The Children of Adam and Eve

Weneg (or Wneg or Wadjnes or Tlas) was the royal Nebti name of a pharaoh during the Second dynasty of Egypt. His identity was unknown and he was assumed to have been a king who ruled Egypt between Nynetjer and Khasekhemwy for 8 years. However,recently, German Egyptologist Jochem Kahl has proposed that Weneg was rather the Nebty name of the second king of the Second Dynasty: Raneb.

During Nynetjer's reign, Raneb's name was erased several times in Documents 20, 21 and 22. In an inscription which mentions the ka-house of Hotepsekhemwy on a Stone vessel (Document 21) from Djoser's Step Pyramid, "the name Nynetjer is writtenover an erased name." The red granite statue of a certain Priest named Hetepdief (found in 1888) shows his service under the consecutive reigns of king Hotepsekhemwy, Raneb and Nynetjer respectively since the object bears their three namesengraved on its back right shoulder, the erased name must be Raneb. Weneg is attested only by inscriptions on Stone vessels found in the Step Pyramid [of Djoser] and in Tomb S 3014. Weneg's exact position, as well the identification of his Horusname among those known for the second dynasty kings has remained uncertain.

But as Jochem Kahl observes:

"A Long-known inscription from Tomb P at Umm el-Qaab (Doc. 22) provides the key to solving some of the problems associated with Weneg. In the inscription the nsw bjt nb.tj name Nynetjer faces the opposite direction from the name of Ra'-neb andthat of his palace. Ra-neb's name is partially erased. Scrutiny of the inscription reveals that the name Nynetjer is written over Weneg. Traces of the plant sign used to write Weneg are discernible, as are the enigmatic strokes to the upper leftand right of it. Thus Nynetjer must have been Weneg's successor, and the original inscription referred to the palace of Horus Ra'-neb and to nsw bjt nb.tj Weneg."

Consequently, Kahl concludes that the Horus name of Weneg must be king Raneb, the second ruler of the Second Dynasty of Egypt who was succeeded on the throne by Nynetjer.

According to the Egyptian king lists, Weneg was succeeded by king Senedj. At present, Senedj's identity has not been established. In contrast, Raneb's successor is known to be Nynetjer. However, it is presently not possible to equate Senedj withNynetjer due to a lack of evidence. Werner Kaiser has suggested that Senedj was a separate ruler and the last second dynasty king to rule over both Lower and Upper Egypt before Khasekhemwy.