Strangely, the earliest example of the title Sa Nesu (“King’s Son”) is from the second dynasty. It is a rather complicated term which only sometimes refers to the biological son of the king. The title Sa Nesu was granted to a number of non-royal persons, in particular the Viceroy of Kush, even though they were not actually the son of the king. From the New Kingdom, things become a little clearer as a new title Sa Nesu en Kush (“King’s Son of Kush”) was used to refer to the Viceroy of Kush without indicating any family relationship with the king.
