The Eighth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty VIII) was a poorly known and short-lived line of pharaohs reigning in rapid succession in the early 22nd century BC, likely with their seat of power in Memphis. The Eighth Dynasty held sway at a time referred to as the very end of the Old Kingdom or the beginning of the First Intermediate Period. The power of the pharaohs was waning while that of the provincial governors, known as nomarchs, was increasingly important. The Egyptian state had, by then, effectively turned into a feudal system. Despite close relations between the Memphite kings and powerful nomarchs, notably in Coptos, the Eighth Dynasty was eventually overthrown by the nomarchs of Heracleopolis Magna, who founded the Ninth Dynasty. The Eighth Dynasty is sometimes combined with the preceding Seventh Dynasty, owing to the lack of archaeological evidence for the latter, which may be fictitious.
Egyptologists estimate that the Eighth Dynasty ruled Egypt for approximately 20–45 years, and various dates have been proposed: 2190–2165 BC, 2181–2160 BC, 2191–2145 BC, and 2150–2118 BC.
Sources of Eighth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt
New Kingdom sources
Two historical sources that date to the New Kingdom list kings from the Eighth Dynasty. The earliest of the two primary historical sources of the Eighth Dynasty is the Abydos king list, written during the reign of Seti I. The kings listed on entries 40 to 56 of the Abydos king list are placed between the end of the Sixth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom period and the beginning of the Eleventh Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom. Furthermore, these kings’ names differ from those known from the Ninth and Tenth Dynasties, none of which are on the Abydos list. Consequently, entries 40 to 56 of the list are assigned to the Seventh and Eighth Dynasties.
The other New Kingdom source on the Eighth Dynasty is the Turin canon, written during the reign of Ramses II. The Turin papyrus was copied from an earlier source, which, as the Egyptologist Kim Ryholt has shown, was itself riddled with lacunae and must have been in a poor state. In addition, the Turin papyrus is heavily damaged and cannot be read easily. Three names are present on papyrus fragments, which might be allocated to Eighth Dynasty kings. These are Netjerkare Siptah, another hard-to-read name, and that of Qakare Ibi, the fifty-third king on the Abydos king list. There seems to be room for two or three more kings before the end of the Dynasty, as recorded on the list. This would indicate that the remnants of the Turin canon probably contained the kings in the fifty-first to fifty-fifth registers of the Abydos King List. Because the Turin papyrus omits the first nine kings on the Abydos list, W.C. Hayes thinks it reasonable that the Egyptians may have divided Dynasties VII and VIII at this point.
Ptolemaic source
The Egyptian priest Manetho wrote a history of Egypt during the 3rd century BC known as the Aegyptiaca. Manetho’s work has not survived and is only known to us via three later writers who quoted from it. Unfortunately, these three sources are exceedingly difficult to work with. For example, they often contradict each other, as is the case for the two ancient historians – Sextus Julius Africanus and Eusebius of Caesarea. They quote from the section of the Aegyptiaca regarding the Seventh and Eighth Dynasties. Africanus claims that the 7th Dynasty consisted of 70 kings who ruled for seventy days in Memphis, and the 8th Dynasty consisted of 27 who reigned for 146 years.
However, Eusebius records that during the 7th Dynasty, five kings ruled for over seventy-five days, and the 8th Dynasty included five kings who ruled for 100 years. Seventy kings in seventy days is usually considered the correct version of Manetho concerning the Seventh Dynasty, but it is likely not a factual account of history. Instead, this is interpreted to mean that the pharaohs of this period were highly ephemeral, and the use of seventy may be a pun because this was Manetho’s Seventh Dynasty. Because Manetho does not provide historical data on this period and no archaeological evidence for the Seventh Dynasty has emerged, many Egyptologists have argued that this Dynasty is fictitious. Concerning the Eighth Dynasty, it is widely agreed that Manetho’s estimate for its duration is a substantial overestimation of reality.
