Palermo Stone

Palermo Stone
The Palermo Stone, the fragment of the Egyptian Royal Annals housed in Palermo, Italy
Height43.5 cm
Width25 cm
Createdc. 2450 BC
Discoveredbefore 1859
Present locationPalermo, Sicily, Italy

The Palermo Stone is one of seven surviving fragments of a stele known as the Royal Annals of the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. The stele contained a list of the kings of Egypt from the First Dynasty (c. 3150–2890 BCE) through to the early part of the Fifth Dynasty (c. 2498–2345 BCE) and noted significant events in each year of their reigns. It was probably made during the Fifth Dynasty. The Palermo Stone is held in the Regional Archeological Museum Antonio Salinas in the city of Palermo, Italy, from which it derives its name.

The Palermo Stone and other fragments of the Royal Annals preserve what is probably the oldest historical text that has survived from Ancient Egypt and form a key source for Egyptian history in the Old Kingdom.