Raneb was according to Manetho the successor of Hotepsekhemwy, the second king of the second Dynasty and ruled for 39 years. There are sealings bearing his name and at Abydos a granite stele was found with the name of Raneb within a serekh. His tomb is sofar unlocated.

If Manetho is to be believed, Raneb founded both the cult of the sacred goat at Mendes and the sacred bull of Mnevis at Heliopolis, as well as the the Apis bull at Memphis, though the later nowadays is ascribed to an earlier king.

Raneb is the first of the Egyptian kings to combine his name with the sun-god Re´s.