| 'Apepi | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apepi I, Ip[...] | |||||||||||||||||||
Scarab of "king's son Apepi", who may be 'Apepi
| |||||||||||||||||||
| Pharaoh | |||||||||||||||||||
| Reign | unknown duration | ||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | 'A[...] (Ryholt & von Beckerath) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | unknown (Ryholt), Hibe (von Beckerath) | ||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| Dynasty | uncertain, possibly late 14th dynasty (Ryholt) or late 16th Dynasty (von Beckerath) | ||||||||||||||||||
'Apepi was a ruler of some part of Lower Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period c. 1650 BC. According to the egyptologists Kim Ryholt and Darrell Baker, 'Apepi was the fifty-first ruler of the 14th Dynasty.[1][2] As such he would have ruled from Avaris over the eastern Nile Delta and possibly over the Western Delta as well. Alternatively, Jürgen von Beckerath sees 'Apepi as a member of the late 16th Dynasty and a vassal of the Hyksos rulers of the 15th Dynasty.[3]
'Apepi's only secure attestation is the Turin canon, a king list redacted in the Ramesside period. 'Apepi is listed on a fragment of the document corresponding to column 10, row 15 (column 9 row 16 as per Alan H. Gardiner's reconstruction of the Turin canon).[2] The chronological position of 'Apepi cannot be ascertained beyond doubt due to the fragile and fragmentary state of the canon.[2] Furthermore, the document preserves only the beginning of 'Apepi's prenomenas"'Ap[...]". which, Ryholt argues, may be restored to "'Apepi".[1]
Ryholt's reconstruction of the name of 'Apepi is significant because five scarab seals inscribed with "King's son Apophis" are known.[4][5] On two of these seals the inscription is furthermore enclosed in a cartouche and followed by di-ˁnḫ meaning "given life". These two attributes are normally reserved to kings or designated heirs to the throne and 'Apepi could be the Apophis referred to on the seals.[2] Tentatively confirming this attribution, Ryholt notes that both scarabs can be dated on stylistic grounds to the 14th Dynasty, between the reigns of Sheshi and Yaqub-Har.[1]
