Amenemhat I

Pharaoh Infobox | Name=Amenemhat I |

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Caption=Relief of Amenemhat I from his mortuary complex at El-Lisht
ImageSize=250
NomenHiero=i-mn:n-m-HAt:t
Nomen="Amenemhat"
Amun is in front
PrenomenHiero=ra-s-R4:t*p ib
Prenomen="Sehetepibre"
Who satisfies the heart of Re | Reign=1991–1962 BC
Predecessor=Mentuhotep IV
Successor=Senusret I
Dynasty=Twelfth Dynasty
GoldenHiero=F25-F31-G43:t
NebtyHiero=F25-F31-G43:t
HorusHiero=F25-F31-G43:t
Golden="Wehemmesut" [ [http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk//chronology/amenemhatI.html] Amenemhat I]
Repeating of births
Nebty="Wehemmesut"
Horus="Wehemmesut"
Father=Senusret
Mother=Neferet
Spouse=Neferitatjenen
Children=Senusret I, Neferu III, Neferusherit, Kayet
Burial=Pyramid at el-Lisht

Amenemhat I, also Amenemhet I, was the first ruler of the Twelfth Dynasty (the dynasty debated to be the beginning of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt). He ruled from 1991 BC to 1962 BC. [D Wildung, L'Âge d'Or de L'Égypte - le Moyen Empire, Office de Livre, 1984] Amenemhet I was not of royal lineage, and the composition of some literary works (the "Prophecy of Neferti", [M. Lichtheim, "Ancient Egyptian Literature", 1973 p.139] the "Instructions of Amenemhat" [M. Lichtheim, "Ancient Egyptian Literature", 1973 p.135] ) and, in architecture, the revertion to the pyramid-style complexes of the 6th dynasty rulers are often considered to have been attempts at legitimizing his rule. Amenemhat I moved the capital from Thebes to Itjtawy and was buried in el-Lisht.

His son Senusret I followed in his footsteps, building his pyramid–a closer reflection of the 6th dynasty pyramids than that of Amenemhat I–at Lisht as well, but his grandson, Amenemhat II, broke with this tradition.

Assassination

Amenemhat I is thought to have been assassinated in his sleep by his royal guards--the culmination of a double harem conspiracy. At this time, his son and co-regent Senusret I was leading a campaign in Libya. A literary work from the time of his son gives an account of the king's murder:

Succession

Amenemhat I was the first king of Egypt who is known to have had a coregency with his son, Senwosret I. A double dated stela is dated to the thirtieth year of Amenemhat I and to the tenth year of Senwosret I, which establishes that Senwosret was made co-regent in Amenemhat's 20th regnal year. [Murnane, William J. "Ancient Egyptian Coregencies, Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization. No. 40." p.2. The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 1977.]

Name

Amenemhat I's name is associated with one of only two sebayt or ethical "teachings" attributed to Egyptian monarchs, entitled the "Instructions of Amenemhat", though it is generally thought today that it was composed by a scribe at the behest of the king. [M. Lichtheim, "Ancient Egyptian Literature", 1973 p.135]

Amenemhat I's Horus name, "Wehemmesu", which means renaissance or rebirth, is an allusion to the Old Kingdom period, whose cultural icons and models (such as pyramidal tombs and Old Kingdom artistic motifs) where emulated by the Twelfth Dynasty kings after the end of the First Intermediate Period. The cult of the king was also promoted during this period, which witnessed a steady return to a more centralized government. [Citation | editor-last =Shaw | editor-first =Ian | title =The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt | year =2000 | pages =159 | place =Oxford | publisher =Oxford University Press]

Modern adaptation

Naguib Mahfouz, the Nobel Prize-winning Egyptian writer, includes Amenemhat I in one of his stories published in 1941 entitled "Awdat Sinuhi". The story appeared in an English translation by Raymond Stock in 2003 as "The Return of Sinuhe" in the collection of Mahfouz's short stories entitled "Voices from the Other World". The story is based directly on the "Story of Sinuhe", although adding details of a lovers' triangle romance involving Amenemhat I and Sinuhe that does not appear in the original. Mahfouz also includes the pharaoh in his account of Egypt's rulers "Facing the Throne". In this work, the Nobel laureate has the Ancient Egyptian gods judge the country's rulers from Pharaoh Mena to President Anwar Sadat.

Further reading

*W. Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt: History,Archaeology and Society, Duckworth, London 2006 ISBN 0-7156-3435-6, 28-35
* Mahfouz, Naguib. The Return of Sinuhe in Voices from the Other World (translated by Robert Stock), Random House, 2003.

References