Sekhemre Wahkhau Rahotep was an

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

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 ( ...

who reigned during the

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 ...

, when Egypt was ruled by multiple kings. The Egyptologists

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 ...

and Darrell Baker believe that Rahotep was the first king of the

17th Dynasty The Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XVII, alternatively 17th Dynasty or Dynasty 17) was a dynasty of pharaohs that ruled in Upper Egypt during the late Second Intermediate Period, approximately from 1580 to 1550 BC. Its mainly Theb ...

Attestations

Rahotep seem to be attested at Abydos and

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 ...

Abydos

BM EA 833

A limestone stele which shows Rahotep making an offering to

Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wikt:wsjr, wsjr'') was the ancient Egyptian deities, god of fertility, agriculture, the Ancient Egyptian religion#Afterlife, afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was ...

for two deceased, an officer and a priest. The stela appears to have been made at a workshop at Abydos. Other stelae produced by this workshop belong to king Sekhemrekhutawy Pantjeny and king

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 ...

. All three kings reigned therefore quite close in time.Marcel Marée: ''A sculpture workshop at Abydos from the late Sixteenth or early Seventeenth Dynasty'', in: Marcel Marée (editor): ''The Second Intermediate period (Thirteenth-Seventeenth Dynasties), Current Research, Future Prospects'', Leuven, Paris, Walpole, MA. 2010 . p. 247, 268

Coptos

Petrie Museum UC 14327

Rahotep is known from a stele found at

reporting the restoration of the temple of Min. The stele reads:

Bow of King's Son Ameny

Rahotep is mentioned on a bow of a king's son Ameny dedicated to "''the service of Min in all his feasts''" at Coptos.

Non-Contemporary Attestations

Karnak King List

In the Thutmosid Period, he is mentioned in the Karnak King List #48 as " ekheme Wahkhaure" , between

Khaankhre Sobekhotep Khaankhre Sobekhotep was a minor king of the Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period. His chronological position is much debated. In literature, Khaankhre Sobekhotep is known as Sobekhotep I. However, he is now believ ...

and

Sewahenre Senebmiu Sewahenre Senebmiu (also Sonbmiu) is a poorly attested Ancient Egypt, Egyptian pharaoh during the Second Intermediate Period, thought to belong to the late Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt, 13th Dynasty. Attestations Senebmiu is a poorly attested ...

Turin King List

In the Ramesside Period, he is not mentioned in the

Turin King List The Turin King List, also known as the Turin Royal Canon, is an ancient Egyptian hieratic papyrus thought to date from the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II (r. 1279–1213 BC), now in the Museo Egizio (Egyptian Museum) in Turin. The papyrus is the m ...

Konsuemheb and the Ghost

In the late

New Kingdom New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

tale ''

Khonsuemheb and the Ghost "Khonsuemheb and the ghost", often known simply as A ghost story, is an ancient Egyptian ghost story dating back to the Ramesside period. Its protagonist is a priest named Khonsuemheb (also rendered as Khonsemhab, in both cases meaning " Khonsu ...

'', the protagonist encounters a ghost who claims to have been in life "

Overseer of the treasuries The overseer of the treasuries (alternative translation: overseer of the two treasuries; ) was a title and important role in the ancient Egyptian court of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old and New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom. The title is also atte ...

of king Rahotep". However, the ghost also claims to have died in regnal Year 14 of a later king Mentuhotep. These statements seem to contradict each other since none of Rahotep's successors named

Mentuhotep Mentuhotep (also Montuhotep) is an ancient Egyptian name meaning "''Montu is satisfied''" and may refer to: Kings * Mentuhotep I, nomarch at Thebes during the First Intermediate Period and first king of the 11th Dynasty * Mentuhotep II, reunifie ...

are known to have reigned for so long, thus making the identification of both these kings problematic.

Theories

While Ryholt and Baker propose that Rahotep was the first king of the 17th Dynasty,

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 ...

sees him as the second king of that dynasty. Alternatively, Claude Vandersleyen has tentatively dated Rahotep to the

13th Dynasty The Thirteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty XIII) was a series of rulers from approximately 1803 BC until approximately 1649 BC, i.e. for 154 years. It is often classified as the final dynasty of the Middle Kingdom (which includes ...

on the grounds that he believes Rahotep to be related to

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 ...

, which Vandersleyen also dates to the 13th Dynasty because of the quality and number of statues attributable to him. Baker deems these arguments "slim and rejected by most scholars". If he was indeed a ruler of the early 17th Dynasty, Rahotep would have controlled

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 ...

as far north as Abydos. According to Ryholt's reconstruction of the Second Intermediate Period, Rahotep's reign would have taken place shortly after the collapse of the 16th Dynasty with the conquest of Thebes by the

Hyksos The Hyksos (; Egyptian language, Egyptian ''wikt:ḥqꜣ, ḥqꜣ(w)-wikt:ḫꜣst, ḫꜣswt'', Egyptological pronunciation: ''heqau khasut'', "ruler(s) of foreign lands"), in modern Egyptology, are the kings of the Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt ( ...

and their subsequent withdrawal from the region. In the wake of the conflict, the Hyksos would have looted and destroyed temples and palaces. Rahotep consequently "boasts of restorations e performedin temples at Abydos and

".Janine Bourriau, Ian Shaw (edit), ''The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt'' Oxford University Press, 2000. p.205 In Abydos, he had the enclosure walls of the temple of Osiris renewed and in Coptos he restored the temple of Min of which "''gates and doors

ave is a Latin word, used by the Roman Empire, Romans as a salutation (greeting), salutation and greeting, meaning 'wikt:hail, hail'. It is the singular imperative mood, imperative form of the verb , which meant 'Well-being, to be well'; thus on ...

fallen into ruins''". This chronology of events is debated and some scholars contest that Thebes was ever conquered by the Hyksos. Rather, they believe the kings of Upper Egypt could have been vassals of the Hyksos.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahotep 16th-century BC pharaohs Pharaohs of the Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt