Ninth Dynasty of Egypt

The Ninth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty IX) is often combined with the 7th, 8th, 10th and early 11th Dynasties under the group title First Intermediate Period.^[1] The dynasty that seems to have supplanted the Eighth Dynasty is extremely obscure. The takeover by the rulers of Herakleopolis was violent and is reflected in Manetho's description of Achthoes, the founder of the dynasty, as 'more terrible than his predecessors', who 'wrought evil things for those in all Egypt".

Ninth Dynasty of Egypt
c. 2160 BC–c. 2130 BC
Jasper weight with the cartouche of Nebkaure Khety
Capital	Herakleopolis Magna
Common languages	Egyptian language
Religion	ancient Egyptian religion
Government	Absolute monarchy
Historical era	Bronze Age
• Established	c. 2160 BC
• Disestablished	c. 2130 BC
Preceded by Succeeded by Seventh Dynasty of Egypt Eighth Dynasty of Egypt Tenth Dynasty of Egypt

Rulers

The Ninth Dynasty was founded at Herakleopolis Magna, and the Tenth Dynasty continued there. At this time Egypt was not unified, and there is some overlap between these and other local dynasties. The Turin Canon lists eighteen kings for this royal line, but their names are damaged, unidentifiable, or lost.^[2]

The following is a possible list of rulers of the Ninth Dynasty based on the Turin Canon, as egyptologists have differing opinions about the order of succession within the two dynasties. Among them, only Meryibre Khety and Nebkaure Khety are undoubtedly attested by archaeological finds:

Dynasty IX (according to Hayes) (c. 2160 - 2130 BC)^[3]

Name	Image	Comments
Meryibre Khety I		Manetho's Achthoes, a nomarch who proclaimed himself pharaoh
[name lost]		-
Neferkare VII		Might be the Kaneferre mentioned in the tomb of the nomarch Ankhtifi
Nebkaure Khety II		Also mentioned in The Eloquent Peasant tale
Setut		-
[name lost]		-
Mery[...]		-
Shed[...]		-
H[...]		-
[three names lost]		-
User(?)[...]		-
Imhotep		Ephemeral ruler of the Ninth Dynasty. Only known from two rock inscriptions in the Wadi Hammamat.[4][5][6][7][8][9] Correct chronological position unknown.

References

1. Shaw, Ian, ed. (2000). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press. p. 480. ISBN 0-19-815034-2.
2. Sir Alan Gardiner, Egypt of the Pharaohs, Oxford University Press, 1961, pp. 112-13.
3. William C. Hayes, in The Cambridge Ancient History, vol 1, part 2, 1971 (2008), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-077915, p. 996.
4. Lepsius, Karl (1859). Denkmaler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien. pp. 115h.
5. Breasted, James (1906). Ancient Records of Egypt (PDF). Vol. 1. The University of Chicago Press. p. 175.
6. Gauthier, Henri (1907). MIFAO 17 Le livre des rois d'Egypte Des origines à la fin de la XIIe dynastie. The French Institute of Oriental Archeology. pp. 143–144.
7. Couyat, Jean; Montet, Pierre (1912). MIFAO 34 Les inscriptions hieroglyphiques et hieratiques du Ouâdi Hammâmât (PDF). The French Institute of Oriental Archeology. pp. 96, 103-104 pl. XXXIX.
8. Baker, Darrell (2008). The Encyclopedia of the Pharaohs. Predynastic to the Twentieth Century: 3300-1069 BC. Vol. 1. Stacey International. p. 133. ISBN 978-1905299379.
9. Schenkel, Wolfgang (1965). Memphis Herakleopolis Theben Die Epigraphischen Zeugnisse Der 7.-11. Dynastie Ägyptens. Wiesbaden: Otto Harassowitz. pp. 27–28.

Preceded by Eighth Dynasty

Dynasty of Egypt c. 2160 – 2130 BC

Succeeded by Tenth Dynasty