Despite being attested through several archaeological sources, very little is known about Horus Sekhemib. Most source material being limited to the south of Egypt, it has often been assumed that his realm was limited to a region stretching from Naqada in Middle Egypt to Elephantine in the south, while a different king ruled over the north of the country.
Because objects bearing Sekhemib’s name were found at the tomb of Peribsen at Umm el-Qa’ab, it has sometimes been assumed that Sekhemib and Peribsen were, in fact, the same person who, for reasons unknown, changed his name and titulary somewhere during his reign. Against this, however, it needs to be pointed out that Sekhemib’s name has been found mainly around the entrance to Peribsen’s tomb, a pattern that is consistent with that of a king burying his predecessor. It is thus more likely that Sekhemib was Peribsen’s successor.
If this is correct, then Peribsen, having a Seth Name, was succeeded and buried by a king bearing a Horus Name. This may contradict the hypotheses that Peribsen’s Seth name was related to the division of the kingdom into two realms, one ruled by a Horus king, the other by a Seth king.
No tomb has been identified as having belonged to Sekhemib.