Contemporary evidence
The primary archaeological evidence for kings of the Eighth Dynasty is royal decrees discovered in Coptos, which name some of the last pharaohs of the Dynasty. Further tentative evidence for the early kings of the Dynasty comes from tombs in Saqqara, notably the pyramid of Qakare Ibi. Beyond that, there are royal inscriptions in the Wadi Hammamat and Upper Egypt and non-royal ones from Upper Egypt.
End of the Old Kingdom and decline into chaos
The Eighth Dynasty of ancient Egypt has traditionally been classified as the First Dynasty of the First Intermediate Period owing to the ephemeral nature of its kings’ reigns and the sparsity of contemporary evidence, hinting at a decline of the state into chaos. Recent re-appraisal of the archaeological evidence has shown a strong continuity between the Sixth and Eighth Dynasties. Egyptologist Hratch Papazian has proposed that the Eighth Dynasty rather than the Sixth should be seen as the last of the Old Kingdom period.
Given that five Eighth Dynasty kings bore Pepi II’s throne name Neferkare as part of their names, they may have been descendants of the 6th Dynasty, trying to hold on to some power. Some of the acts of the final four Dynasty VIII kings are recorded in their decrees to Shemay, a vizier during this period. However,h only Qakare Ibi can be connected to any monumental construction. His pyramid has been found at Saqqara near that of Pepi II and, like its predecessors, had the Pyramid Texts written on the walls.
However many kings there were, it is clear that a breakdown of Egypt’s central authority was underway during this period. The rulers of these dynasties were based in Memphis and seemed to have relied on the power of the nomarchs of Coptos, on whom they bestowed titles and honours. This must have been to no avail, as the Eighth Dynasty was eventually overthrown by a rival group based in Herakleopolis Magna.
Rulers of the Eighth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt
Given the lack of evidence for the Seventh Dynasty, all kings mentioned on the Abydos king list in the entries after that of Merenre Nemtyemsaf II and before that of Montuhotep II are usually attributed to the Eighth Dynasty. Following Jürgen von Beckerath, they are:
Netjerkare Siptah
Netjerkare Siptah (also Neitiqerty Siptah and possibly the origin of the legendary figure Nitocris) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the seventh and last ruler of the Sixth Dynasty. As the previous king of the 6th Dynasty, Netjerkare Siptah is considered by some Egyptologists to be the last king of the Old Kingdom period. Alternatively, some scholars classify him as the first king of the Seventh or Eighth Dynasty.
Netjerkare Siptah enjoyed a short reign in the early 22nd century BC when the pharaoh’s power was crumbling, and that of the local nomarchs was rising. Although he was male, Netjerkare Siptah was most likely the same person as the female ruler Nitocris, as mentioned by Herodotus and Manetho.
Menkare
Menkare was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the first or second ruler of the Eighth Dynasty. According to Manetho, Menkare’s seat of power would have been Memphis as a pharaoh of the Eighth Dynasty. This king probably reigned briefly during the transition between the Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period in the early 22nd century BC. The rapid succession of brief reigns at the time suggests times of hardship, possibly related to the widespread acidification of the Middle East, known as the 4.2 kiloyear event.
Neferkare II
Neferkare II was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Eighth Dynasty during the early First Intermediate Period (2181–2055 BC). According to the Egyptologists Kim Ryholt, Jürgen von Beckerath and Darell Baker, he was the third king of the Eighth Dynasty. Accordingly, the capital would have been Memphis, a pharaoh of the Eighth Dynasty.
Neferkare Neby
Neferkare Neby (also Neferkare III) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Seventh or Eighth Dynasty during the early First Intermediate Period (2181–2055 BC). According to Egyptologists Jürgen von Beckerath and Darrell Baker, he was the fourth king of the Seventh Dynasty, as he appears as the fourth king in the Abydos King List within the list of kings assigned to this Dynasty.
