The most fascinating and controversial part of the Turin Royal Canon tells of Gods, Demigods, and Spirits of the Dead who physically ruled for thousands of years. The last point is an intriguing unresolved part of EgyptвЂ™s History.

It stretches back to a strange period when gods and legendary kings ruled Egypt.

It even lists the names of the Hyksos rulers of Egypt.

It groups kings by location rather than chronology.

It notes names of kings that were omitted from other king lists.

The length of each kingвЂ™s reign in years, in some cases even in months and days.

It not only just lists the names of the kings, as most other lists did, but it gives other valuable data such as: It is the most informative and accurate list and goes back to King Menes. This king list seems to have been written during the reign of Ramesses II, the great 19th dynasty pharaoh. Moreover, it records the length of reigns precisely. Unlike other lists of kings, the Turin King List enumerates all rulers, including the minor ones and those considered usurpers. However, one king list was exceptional: the Turin King List, also called the Turin Royal Canon, written on papyri in hieratic script. Why is the Turin King List (Turin Royal Canon) special in Egyptology?ДЄll the other lists were recorded on hard surfaces meant to last many lifetimes, such as a tomb, temple walls, or rocks.

Royal List of Thutmosis III from Karnak.

The King Lists we know of so far include: It is said that these lists were not meant to provide historical information so much as a form of вЂњancestor worship.вЂќ If you remember, we know the ancient Egyptians believed the pharaoh was a reincarnation of Horus on earth and would be identified with Osiris after death.Д®gyptologists used the lists by comparing them to each other as well as to data collected through other means and then reconstructing the most logical historical record. Though at first, this may seem to be the most helpful way of tracking the ruling of different pharaohs, it wasnвЂ™t very accurate because the ancient Egyptians were famous for omitting information they didnвЂ™t like or exaggerating information they felt made them look good. Pharaohs usually commissioned these lists to show how old their royal blood was by listing all the pharaohs in it in an unbroken lineage (a dynasty). ItвЂ™s believed that the name of the Turin King ListвЂ™s scribe could be found in the introduction part.ДЄncient Egyptian King Lists are lists of royal names recorded by the ancient Egyptians in some order. Now made of 160 fragments, the Turin King List lacks two essential parts: the introduction of the list and the ending. But in 1959, Gardiner, the British Egyptologist, proposed another placement of the fragments, including the newly recovered pieces in 2009.

One of the essential restorations was made in 1938 by Giulio Farina, the museumвЂ™s director. Historians are still finding and piecing together the missing pieces of the Turin King List. Later, some other hundred fragments were pieced together by German and American archaeologist Gustavus Seyffarth (1796-1885). Some 48 pieces of the puzzle were first assembled by French Egyptologist Jean-Francois Champollion (1790-1832).

Written in an ancient Egyptian cursive writing system called hieratic, the Turin Royal Canon Papyrus was purchased in Thebes by the Italian diplomat and explorer Bernardino Drovetti in 1822, during his travels to Luxor.ДЄlthough it was mostly intact and was placed in a box along with other papyri, the parchment crumbled into many fragments by the time it arrived in Italy and had to be reconstructed and deciphered with much difficulty. Although it has sustained much damage, it provides beneficial information for Egyptologists and somewhat aligns with ManethoвЂ™s historical compilation on ancient Egypt. Of all the so-called king lists of ancient Egypt, the Turin King List is possibly the most significant.

The term comes from a Greek word meaning вЂњruleвЂќ or вЂњmeasuring stick.вЂќ A вЂњcanonвЂќ is a collection or list of scriptures or general laws. The Turin King List is a scriptural canon from the Ramesside period. These mysterious beings are called Gods or Demigods who lived and ruled ancient Egypt for thousands of years. According to ancient texts, there was a time in ancient Egypt before the land of the Pharaohs was ruled by mortals where beings that came from the heavens reigned over the land.

King tut papyrus set