Sixteenth dynasty of Egypt

The Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Second Intermediate Period.

Rulers

According to Egyptologist Kim Ryholt, the 16th Dynasty was a Theban based kingdom of 15 Upper Egyptian kings rather than a Hyksos vassal dynasty. Known rulers, in the History of Egypt, for the Sixteenth Dynasty are as follows according to Ryholt.^[1]:

Five Theban kings names are lost at the end of the Turin Canon.

The Sixteenth Dynasty of Egypt covers a period of time when Egypt was split into a set of small Hyksos-ruled kingdoms in Lower Egypt and mainly Theban based rulers who were contemporary with the Fifteenth Dynasty.

Janine Bourriau writes in 'The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt:'

On the basis of Ryholt's reconstruction of the Turin Canon, we can now identify 15 names of kings (Dynasty 16 in Manetho) as the predecessors of the kings of the 17th Dynasty. Five of them occur in contemporary sources and these indicate that the centre of their power was in Upper Egypt. We cannot be certain that they all ruled from Thebes, and some may have been local rulers in important towns such as Abydos, Elkab, and Edfu. King Wepwawetemsaf, not listed in the Turin Canon, who left his modest stele at Abydos, may have been one of these local kings; the stele shows him offering to Wepwawet, the local deity after whom he was named. The style of its writing, design, and royal regalia place it in a line of development between the 13th and the 17th Dynasty royal stelae.^[2]

These kings are known mainly from their entries in the Turin King List, and are mostly unknown elsewhere. Dates are unknown.

Alternatively, Manetho via Syncellus says this dynasty consisted of "32 Grecian Sheppards". [1]

References

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