Djedkare Shemai
Djedkare Shemai may have been an ancient Egyptian pharaoh during the Eighth Dynasty of the First Intermediate Period. His name is only attested on the Abydos King List, as the Abydos King List is the primary source for identifying seventh/eighth dynasties(combined). No contemporary document or building with his name has been found.
Neferkare Khendu
Neferkare Khendu (also Neferkare IV) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Eighth Dynasty during the early First Intermediate Period (2181–2055 BC). According to the Egyptologists Kim Ryholt, Jürgen von Beckerath and Darrell Baker, he was the sixth king of the Eighth Dynasty.
Neferkare Khendu’s name is attested on the Abydos King List (number 45), a king list dating to the Ramesside era, and is absent from the Turin canon as a significant lacuna in this document affects most kings of the 7th/8th Dynasty.
No attestation is firmly attributable to Neferkare Khendu beyond the Abydos king list. However, a cylinder seal inscribed with the cartouche Ḫndy, “Khendy”, was tentatively attributed to him by the Egyptologist Henri Frankfort in 1926. Modern scholarship has shown that the seal is most likely to read “Khamudi”, the name of the last king of the Hyksos and that this cartouche was inserted on the seal as a space-filler rather than as an explicit reference to this king. The seal is now in the Petrie Museum, catalogue number UC 11616.
Merenhor
Merenhor may have been an Eighth Dynasty king of ancient Egypt during the First Intermediate Period. His name is only attested on the Abydos King List (n. 46). Merenhor is found on the Abydos king list number 46, while the Turin papyrus has a notation of a lacuna where the name would have been found.
Neferkamin
Neferkamin may have been an Eighth Dynasty pharaoh of ancient Egypt during the First Intermediate Period.
His throne name “Sneferka” is attested on the Abydos King List (n. 47), although it is possible that here the name is mistyped, and the O34 hieroglyph (“s”) in fact, is an R22 (“min”), hence “Neferkamin”. The correct reading of this king’s name is provided, along with the name of Nikare, on a gold plaque now in the British Museum; however, it has been suggested that this object could be a forgery.
Nikare
Nikare (also Nikare I) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Eighth Dynasty during the early First Intermediate Period (2181–2055 BC) when Egypt was possibly divided between several polities. According to the Egyptologists Kim Ryholt, Jürgen von Beckerath and Darrell Baker, he was the ninth king of the Eighth Dynasty. As such, Nikare’s seat of power would have been Memphis.
Neferkare Tereru
Neferkare Tereru (also Neferkare V) may have been an Eighth Dynasty king of ancient Egypt during the First Intermediate Period. His name is only attested on the Abydos King List (no. 49).
Neferkahor
Neferkahor was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Eighth Dynasty during the First Intermediate Period. According to Egyptologists Jürgen von Beckerath and Darrell Baker, he was the eleventh king of this Dynasty. His name is on the Abydos King List (number 50), and he has a black steatite cylinder seal of unknown provenance. His name is absent from the Turin King List, a lacuna affecting the 7th/eighth Dynasty where his name would have been listed.
Neferkare Pepiseneb
Neferkare VI Pepiseneb was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Eighth Dynasty during the early First Intermediate Period (2181–2055 BC). According to the Egyptologists Kim Ryholt, Jürgen von Beckerath and Darrell Baker, he was the twelfth king of the Eighth Dynasty.
Neferkamin Anu
Neferkamin Anu was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt during the First Intermediate Period, c2181 – 2055 BC. According to the Abydos King List and the latest reconstruction of the Turin canon by Kim Ryholt, he was the 13th king of the Eighth Dynasty. This opinion is shared by the Egyptologists Jürgen von Beckerath, Thomas Schneider and Darrell Baker. Neferkamin Anu would have reigned over the Memphite region as a pharaoh of the Eighth Dynasty.
