The Karnak king list was located in the southwest corner of the Akh-Menu Hall. Composed during the reign of Thutmose III, it listed sixty-one kings beginning with Sneferu from Egypt's Old Kingdom. Only the names of thirty-nine kings are still legible, and one is not written in a cartouche.

It is not a complete list of the Egyptian Pharaohs, as other kings are known from other ancient lists, but this list is valuable as it contains the names of kings of the First and Second Intermediate periods, which are omitted in most other king lists.

It was first described by James Burton in 1825 and French adventurer Emile Prisse dismantled and "stole" the blocks containing the king list at night in 1843. At the same time, a German expedition led by egyptologist Karl Richard Lepsius was making its way up the Nile to Karnak. In order to secure it for France, Prisse made quick work of dismantling it and sending it back home. Severely damaged, it is now on display at the Louvre in Paris.

The list contain the name of the Pharaoh followed by the actual one inscribed on the list. The list comprises three sections and is divided at the center. The numbering follows Lepsius[5], counting from the sides, toward the center.