from older sources introduce uncertainties. Modern reconstructions (e.g., by Kim Ryholt) continue to refine fragment placements.
Total Estimated Span
The Turin Royal Canon conceptually reaches deep into the past. The mythological section (gods + demigods) features enormous reigns: Ptah is credited with approximately 9,000 years, with other gods and demigods adding many thousands more (e.g., cumulative demigod/spirit periods often interpreted in the range of 13,000+ years in various readings). This yields a total mythical span of at least 20,000–36,000 years (or higher depending on how overlapping or successive reigns are tallied) before transitioning to human/predynastic rulers around the Early Dynastic Period (~3100 BCE in conventional chronology).
When combined with the historical dynasties covered in the list (spanning roughly 1,800+ years of documented kings up to the Second Intermediate Period), the overall framework evokes an extraordinarily long civilizational memory—aligning with themes of ancient lost epochs, cataclysms, and pre-dynastic high civilizations.
Turin Royal Canon (Reversed Order)
| Name | Reign Length (years) | Start Reign (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Ramesses III | 31 | c. 1186 BCE |
| Merneptah | 10 | c. 1213 BCE |
| Ramesses II (the Great) | 66 | c. 1279 BCE |
| Seti I | 11 | c. 1290 BCE |
| Ramesses I | 2 | c. 1292 BCE |
| Tutankhamun | 9 | c. 1332 BCE |
| Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) | 17 | c. 1353 BCE |
| Amenhotep III | 38 | c. 1386 BCE |
| Thutmose III | 54 | c. 1458 BCE |
| Hatshepsut | 21 | c. 1479 BCE |
| Thutmose I | 12 | c. 1506 BCE |
| Amenhotep I | 21 | c. 1525 BCE |
| Ahmose I | 25 | c. 1550 BCE |
| Sobekneferu | 4 | c. 1806 BCE |
| Amenemhat III | 45 | c. 1844 BCE |
| Senusret III | 19 | c. 1878 BCE |
| Senusret I | 45 | c. 1971 BCE |
| Amenemhat I | 29 | c. 1991 BCE |
| Mentuhotep II | 51 | c. 2055 BCE |
| Pepi II | 94 | c. 2284 BCE |
| Pepi I | 50 | c. 2332 BCE |
| Unas | 30 | c. 2375 BCE |
| Djedkare Isesi | 28 | c. 2414 BCE |
| Nyuserre Ini | 24 | c. 2455 BCE |
| Neferefre | 2 | c. 2458 BCE |
| Neferirkare Kakai | 20 | c. 2475 BCE |
| Sahure | 12 | c. 2487 BCE |
| Userkaf | 7 | c. 2494 BCE |
| Teti | 30 | c. 2890 BCE |
| Meni (Menes) | 62 | c. 3150 BCE |
Gods and Demigods (Mythical Era) – Atlantis Era
| Name | Reign Length (years) |
|---|---|
| Other Demigods | 13,420 |
| Maat | 1,142 |
| Thoth (Djehuty) | 3,226 (or variants up to ~7,726) |
| Horus | 300 |
| Set | 350 |
| Osiris | 450 |
| Geb | 500 |
| Shu | 700 |
| Ra | 1,000 |
| Ptah | 9,000 |