Qakare Ibi
Qakare Ibi was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh during the early First Intermediate Period (2181–2055 BC) and the 14th ruler of the Eighth Dynasty. Qakare Ibi is one of the best-attested pharaohs of the Eighth Dynasty due to the discovery of his small pyramid in South Saqqara. As such, Qakare Ibi’s seat of power was Memphis, and he probably did not control all of Egypt.
Neferkaure
Neferkaure was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt during the First Intermediate Period. According to the Abydos King List and the latest reconstruction of the Turin canon by Kim Ryholt, he was the 15th king of the Eighth Dynasty. This opinion is shared by the Egyptologists Jürgen von Beckerath, Thomas Schneider and Darell Baker. As a pharaoh of the Eighth Dynasty, Neferkaure’s seat of power was Memphis, and he may not have held dominion over all of Egypt.
Neferkauhor
Neferkauhor Khuwihapi was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Eighth Dynasty during the early First Intermediate Period (2181–2055 BC) when Egypt was possibly divided between several polities. Neferkauhor was the sixteenth and penultimate king of the Eighth Dynasty and, as such, would have ruled over the Memphite region. Neferkauhor reigned for over two years and is one of the best-attested kings of this period, with eight of his decrees surviving in fragmentary condition to this day.
Neferirkare
Neferirkare (sometimes referred to as Neferirkare II to differentiate him from Neferirkare Kakai) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Eighth Dynasty during the early First Intermediate Period (2181–2055 BC). Many scholars consider Neferirkare to have been the last pharaoh of the Old Kingdom, which ended with the 8th Dynasty. According to the Egyptologists Kim Ryholt, Jürgen von Beckerath and Darrell Baker, he was the 17th and final king of the Eighth Dynasty.
The Egyptologist Hracht Papazian believes such a reconstruction gives too much weight to Manetho’s account, according to which the Seventh Dynasty is fictitious and a metaphor for chaos. Instead, Papazian proposes that the earliest of the above kings are immediate successors of Pepi II and should be attributed to the Sixth Dynasty. At the same time, those just after them belong to a short-lived Seventh Dynasty. Then, the Eighth Dynasty would only start with the well-attested Qakare-Ibi.
Qakare Ibi
Qakare Ibi was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh during the early First Intermediate Period (2181–2055 BC) and the 14th ruler of the Eighth Dynasty. Qakare Ibi is one of the best-attested pharaohs of the Eighth Dynasty due to the discovery of his small pyramid in South Saqqara. As such, Qakare Ibi’s seat of power was Memphis, and he probably did not control all of Egypt.
Neferkaure
Neferkaure was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt during the First Intermediate Period. According to the Abydos King List and the latest reconstruction of the Turin canon by Kim Ryholt, he was the 15th king of the Eighth Dynasty. This opinion is shared by the Egyptologists Jürgen von Beckerath, Thomas Schneider and Darell Baker. As a pharaoh of the Eighth Dynasty, Neferkaure’s seat of power was Memphis, and he may not have held dominion over all of Egypt.
Neferkauhor
Neferkauhor Khuwihapi was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Eighth Dynasty during the early First Intermediate Period (2181–2055 BC) when Egypt was possibly divided between several polities. Neferkauhor was the sixteenth and penultimate king of the Eighth Dynasty and, as such, would have ruled over the Memphite region. Neferkauhor reigned for over two years and is one of the best-attested kings of this period, with eight of his decrees surviving in fragmentary condition to this day.
Neferirkare
Neferirkare (sometimes referred to as Neferirkare II to differentiate him from Neferirkare Kakai) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Eighth Dynasty during the early First Intermediate Period (2181–2055 BC). Many scholars consider Neferirkare to have been the last pharaoh of the Old Kingdom, which ended with the 8th Dynasty. According to the Egyptologists Kim Ryholt, Jürgen von Beckerath and Darrell Baker, he was the 17th and final king of the Eighth Dynasty.
