Weneg (2778—2772)

Cartouche of Weneg

After Ninetjer something passed to the Egyptian society that made many centralised functions collapse or disdain. During this period of unrest a few names pop up on scanty fragments and among them a king called Weneg. He was likely the pharaoh preceding Ninetjer at least in Lower Egypt, because a partitioning of the country for a short period cant be taken out.

His Horus-name (in a serek) is not known, but remaining form are base in a dozen inscriptions, most of them from Saqqara. Though his reign probably was a very short one (perhaps not more such then a couple of years) his name is recorded in later king lists wish from the temple in Abydos and the Sakkara list. This points that despite the miss of earthly remains he plausibly had a position in the legends for later contemporaries, when they were commemorating the pharaohs from the passed.

The scribes at that time misinterpreted his flower-sign (to be read: WNG) and replaced it with a papyrus plant making the sound: Wadj-nes, purposeful "fresh of tongue". This was transformed into Greek language (ougot-las) by Manetho, who gave the king the figure Tlas. In other words - a subversion on more than one occasion during the flow of time.

Because he had a very short rule we can hardly have that his tomb is a mass of black galleries like some of his predecessors. If he hasn't taken over an older structure and made it his own we can look for a monument of more modest size, maybe a mastaba of means.

The domain where to look for his tomb is probably about the other galleries east of the pyramid of Pharaoh Sekhemhkhet. This repository lies where the topography is unsuitable. A good think might be that the field to the east was assumed by superstructures (mastaba-like?) from dynasty 2 tombs, and that these were far in later times. The feet should then still be detectable, but this place has not been properly investigated. There are candidates to be his grave and in one mastaba (S3014) has even Weneg's name been base.