Nekauba

Almost nothing is known of Nekauba (Ancient Greek: ΝεχεψὼςNekhepsṑs). He is listed as one of the early kings of the 26th Saite Dynasty in Manetho's Epitome and ruled for six years. However, any contemporary documents do not confirm his status as king, and he may well be an invention of later Saite rulers to legitimize their kingship. Manetho writes that Nekauba is supposed to have succeeded Stephinates, the founder of the 26th Dynasty—perhaps Tefnakht II—and was, in turn, followed by the well-known Necho I, father of Psamtik I. Nekauba would have reigned as a local Saite king under the 25th Nubian Dynasty between 678 BC to 672 BC if he did have an independent reign.^[1] If not, he would merely have been a local mayor of Sais who served in office during this period before the accession of King Necho I.

The EgyptologistKenneth Kitchen has suggested^[2] that Nekauba's reign be raised by a decade from six to 16 years, though this seems somewhat ambitious for such an obscure ruler. It appears far more economical to adopt, at face value, Manetho's far shorter figure of only six years. This may suggest that only a small amount of time passed between the reign of Tefnakht II and the accession of Necho I.

It is probable that Nekauba and Necho I were both sons of Tefnakht II.

In 2002, Olivier Perdu published a newly discovered Year 2 donation stela found near Sebennytos, which dates to Necho I's reign. Perdu revealed that it is close in style, form, and content to the Year 8 donation stela of Shepsesre Tefnakht I, hence suggesting that these two Saite kings were close contemporaries and that Tefnakht I would have ruled Sais around 685 BC-678 BC, just before Nekauba and Necho I, thus equating him with Tefnakht II.^[3] Perdu's arguments are not accepted by many Egyptologists, who have criticized the epigraphic criteria he used.

2011年、キム・リホルト^{[ 4 ]}は、ネカウバの名前は「賢者ネコ」と訳され、ネカウバまたはネケプソスの名前はネコ2世を指していると仮定した。リホルトは、テフナクト2世とネコ1世の間に介入したネカウバという名の独立したサイス王は存在しなかったと主張した。リホルトはまた、テフナクト2世とネコ1世の間に介入した王が排除された可能性を示す証拠として、ペルドゥの前述の2つの石碑の類似性に関する議論を挙げた（ただし、リホルトは8年目の石碑をテフナクト2世に帰属させた）。ネカウバに6年を帰属させると、2つの石碑は少なくとも7年の間隔を置くことになるが、ネカウバが存在しなかった場合、ネコ1世はテフナクト2世の直系の後継者であったため、2つの石碑は1～2年以内に制作された可能性がある。^{[ 5 ]}