The Children of Adam and Eve

Sanakht(e), 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. His name means Strong protection.

Sanakht's position in the royal family is not entirely clear. It has been suggested that Sanakht married Queen Nimaethap. In this theory, Nimaethap is considered to be the daughter of Khasekhemwy with Sanakht and Nimaethap being the Parents ofDjoser (Netjerikhet). Others have suggested that Sanakht should be identified with Nimaethap's son Nebka and conjecture that he was the founder of the Third Dynasty. Presently Sanakht is More commonly thought to date to the Third Dynasty afterDjoser.

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 archaeologicaldiscoveries 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.

It appears instead, that Sanakht 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 bothManetho and the Turin Canon.

It must be stressed that the Turin Canon and Manetho were More than one and two thousand years removed from the time of Egypt's third dynasty, and would be expected to contain some inaccurate or unreliable data. The Turin Canon, for instance,was transcribed on papyri that dates to the reign of the New Kingdom King, Ramesses II, who ruled Egypt from 1279-1213 BC.

A large mastaba near Abydos contained some fragments bearing the name of Sanakht. It also contained skeletal remains, which may have been those of this King. Manetho also credited a certain late 2nd dynasty King he calls Sesochris as beingparticularly tall, which may refer to these remains.

The Old Kingdom is the period in the third millennium BC when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilisational complexity and achievement (the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods which Mark the high points of civilization in theNile Valley), spanning the period when Egypt was ruled by the Third Dynasty through the Sixth Dynasty (2345–2181 BC). Many Egyptologists also include the Memphite Seventh and Eighth Dynasties in the Old Kingdom as a continuation of theadministration centralised at Memphis. The Old Kingdom was followed by a period of disunity and relative cultural decline referred to by Egyptologists as the First Intermediate Period -- or, as the Egyptians called it, the "first illness."

The royal capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom was located at Memphis, where Djoser established his court. The Old Kingdom is perhaps best known, However, for the large number of pyramids which were constructed at this time as pharaonicburial places. For this reason, the Old Kingdom is frequently referred to as "the Age of the Pyramids".

The Third Dynasty ruled from 2686 to 2613 BC.