Sekhemkhet (also read as Sechemchet) was an ancient Egyptian king (pharaoh) of 3rd dynasty during the Old Kingdom. His reign is thought to have been from about 2648 BC until 2640 BC. He is also known under his later traditioned birth name Djoser-tety and under his Hellenized name Tyreis (by Manetho; derived from Teti in the Abydos king list). He was probably the brother or eldest son of king Djoser. Little is known about this king, since he ruled for only a few years. However, he erected a step pyramid at Saqqara and left behind a well known rock inscription at Wadi Maghareh (Sinai Peninsula).

The duration of Sekhemkhet's reign is believed to have been 6 to 7 years. The royal Turin Canon attributes 6 years of reign to Sekhemkhet,a figure also proposed by Myriam Wissa based on the unfinished state of Sekhemkhet's pyramid. Using his reconstruction of the Palermo Stone (5th dynasty), Toby Wilkinson assigns 7 years to this king. This figure is based on the number of year registers preserved in Cairo Fragment I, register V. Wilkinson states that "this figure is fairly certain, since the [king's] titulary begins immediately after the dividing line marking the change of reign.". Similarly, the Greek historian Manetho lists Sekhemkhet under the name of Tyreis and indicates that he reigned for 7 years. Nabil Swelim, by contrast, proposed a reign of 19 years, because he believed that Sekhemkhet might be the Tosertasis mentioned by Manetho. However, such a long reign is at odds with the unfinished state of the buried pyramid and this view is generally rejected by Egyptologists.


Clay seal from the island of Elephantine showing Sekhemkhet horus and nebty names.
Little is known about activities conducted during Sekhemkhet's reign. The only preserved documents showing Sekhemkhet are two rock inscriptions at Wadi Maghareh in the Sinai peninsula. The first one shows Sekhemkhet twice: once wearing the Hedjet crown, another wearing the Deshret crown. The second inscription depicts a scene known as "smiting the enemy": Sekhemkhet has grabbed a foe by its hair and raises his arm in attempt to clubb the enemy to death with a ceremonial sceptre. The presence of these reliefs at Wadi Maghareh suggests that local mines of copper and turquoise were exploited during Sekhemkhet's reign. These mines were apparently active throughout the early 3rd Dynasty since reliefs of Djoser and Sanakht were also discovered in the Wadi Maghareh.
Several clay seals presenting an unusual nebty name together with Sekhemkhet´s Horus name were found at the eastern excavation site on the island of Elephantine. The Egyptologist Jean Pierre Pätznik reads the nebty name as Ren nebty meaning The two ladies are pleased with his name. It is not entirely clear whether this is indeed Sekhemkhet´s nebty name or that of a yet unknown queen.

Sanakht (also read as Hor-Sanakht) was an ancient Egyptian king (pharaoh) of 3rd dynasty during the Old Kingdom. His chronological position is highly unsure and it's also unclear, under which Hellenized name the ancient historian Manetho could have listed him. Many egyptologists try to connect Sanakht with the ramesside cartouche name Nebka, but this remains disputable, because no further royal title of that king was ever found, neither in contemporary sources, nor in later. There are two relief fragments depicting Sanakht that once originated from the Wadi Maghareh at the Sinai Peninsula.

Sanakht's identity and position in the third Dynasty is not entirely clear and remains the subject of debates. While Sanakht's existence is attested by seal fragments from mastaba K2 and a graffito, 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. This is determined from seals found at the entrance to the latter's tomb bearing Djoser's name.
Proponents of the theory that Sanakht was nonetheless the founder of the dynasty object that the presence of Djoser's seals in Khasekhemwy's tomb only shows that Djoser conducted cultural rituals in honor of this king, not necessarily that he was his immediate successor. Sanakht could then have married Queen Nimaethap, with Nimaethap being the daughter of Khasekhemwy rather than his wife and, together with Sanakht, they could be the parents of Djoser. Alternatively, some have considered Sanakht to be Djoser's elder brother.

Presently, the dominant theory is that Sanakht's reign dates to the later Third Dynasty, after Djoser. Egyptologists Toby Wilkinson, Stephan Seidlmayer, Kenneth Kitchen and Rainer Stadelmann equate Sanakht with "Nebka", a name appearing in Ramesside king lists. In support of this theory is a clay seal fragment on which the lower part of a cartouche appears. In this cartouche Wilkinson, Seidlmayer and Stadelmann see traces of a Ka-sign, the end of the name "Nebka". Likewise, Dietrich Wildung favors equating Nebka with Sanakht, although he questions the validity of the seal as evidence given that it is too badly damaged to read the inscription within the cartouche "Nebka" with any certainty.
John D. Degreef, Nabil Swelim and Wolfgang Helck are against equating Nebka with Sanakht. They refer to the fact that the name "Nebka" is not attested on any monument nor in any document dating to before Djoser. Instead, Nabil Swelim identifies Nebka with the Horus name Khaba. He further identifies Sanakht with a king Mesochris mentioned by Manetho, regarding this as a Hellenized form of the throne name of Sanakht. He dated Sanakht's reign to between the seventh and eighth king of the 3rd dynasty.
Jürgen von Beckerath, Wolfgang Helck, Dietrich Wildung and Peter Kaplony proposed that Sanakht's horus name is that of the shadowy Horus Sa, seeing the name "Sa" as a short form of "Sanakht". From this Wolfgang Helck holds that Sanakht's Nisut-Biti name was Weneg. King Weneg however, is widely hold to have ruled during the 2nd Dynasty and Helck's theory has been greeted with skepticism.

