There seems to be archaeological evidence that Sekhemib ruled only in
Upper Egypt. His realm would have extended down from
Ombos up to the Isle of
Elephantine, where a new
administrative centre called "The white house of
treasury" was founded under Peribsen. It remains the subject of discussion by Egyptologists and historians as to if, why and when it was decided to split the state.
Proponents of the divided-realm-theory Egyptologists such as Wolfgang Helck,
Nicolas Grimal, Hermann Alexander Schlögl and Francesco Tiradritti believe that king Ninetjer, the third ruler of 2nd dynasty and a predecessor of Peribsen, left a realm that was suffering from an overly complex state
administration and that Ninetjer decided to split Egypt between his two sons (or, at least, his two successors), in the hope that the two rulers could better administer the two states. Since the artefacts surviving from his lifetime seem to prove that he and his contemporary Peribsen ruled only in Upper Egypt, it is the subject of investigation as to who ruled in Lower Egypt at that time. The Ramesside king lists differ in their succession of royal names from king Senedj onward. A reason may be that the royal table of Saqqara and the royal canon of Turin reflect Memphite traditions, which allow Memphite rulers to be mentioned. The Abydos king list instead reflects Thinite traditions and therefore only Thinite rulers appear on that list. Until king Senedj, all posthumous king lists accord with each other. After him, the Saqqara list and the Turin list mention three kings as successors:
Neferkara I,
Neferkasokar and
Hudjefa I. The Abydos king list skips these kings and jumps forward to Khasekhemwy, calling him “Djadjay”. The discrepancies are considered by Egyptologists to be the result of the partition of the Egyptian state during the 2nd Dynasty. In contrast, Egyptologists such as
Barbara Bell believe that an
economic catastrophe such as a
famine or a long-lasting
drought affected Egypt at that time. To help solve the problems of feeding the Egyptian population, Ninetjer split the realm and his successors ruled two independent realms until the famine was successfully brought to an end. Bell points to the inscriptions of the
Palermo stone, where, in her opinion, the records of the
Nile floods show consistently low levels. The administrative titles of the
scribes,
seal-bearers and overseers were adjusted to the new political situation. For example, titles like "sealer of the king" were changed into "sealer of the king of Upper Egypt". The administration system since the time of Peribsen and Sekhemib shows a clear and well identified
hierarchy; an example: Treasury house → pension office → property → vine yards → private vine yard. King
Khasekhemwy, the last ruler of 2nd Dynasty, was able to re-unify the state administration of Egypt and therefore unite the whole of Ancient Egypt. He brought the two treasury houses of Egypt under the control of the "House of the King", bringing them into a new, single administration center. and now in the
Egyptian Museum. The inscription reads (from right to left): "King of Lower- and Upper Egypt, ''Sekhemib-Per(enma'at)'', tribute of the foreigners, provisions to...".
Opponents of the divided-realm-theory Other Egyptologists, such as
Michael Rice,
Francesco Tiradritti Scholars such as Herman TeVelde, I. E. S. Edwards and Toby Wilkinson The Annal stone however, gives absolutely no indication of a division of the Egyptian realm. Barta, TeVelde, Wilkinson and Edwards argue that the theory of state division is untenable. A mere administrative reorganization of the bureaucracy or a split in the priesthood sects seems more likely. Three officials from Sekhemib's reign are known to Egyptologists by seal impressions:
Nebhotep,
Inykhnum and
Maapermin. However, Inykhnum might also have held office in later times, under kings such as
Djoser and
Sanakht. ==Tomb==