Senusret IV Seneferibre was an ancient Egyptian Theban king during the late

Second Intermediate Period The Second Intermediate Period dates from 1700 to 1550 BC. It marks a period when ancient Egypt was divided into smaller dynasties for a second time, between the end of the Middle Kingdom and the start of the New Kingdom. The concept of a Secon ...

that is attested only through finds from

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ', shortened to , , locally: ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the Nile River valley south of the delta and the 30th parallel North. It thus consists of the entire Nile River valley from Cairo south to Lake N ...

. The chronological position of Senusret IV is unclear and even the dynasty to which he belongs is debated.

Chronological position

According to

Jürgen von Beckerath Jürgen von Beckerath (19 February 1920 – 26 June 2016) was a German Egyptology, Egyptologist. He was a prolific writer who published countless articles in journals such as '':fr:Orientalia, Orientalia'', ''Göttinger Miszellen'' (GM), ''Journa ...

Senusret IV belonged to the late 13th Dynasty, while

Kim Ryholt Kim Steven Bardrum Ryholt (born 19 June 1970) is a Danish Egyptologist. He is a professor of Egyptology at the University of Copenhagen and a specialist on Egyptian history and literature. He is director of the research centeCanon and Identity F ...

classifies him as a king of the 16th Dynasty with an uncertain position in the dynasty.K.S.B. Ryholt: ''The Political Situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period c. 1800-1550 B.C'', Carsten Niebuhr Institute Publications 20., Copenhagen, 1997, . Alternatively, Norbert Dautzenberg proposed that Senusret IV is part of the 17th Dynasty. Dautzenberg bases this hypothesis on his reading of entry 11.4 of the Turin canon as referring to Senusret IV. He also attributes

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

on a gate of the Medamud temple mentioning a king "Senusret" to Senusret IV since the gate was decorated by

Sobekemsaf I Sekhemre Wadjkhaw Sobekemsaf I was a pharaoh of Egypt during the 17th Dynasty in the Second Intermediate Period. Attestations Sekhemre Wadjkhaw Sobekemsaf I is known from several monuments, see Ryholt 1997:395 File 17:6. Abydos Sobekemsaf I's ...

, who lived during the early 17th Dynasty. Both arguments are rejected by Ryholt: first, Ryholt notes that the Turin canon entry 11.4 is not compatible with Senusret IV's prenomen and second, he observes that the gate of the temple of Medamud was built by

Senusret III Khakaure Senusret III (also written as Senwosret III or the hellenised form, Sesostris III) was a pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, Egypt. He ruled from 1878 BC to 1839 BC during a time of great power and prosperity, and was the fifth king of the Twelfth ...

so the graffiti is likely to refer to this king rather than Senusret IV. In the new arrangement the dynasty of Senusret IV is left partially undetermined, being simply categorized as late 13th to early 17th.

Attestations

Senusret IV is attested on the Karnak king list under his prenomen "Senefer ..e". The most important contemporary attestation of the king is a 2m 75 cm tall colossal statue of him, sculpted in pink granite and discovered in Karnak in 1901 by

Georges Legrain Georges Albert Legrain (4 October 1865, in Paris – 22 August 1917, in Luxor) was a French Egyptologist. Life and work From 1883 to 1890 Legrain was a student at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, but he also studied Egyptology at that time, ...

. Other attestations include a block from

El-Tod El-Tod ( , from , , , ) was the site of an ancient Egyptian town and a temple to the Ancient Egyptian religion, Egyptian god Montu. It is located southwest of Luxor, Egypt, near the settlement of Hermonthis. A modern village now surrounds the ...

and the upper-right corner of a stela discovered in 1907 by Legrain in

Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (), comprises a vast mix of temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construction at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I (reigned 1971–1926 BC) in the ...

and which is inscribed with the date II Shemu 1 of the first regnal year of Senusret IV. Finally, a lintel from

Edfu Edfu (, , , ; also spelt Idfu, or in modern French as Edfou) is an Egyptian city, located on the west bank of the Nile River between Esna and Aswan, with a population of approximately 60,000 people. Edfu is the site of the Ptolemaic Temple of H ...

and an axe-blade bearing the nomen Senusret have also been attributed to Senusret IV based on stylistic considerations. In the case of the axe blade, however, some have attributed it to

Senusret I Senusret I (Egyptian language, Middle Egyptian: wikt:z-n-wsrt, z-n-wsrt; /suʀ nij ˈwas.ɾiʔ/) also anglicized as Sesostris I and Senwosret I, was the second pharaoh of the Twelfth dynasty of Egypt, Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt. He ruled from 1971 ...

.Axe-blade:

Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology The Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology in London is part of University College London Museums and Collections. The museum contains over 80,000 objects, making it one of the world's largest collections of Egyptian and Sudanese ma ...

16324, visibl
online here

Flinders Petrie Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie ( – ), commonly known as simply Sir Flinders Petrie, was an English people, English Egyptology, Egyptologist and a pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology and the preservation of artefacts. ...

: ''Tools and Weapons'', 9, pl. 5

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Senusret 04 17th-century BC pharaohs 16th-century BC pharaohs Pharaohs of the Sixteenth Dynasty of Egypt Pharaohs of the Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt Pharaohs of the Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt