The Children of Adam and Eve

Merenre Nemtyemsaf I was a pharaoh of Egypt in the 6th Dynasty (2345-2181 BC), fourth of four dynasties in the Old Kingdom Period.

He was a son of Pepi I and Ankhesenpepi I, and grandson of the female vizier Nebet and her spouse Khui.

The publication of the South Saqqara Stone annal document in 1995 by Vassil Dobrev and Michel Baud shows that Merenre directly succeeded his father in power with no interregnum or coregency.

Merenre shared his father's fascination with Nubia and continued to explore deep into the region. He also began a process of royal consolidation, appointing Weni as the first governor of all of Upper Egypt and expanding the power of severalother governors. While he was once assumed to have died at an early age, recent archaeological discoveries discount this theory. Two contemporary objects suggests that Merenre's reign lasted slightly More than a decade.

Sixth dynasty royal seals and Stone blocks found at Saqqara demonstrate that Queen Ankhesenpepi II was the wife of both Pepi I and then Merenre I. Since the South Saqqara Stone shows Merenre's reign intervened between Pepi I and Pepi II andlasted for a minimum of slightly over a decade, this indirectly indicates that Merenre I was actually Pepi II's father, rather than Pepi I as was traditionally assumed. Merenre's daughter was Ankhesenpepi III, the future wife of Pepi II.