[1] Scholars, such as Manfred Bietak and Ryholt proposed that this instability is a consequence of a prolonged famine and perhaps a plague which struck at least the Delta region and lasted until the end of the 13th and 14th Dynasty states c. 1650 BC.

[1][2] The weakened state of both kingdoms may explain, in part, why they fell rapidly to the emerging Hyksos power c. 1650 BC.

[1] Merkare's only attestation is the Turin canon, a king list compiled in the early Ramesside period.

[3] According to the egyptologist Kim Ryholt, the canon gives his prenomen on the 8th column, 18th line[1] (Gardiner entry 7.23 [4]).

The exact chronological position of Merkare is not known for certain as the damaged state of the Turin canon only allows for conjectural reconstructions of the late 13th Dynasty.