Amenemhat, often reported with his short form Ameny (''Jmnjj''), was an

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

ian "

Overlord An overlord in the English feudal system was a lord of a manor who had subinfeudated a particular manor, estate or fee, to a tenant. The tenant thenceforth owed to the overlord one of a variety of services, usually military service or ...

of the

Oryx nome The Oryx nome ( ''Ma-hedj'') was one of the 42 '' nomoi'' (administrative divisions, Egyptian: ''sepat'') in ancient Egypt. The Oryx nome was the 16th nome of Upper Egypt, Wolfram Grajetzki, ''The Middle Kingdom of ancient Egypt: history, archaeol ...

" (the 16th nome of

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 ...

) and chief priest during the reign of

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

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 ...

of the

12th Dynasty The Twelfth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty XII) is a series of rulers reigning from 1991–1802 BC (190 years), at what is often considered to be the apex of the Middle Kingdom (Dynasties XI–XIV). The dynasty periodically expanded its terr ...

(20th century BCE).

Biography

Family

Amehemhat's mother was a noblewoman called Henu, whilst his father's name is unknown. Amenemhat was married to Hetepet, a "mistress of the house" and daughter of a governor, and the couple had a son called Khnumhotep. However, any relationship between Amenemhat and the ruling family of governors founded earlier by Khnumhotep I is unknown, and it was proposed that he could rather have been a member of the previous family of local governors. Wolfram Grajetzki, ''The Middle Kingdom of ancient Egypt: history, archaeology and society''. London, Duckworth Egyptology, 2006, pp. 113-14

Governorship

Amenemhat administered his governorate from the city of

Men'at Khufu MinyaAlso spelled ''definitive article, el...'' or ''al...'' ''...Menia, ...Minia'' or ''...Menya''. ( ) is the capital of the Minya Governorate in Upper Egypt. It is located approximately south of Cairo on the western bank of the Nile Rive ...

from Year 18 to at least Year 43 of Senusret I. Amenemhat accompanied the pharaoh in a military expedition to

Kush KUSH 1600 AM is a radio station licensed to Cushing, Oklahoma. The station broadcasts a Full service format, consisting of local and national talk, sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, tha ...

; though the date is unknown, it's likely the same, known expedition of Year 18 of Senusret I. In another expedition Amenemhat escorted the "king's son Ameny" – very likely the future pharaoh Amenemhat II – with 400 men to collect gold from an unknown

Nubia Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...

n location. Amenemhat also was sent to

Coptos Qift ( ; ''Keft'' or ''Kebto''; Egyptian Gebtu; ''Coptos'' / ''Koptos''; Roman Justinianopolis) is a city in the Qena Governorate of Egypt about north of Luxor, situated a little south of latitude 26° north, on the east bank of the Nile. In a ...

along with the

vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...

Senusret in order to bring other gold. These expeditions suggest that Amenemhat was a very important official who usually accompanied high dignitaries and even members of the royal family. Curiously, Amenemhat dated his monuments from his installation in a way usually associated to the kings: the highest known date, Senusret I regnal ''Year 43, Month 2 of Akhet, Day 15''Description of Amenemhat's tomb BH2
/ref> corresponds to Amenemhat's Year 25. However, there is no proof that people living under his governorship effectively used Amenemhat's personal datation.
Amenemhat died some times after this date. His relationships with his probable successor

Netjernakht Netjernakht was an Ancient Egyptian official known from his tomb chapel at Beni Hasan in Middle Egypt. He lived most likely in the Twelfth Dynasty. His exact date and position are disputed. Netjernakht bears in his tomb chapel different titles. ...

are not known. He was also the last governor of Men'at Khufu who brought the title of "Overlord of the Nome". In addition to this office, Amenemhat also held a massive amount of civil, military and religious titles, such as ''

iry-pat Iry-pat ( "member of the elite") was an ancient Egyptian ranking title, that is a title announcing a high position in the hierarchy of the country. Iry-pat was indeed the highest ranking title at the royal court, and only the most important offic ...

'', '' haty-a'', "confidential friend of the King", "royal acquaintance", "mayor of Nekheb", "overseer of the priests of

Khnum Khnum, also romanised Khnemu (; , ), was one of the earliest-known Egyptian deities in Upper Egypt, originally associated with the Nile cataract. He held the responsibility of regulating the annual inundation of the river, emanating from the ca ...

-lord-of-

Herwer Herwer was an ancient Egyptian town in the 16th nome ( Oryx nome) in Upper Egypt. It is mentioned in several ancient inscriptions dating from the Old, Middle and New Kingdom. The main deities of the place were Khnum and Heqet, both several t ...

", " lector priest" and many others.

Tomb BH2

Amenemhat/Ameny was likely buried in his large, lively decorated tomb (no. 2) within the necropolis of

Beni Hasan Beni Hasan (also written as Bani Hasan, or also Beni-Hassan) () is an ancient Egyptian cemetery. It is located approximately to the south of modern-day Minya in the region known as Middle Egypt, the area between Asyut and Memphis.Baines, John ...

. The tomb's chapel consisted in a large room with four columns, placed after a courtyard and a

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

which was provided of two other columns. The chapel's main room is richly painted with scenes of

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

and of siege of a fortress, two themes commonly found within Beni Hasan tombs. Other scenes in Amenemhat's tomb consists in the so-called, ritual "Journey to Abydos", as well as many artisans and farmers at work and a hunting in the desert. On the south wall, Amenemhet himself and his wife Hetepet are depicted with a large amount of offerings. The room's ceiling was divided into three decorated naves. A small cult niche was made in the east side of the main room, probably meant to host a statue group of the tomb owner, traces of which have been found. The tomb also bore a graffito which was a possible attestation of

Wepwawetemsaf Sekhemraneferkhau Wepwawetemsaf was an Egyptian pharaoh during the Second Intermediate Period. According to the Egyptologists Kim Ryholt and Darrell Baker, he was a king of the Abydos Dynasty, although they leave his position within this dyna ...

, a poorly known pharaoh dated to the later

Second Intermediate Period of Egypt 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 ...

. This graffito has been considered a proof that Wepwawetemsaf, who probably had his seat of power in Abydos, could have extended his authority about 250 km north, up to Beni Hasan. The graffito has been tentatively read by

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 ...

as "Sekhemreneferkhau" (Wepwawetemsaf's throne name) but this remains uncertain as the original is now lost.

: ''Untersuchungen zur politischen Geschichte der Zweiten Zwischenzeit in Ägypten'', Glückstadt, 1964

Biography

Family

Governorship

Tomb BH2

References

Further reading