Nectanebo II c. 360–343 BC
The last native king of Egypt, who built or added to temples at more than a hundred sites before Artaxerxes III conquered Egypt in 343 BC and he fled south. The Met in New York has a statue of the falcon Horus guarding him, which also spells his name Nakhthorheb as a picture. The British Museum has the stone sarcophagus made for a burial he never had, later used as a bath in an Alexandria mosque.
Throne name: Senedjemibre
snḏm-ib-rꜥ: “Pleasing to the heart of Ra”
His cartouche usually adds 'chosen of' a god after it: Onuris, Amun or Hathor.
Sign by sign
- Sun N5rꜥ The sun, the sun god Ra. Day.
- Folded cloth S29s The sound s.
- Seed pod M29nḏm Sweet, pleasant.
- Heart F34ib Heart, mind.
- Single stroke Z1 Means 'this very thing'. Also the number one.
Birth name: Nakhthorheb
nḫt-ḥr-ḥbyt: “Strong is Horus of Hebit”
Hebit is Behbeit el-Hagar in the Delta. On the Met's statue the sword (nḫt), the falcon (Ḥr) and the festival sign (ḥb) spell the name.
Sign by sign
- Forearm holding a stick D40 Determinative for force and effort, as in nḫt 'strong'.
- Falcon G5ḥr The god Horus.
- Festival booth W4ḥb A booth over an alabaster basin: a festival. Writes ḥb.
- Bread loaf X1t The sound t. Also the feminine ending.
- Village O49nwt Town, city.
Where to see Nectanebo II's name today
British Museum, London
The British Museum has one of the largest Egyptian collections outside Egypt, and you can read its hieroglyphs from the Rosetta Stone to painted coffins. Room 4 alone holds the stone and a colossal Ramesses II.
MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The Met's Egyptian galleries let you walk through an Old Kingdom tomb chapel and a whole Roman-era temple, the Temple of Dendur, where the emperor Augustus appears as pharaoh with cartouches. The statues of Hatshepsut from her temple at Deir el-Bahari carry her names in full.
Read more about Nectanebo II
- Nectanebo II in hieroglyphs: Nakhthorheb, the last native king of Egypt Nectanebo II in hieroglyphics: Senedjemibre and Nakhthorheb read sign by sign, his statue at the Met and his empty sarcophagus in the British Museum.
- Pharaohs of Egypt in order: the best-known kings, dynasty by dynasty Pharaohs of Egypt in order: the best-known kings from Narmer to Cleopatra VII, period by period, with dates and what each one is remembered for.
Names of gods (Ra, Amun, Ptah) are written first out of respect, even when they are read later. Dates are approximate; we follow Ian Shaw (ed.), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000).