Abydos King List

Besides providing the order of the Old Kingdom kings, it is the sole source to date of the names of many of the kings of the Seventh and Eighth Dynasties, so the list is valued greatly for that reason.

The bulk of these appear to have been left out because although they claimed royal titles and rule over all Egypt, their actual authority was limited to only part of the country.

The rulers of the chaotic Amarna Period (Akhenaten, Smenkhkare, Neferneferuaten, Tutankhamun, and Ay), seem to have been removed for reasons of political propaganda or as a form of damnatio memoriae; their reigns were within living memory in Seti's day, and the repudiation of the Amarna Period had been state policy since the reign of Horemheb (who had chosen Seti's father Ramesses I to succeed him).

Two pharaohs known to have been women, Sobekneferu and Hatshepsut, are also excluded, most likely due to their gender.

Finally, Mentuhotep IV may have been excluded for political reasons (having possibly been overthrown by his vizer and successor Amenemhat I) or simply because his brief and poorly documented reign was unknown to Seti and his scribes.