Sheshi c. 1745–1705 BC
A king known almost only from scarab seals, close to 400 of them, more than for any other ruler of his time. Scholars disagree on where he belongs: Kim Ryholt makes him a 14th Dynasty king of the eastern Delta with a long reign, others make him a Hyksos king of the 15th Dynasty, and his dates move with that choice. His scarabs are in many museums, among them the British Museum, the Louvre and the Petrie Museum in London.
Throne name: Maaibre
mꜣꜥ-ib-rꜥ: “The heart of Ra is true”
Scarabs write the word true with the sickle in several forms.
Sign by sign
- Sun N5rꜥ The sun, the sun god Ra. Day.
- Sickle U1mꜣ The sounds mꜣ (as in 'to see').
- Forearm D36ꜥ The sound ꜥ (ayin).
- Heart F34ib Heart, mind.
Birth name: Sheshi
ššj
The meaning of the name is not known.
Sign by sign
- Pool N37š The sound š.
- Pool N37š The sound š.
- Flowering reed M17i The sound i.
Where to see Sheshi'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.
MuseumLouvre, Paris
The Louvre's Department of Egyptian Antiquities, mostly in the Sully wing, holds a whole Old Kingdom tomb chapel, the cartouches of several kings on one sphinx and a painted stela you can read sign by sign. Champollion himself was its first curator.
MuseumPetrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London
The Petrie Museum at University College London holds more than 80,000 objects from Flinders Petrie's excavations, and much of what is written on them is everyday: stelae, labels, letters and accounts. Kings appear on temple reliefs from Koptos, among them Senusret I before the god Min and a slab with the name of Pepi II.
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).