Abstract
Throughout the Ancient Egyptian history, genealogy was an important tool for structuring and validating the past. Royal genealogies were established as a means of measuring time and relating kingship to the gods as predecessors. In their selective and normative form, royal genealogies were means of constructing the collective memory and historical knowledge. These constructions were primarily mobilised within temple decoration and public feasts of the Ramesside period. Similar groupings of kings were also taken over and adapted in private tombs as means of sustaining the deceased’s further existence in the afterlife. Longer private genealogies are, however, attested only from the 1st millennium onwards. Both royal and private genealogies served as arguments of legitimation.