Senusret III

Pharaoh Infobox | Name=Senusret III |

Caption=Head of Senusret III from the Luxor museum
NomenHiero=F12-s-D21:t-z:#:n
Nomen="Senusret"
The son of Ra, man of the strong one
PrenomenHiero=ra-N28-D28*D28:D28
Prenomen="Khakhaure"
The king of the two lands, the kas of Ra have appeared | Reign=1878 – 1839 BC
Predecessor=Senusret II
Successor=Amenemhat III
Dynasty=Twelfth Dynasty
Alt= Sesostris III or Senwosret III | Monuments=Buhen and Toshka
HorusHiero=nTr-xpr-w
Horus="Netcher Kheperu"
Horus, divine of form
NebtyHiero=nTr-ms-w-t
Nebty="Netcher Mesut"
The two ladies, divine of birth
GoldenHiero=xpr
Golden="Kheper"
The golden Horus has been created
Father=Senusret II
Mother=Khnemetneferhedjet I
Spouse=Meretseger, Neferhenut Khnemetneferhedjet II
Children=Amenemhat III, Khnemet, Menet, Mereret, Senetsenbetes, Sithathor (?)

Khakhaure Senusret III (also written as Senwosret III or Sesostris III) was a pharaoh of Egypt. He ruled from 1878 BC to 1839 BC, and was the fifth monarch of the Twelfth Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom. He was a great pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty and is considered to be perhaps the most powerful Egyptian ruler of this time. Consequently, he is regarded as one of the sources for the legend about Sesostris.

Initiatives

Senusret III cleared a navigable canal through the first cataract [J. H. Breasted, "Ancient Records of Egypt", Part One, Chicago 1906, §§642-648] and relentlessly pushed his kingdom's expansion deep into Nubia (from 1866 to 1863 BC) where he erected massive river forts including Buhen, Semna and Toshka at Uronarti. He carried out at least four major campaigns deep into Nubia in his Year 8, 10, 16 and 19 respectively. [J. H. Breasted, "Ancient Records of Egypt", Part One, Chicago 1906, §§640-673] His Year 8 stela at Semna documents his victories against the Nubians through which he thought having made safe the southern frontier, preventing further incursions into Egypt. [Breasted, "op.cit.", §652] Another great stela from Semna dated to the third month of Year 16 of his reign mentions his military activities against both Nubia and Canaan. In it, he admonished his future successors to maintain the new border which he had created:

His final campaign in Year 19 was less successful because the king's forces were trapped by a low Nile current and had to retreat and abandon their campaign to avoid being trapped in hostile Nubian territory. [Ian Shaw, "The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt", Oxford University Press 2003, p.155] Such was his forceful nature and immense influence that Senusret III was worshipped as a god in Semna by later generations. [Peter Clayton, Chronicle of the Pharaohs, Thames & Hudson Ltd, (1994),p.86] Jacques Morgan, in 1894, found rock inscriptions near Sehel Island documenting his digging of a canal under the king. Senusret III erected a temple and town in Abydos, and another temple in Medamud. [ [http://www.petrie.ucl.ac.uk/digital_egypt/chronology/senusretIII.html] Senusret (III) Khakhaure]

Reign Length

His pyramid was constructed at Dahshur. [Katheryn A. Bard, "Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt", Routledge 1999, p.107] A papyrus in the Berlin Museum shows Year 20 of his reign is equivalent to Year 1 of his son Amenemhat III. This means that he initiated a coregency with his son in this year. According to Josef W. Wegner, a Year 39 hieratic control note was recovered on a white limestone block from

Wegner stresses that it is unlikely that Amenemhet III, Senusret's son and successor would still be working on his father's temple nearly 4 decades into his own reign. He notes that the only possible solution for the block's existence here is that Senusret III had a 39-year reign, with the final 20 years in coregency with his son Amenemhet III. Since the project was associated with a project of Senusret III, his Regnal Year was presumably used to date the block, rather than Year 20 of Amenemhet III. This implies that Senusret was still alive in the first two decades of his son's reign prior to his death.

Visually, Senusret III is known for his strikingly somber sculptures in which he appears careworn and grave. [Robert G. Morkot, "The Egyptians: An Introduction", Routledge 2005, p.14]

His court included the viziers Sobekemhat, Nebit and Khnumhotep. The famous treasurer Iykhernofret worked for the king at Abydos.

References

Bibliography

* W. Grajetzki, "The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt: History,Archaeology and Society", Duckworth, London 2006 ISBN 0-7156-3435-6, 51-58
* Josef Wegner, The Nature and Chronology of the Senwosret III–Amenemhat III Regnal Succession: Some Considerations based on new evidence from the Mortuary Temple of Senwosret III at Abydos, JNES 55, Vol.4, (1996), pp.249-279

External links

* [http://papyri.ru-egypt.com/show.php?t=4&txt=10 Stela of Senusret III from Deir el-Bahri (hieroglyphic text in russian web-site)]