Khety II 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

nomarch A nomarch (, Great Chief) was a provincial governor in ancient Egypt; the country was divided into 42 provinces, called Nome (Egypt), nomes (singular , plural ). A nomarch was the government official responsible for a nome. Etymology The te ...

of the 13th ''

nome Nome may refer to: Country subdivision * Nome (Egypt), an administrative division within ancient Egypt * Nome (Greece), the administrative division immediately below the ''peripheries of Greece'' (, pl. ) Places United States * Nome, Alaska ...

'' 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 ...

(''"the Upper

Sycamore Sycamore is a name which has been applied to several types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms. The name derives from the Ancient Greek () meaning . Species of otherwise unrelated trees known as sycamore: * ''Acer pseudoplatanus'', a ...

"'') 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 ( ...

Merykare of the

10th Dynasty The Tenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty X) is often combined with the 7th, 8th, 9th and early 11th Dynasties under the group title First Intermediate Period. Rulers The 9th Dynasty was founded at Herakleopolis Magna, and the 10th Dyna ...

(c. 21st century BCE, during the

First Intermediate Period The First Intermediate Period, described as a 'dark period' in ancient Egyptian history, spanned approximately 125 years, c. 2181–2055 BC, after the end of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom. It comprises the seventh Dynasty, Seventh (altho ...

). William C. Hayes, in ''

The Cambridge Ancient History ''The Cambridge Ancient History'' is a multi-volume work of ancient history from Prehistory to Late Antiquity, published by Cambridge University Press. The first series, consisting of 12 volumes, was planned in 1919 by Irish historian J. B. Bur ...

'', vol 1, part 2, 1971 (2008), Cambridge University Press, , pp. 467–470.

Biography

He was one of the last of a long line of nomarchs in

Asyut AsyutAlso spelled ''Assiout'' or ''Assiut''. ( ' ) is the capital of the modern Asyut Governorate in Egypt. It was built close to the ancient city of the same name, which is situated nearby. The modern city is located at , while the ancient city i ...

with strong bonds of loyalty and friendship towards the Herakleopolite dynasty: his father was the nomarch

Tefibi Tefibi (or Itj-ibj – ''It(.i)ib(.i)''Donald B. Spanel, in Donald B. Redford (ed), ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt'' vol. 1, Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 154-6. – in a more modern reading) was an ancient Egyptian nomarch ...

, himself son of the nomarch Khety I,Donald B. Spanel, in

Donald B. Redford Donald Bruce Redford (2 September 1934 – 18 October 2024) was a Canadian Egyptologist, archaeologist, and Professor of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies at Pennsylvania State University; he retired in 2024. Redford directed a number of ...

(ed), ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt'' vol. 1, Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 154-6. and a Herakleopolite pharaoh had joined the

mourning Mourning is the emotional expression in response to a major life event causing grief, especially loss. It typically occurs as a result of someone's death, especially a loved one. The word is used to describe a complex of behaviors in which t ...

for the latter's grandfather (i.e. Khety II's great-great-grandfather).
After Tefibi's death, Khety II was installed as a nomarch by king Merykare himself, who sailed up the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

with his court on a fleet. It is known that Khety II undertook some restoration works in the local temple of

Wepwawet In Egyptian mythology, Wepwawet ( hieroglyphic ''wp-w3w.t''; also rendered Upuaut, Wep-wawet, Wepawet, Apuat, and Ophois) was originally a jackal deity of funerary rites, war, and royalty, whose cult centre was Asyut in Upper Egypt (Lycopolis in ...

. He was loyal to the 10th Dynasty until the end, and probably died shortly before the fall of Asyut by the Theban pharaoh

Mentuhotep II Mentuhotep II (, meaning "Mentu is satisfied"), also known under his Prenomen (Ancient Egypt), prenomen Nebhepetre (, meaning "The Lord of the rudder is Ra"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the sixth ruler of the Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt, Elev ...

of the

11th Dynasty The Eleventh Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty XI; ) is a well-attested group of rulers. Its earlier members before Pharaoh Mentuhotep II are grouped with the four preceding dynasties to form the First Intermediate Period, whereas the lat ...

, which preceded the final capitulation of Herakleopolis and thus the end of the civil war. Under the reign of Mentuhotep II, the old line of nomarchs represented by Khety II and his ancestors was replaced by a new, pro-Theban one. His unfinished tomb at Asyut (no. IV) is the best preserved among the tombs of his relatives, which are unfortunately ruined, and it is also the only one mentioning a royal name (Merykare). It has been excavated several times since the late 19th century, most recently in 2003–2006.El Khadragu, Mahmoud, "New Discoveries in the Tomb of Khety II at Asyut", ''Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology'' 17, 2006.

References

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Biography

References

Further reading