Djedefre (also known as Djedefra and Radjedef) was an ancient Egyptian king (pharaoh) of 4th dynasty during the Old Kingdom. He is well known under his Hellenized name form Ratoises (by Manetho). Djedefre was the son and immediate throne successor of Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza; his mother is not known for sure. He was the king who introduced the royal title Sa-Rê (meaning “Son of Ra”) and the first to connect his cartouche name with the sun god Ra.

He married his (half-) sister Hetepheres II. He also had another wife, Khentetka with whom he had (at least) three sons, Setka, Baka and Hernet, and one daughter, Neferhetepes. These children are attested to by statuary fragments found in the ruined mortuary temple adjoining the pyramid. Various fragmentary statues of Khentetka were found in this ruler's mortuary temple at Abu Rawash. Abu Rawash actually sits at an elevation higher than the rest of Giza, making it the highest, albeit not the tallest, pyramid. Some historians claim that the "pyramid" at Abu Rawash isn't even a pyramid at all; instead, it may be a "sun temple." Archaeologist Vassil Dobrev has claimed that it may not even be Djedefre's. Excavations by the French team under Michel Valloggia have recently added another potential daughter, Hetepheres, as well as a son, Nikaudjedefre, to this list.

Statue of Setka inscribed with his name and titles, Musée du Louvre.
Djedefre married his brother Kawab's widow, Hetepheres II, who was sister to both of them, and perhaps married a third brother of theirs, Khafre, after Djedefre's death.

Menkaure (also read as Menkaura), was an ancient Egyptian king (pharaoh) of the 4th dynasty during the Old Kingdom, who is well known under his Hellenized names Mykerinos (by Herodotus) and Menkheres (by Manetho). According to Manetho, he was the throne successor of king Bikheris, but according to archaeological evidences he rather was the successor of king Khafre. Menkaure became famous for his pyramid tomb at Giza and his beautiful statue triads, showing the king together with goddesses and his wife Khamerernebty.

Menkaure was the son of Khafra and the grandson of Khufu. A flint knife found in the mortuary temple of Menkaure mentioned a king's mother Khamerernebty I, suggesting that Khafra and this queen were the parents of Menkaure. Menkaure is thought to have had at least two wives.

Neferirkare Kakai[pronunciation?] was the third Pharaoh of Egypt during the Fifth dynasty. His praenomen, Neferirkare, means "Beautiful is the Soul of Ra". His Horus name was Userkhau, his Golden Horus name Sekhemunebu and his Nebti name Khaiemnebty.

Djedkare Isesi in Greek known as Tancheres[1] from Manetho's Aegyptiaca, was a Pharaoh of Egypt during the Fifth dynasty. He is assigned a reign of twenty-eight years by the Turin Canon although some[who?] Egyptologists believe this is an error and should rather be thirty-eight years. Manetho ascribes to him a reign of forty-four years while the archaeological evidence suggests that his reign is likely to have exceeded thirty-two years. Djedkare's prenomen or royal name means "The Soul of Ra Endureth."

The greater god of the midday sun, life and judgement.

The lesser god of wind, tornadoes and dervishes.

The demigod of drowning, aquatic calamities, watery death and dark water.

The lesser god of cowardice, trickery and luck.

The greater god of plagues, sickness, famine, nightmares, drought and disasters.

Diinkarazan is the derro deity of vengeance. He is tall and gaunt; his blankly staring face is dominated by huge red eyes with black pin-point pupils. His long streaming hair changes texture, color, and appearance randomly. He the second derro created by the ancient Suloise, nearly as powerful a spellcaster as his brother Diirinka. They achieved apotheosis together, and together they explored the caverns of Ilsensine for the magical lore they would need to "perfect" their race. When Diirinka betrayed him, Diinkarazan was imprisoned by Ilsensine in the Abyss, where he thinks of nothing but vengeance, blaming the derro for his suffering. He is kept in the Prison of the Mad God on the 586th layer of the Abyss, a whirling vortex of air and gas with rings of stones flying randomly about while he is constantly tormented by illusions of the things he most fears. He is bound to a stone throne, and cannot move, though every 50 years or so he manages to create an avatar to stalk derro communities and slay everything that moves.