Nebiriau II

He is commonly assumed by some Egyptologists to be the son of his predecessor Nebiryraw I, given the rarity of the name Nebiriau in Egyptian historical sources.^[2] Unlike his presumed father who ruled Upper Egypt for 26 years, he was an obscure king who is completely unattested by contemporary archaeological sources.^[3]

The only two non-contemporary attestations for Nebiriau II are the mention of his personal name on the Ramesside Turin Canon (position 13.5, his throne name was lost), and a bronze statuette of the god Harpocrates (Cairo 38189). The four sides of the base of the statue were inscribed with the names written into cartouches; these are "Binpu", "Ahmose", "The good god Sewadjenre, deceased" and "The good god Neferkare, deceased" respectively.^[4] The first two were likely two princes of the royal family of the 17th Dynasty which would replace the 16th Dynasty shortly thereafter; Sewadjenre was the throne name of Nebiriau I and finally, it is believed that Neferkare is the otherwise unattested throne name of Nebiriau II. The finding is also peculiar because the cult of Harpocrates – and thus the statuette itself – dates back to the Ptolemaic period i.e. about 1500 years after the people named on the statuette had lived.^[4]

Nebiriau II was succeeded by an equally obscure king named Semenre who is attested by a single axe – inscribed with his throne name – and then by Seuserenre Bebiankh who is given 12 years in the Turin Canon.