e (and purchased by him in 1914).
The importance of the Palermo Stone was not recognized until it was noticed by a visiting French archaeologist in 1895. The first full publication and translation was that done in 1902 by Heinrich Schäfer.
There are uncertainties regarding the date of the Palermo Stone and of the Royal Annals it records. It is unknown whether the inscription was done in one go or was added to over time. It is also unknown whether it dates from the period it describes (i.e. from no later than the Fifth Dynasty). It has been suggested that the stele was made much later, perhaps in the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty (747-656 BCE). It seems clear from the content of the inscription that, even if the Royal Annals, as preserved by the Palermo Stone and other fragments, were not carved at or soon after the period they describe, they are directly based on an Old Kingdom original.[further explanation needed]
It is also unknown whether all the surviving fragments are part of the same stele or come from different copies. It is possible that at least one of the smaller fragments held in Cairo (none of which have any clear provenance) is not genuine.
The text is difficult to decipher due both to the state of preservation of the inscription (which varies widely) and due to its antiquity. If the text is a later copy, rather than a Fifth Dynasty original, there is also the possibility that errors and invention crept in during the copying process.
The Palermo Stone and the other associated fragments of the Royal Annals are a vital source for the history of the Old Kingdom and, for example, preserve names of members of the royal families during the first five dynasties which are not otherwise recorded.
New Kingdom Egyptian king lists, such as the Turin Canon (13th century BCE) and the Abydos king list (reign of Seti I, 1294–1279 BCE), identify Menes (probably Narmer) (c. 3100 or 3000 BCE) as the first king of the first dynasty and so credit him with unifying Egypt. However, the top register of the Royal Annals names some predynastic rulers of Upper and Lower Egypt, presumably referring to a time before Egypt was unified. Identification of these kings with historical persons remains controversial.
The ancient historian Manetho may have used information similar to the complete Royal Annals stele to construct his chronology of the early dynasties of Egypt, forming part of his Aegyptiaca (History of Egypt), written during the third century BCE, although the surviving king list most closely related to his work (as preserved by later ancient and later writers) is the Turin Canon.
- Dodson, Aidan (2004) The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, p.62. Thames & Hudson, ISBN 0-500-05128-3.
- Hsu, Hsu, Shih-Wei (2010) The Palermo Stone: the Earliest Royal Inscription from Ancient Egypt, Altoriental. Forsch., Akademie Verlag, 37 (2010) 1, 68–89.
- Lloyd, Alan B. (1988), Commentary on Herodotus 99–132 p.8.
- O'Neill, John P. Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids. p.349. Yale University Press. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1999. ISBN 0-87099-907-9
- Shaw, Ian (2003) The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, p.5. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280458-8.
- Wilkinson, Toby A. H. (2000), p.23ff.
- Wilkinson, Toby A. H. (1999), p.54
- Tetley, C. (2014) The Reconstructed Chronology of the Egyptian Kings, Vol I & II, Whangarei, New Zealand. ISBN 978-0-473-29338-3
- Partial and dated English translation of the text in J.H. Breasted, (1906). Ancient Records of Egypt, vol. I, sections 76–167. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- St. John, Michael (1999). The Palermo Stone: An Arithmetical View. London: University Bookshop Publications.ISBN 0-9536-8650-7
- Wilkinson, Toby A. H. (2000). Royal Annals of Ancient Egypt. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-7103-0667-9.
- Wilkinson, Toby A. H. (1999). Early Dynastic Egypt. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-203-02438-9.
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Palermo stone.|
- Extract of a lecture given by T.A.H. Wilkinson, University College London 2000
- Image of London fragment and translation, Petri