Category:Sanakht

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Sanakht, generally identified with the Nebka of much later king lists, was probably either the first or second pharaoh of the Third Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. The dates assigned to his reign by Shaw are ca. 2686-2667 BC. While Sanakht's existence is attested by a mastaba tomb and a graffito, among other objects, his position as the founder of the Third dynasty, as recorded by Manetho and the Turin Canon, has been seriously undermined by recent archaeological discoveries at Abydos.

These discoveries establish that it was likely Djoser who helped bury--and thus succeed--Khasekhemwy, rather than Sanakht. It appears instead, that Sanakht, or Nebka, was a later king of the third dynasty. Unlike Djoser, few relics survive from Sanakht's reign, which also casts serious doubts on the traditional figure of an eighteen year reign for this king, as given by both Manetho and the Turin Canon.