Sekhemre Khutawy Sobekhotep (appears in most sources as Amenemhat Sobekhotep; now believed to be Sobekhotep I; known as Sobekhotep II in older studies) was an Egyptian

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until th ...

of the

13th Dynasty In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the Musical note, note thirteen scale degrees from the root (chord), root of a chord (music), chord and also the interval (music), interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be ...

during the

Second Intermediate Period The Second Intermediate Period marks a period when ancient Egypt fell into disarray for a second time, between the end of the Middle Kingdom and the start of the New Kingdom. The concept of a "Second Intermediate Period" was coined in 1942 by ...

, who reigned for at least three years c. 1800 BC. His chronological position is much debated, Sekhemre Khutawy Sobekhotep being either the founder of the dynasty, in which case he is called Sobekhotep I, or its twentieth ruler, in which case he is called Sobekhotep II. In his 1997 study of the Second Intermediate Period, the Egyptologist

Kim Ryholt Kim Steven Bardrum Ryholt (born 19 June 1970) 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 Formation in the Earliest Lite ...

makes a strong case for Sekhemre Khutawy Sobekhotep as the founder of the dynasty, a hypothesis that is now dominant in

Egyptology Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...

.Darrell D. Baker: ''The Encyclopedia of the Pharaohs: Volume I – Predynastic to the Twentieth Dynasty 3300–1069 BC'', Stacey International, , 2008, p. 443

Attestations

Sekhemre Khutawy Sobekhotep is attested by contemporary sources. First, he is mentioned on the Kahun Papyrus IV, now in the

Petrie Museum The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology in London is part of University College London Museums and Collections. The museum contains over 80,000 objects and ranks among some of the world's leading collections of Egyptian and Sudanese material ...

(UC32166). (Ryholt, p. 315) This Kahun Papyrus is "a census of the household of a lector-priest that is dated to the first regnal year" of the king and also records the birth of a son of the lector-priest during a 40th regnal year, "which can only refer to Amenemhat III." This establishes that Sekhemre Khutawy Sobekhotep reigned close in time to Amenemhat III. Second, a number of architectural elements bearing Sobekhotep's titulary are known: a fragment of a '' Hebsed'' chapel from Medamud, three lintels from

Deir el-Bahri Deir el-Bahari or Dayr al-Bahri ( ar, الدير البحري, al-Dayr al-Baḥrī, the Monastery of the North) is a complex of mortuary temples and tombs located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor, Egypt. This is a part of ...

and Medamud, an architrave from

Luxor Luxor ( ar, الأقصر, al-ʾuqṣur, lit=the palaces) is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of ''Thebes''. Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-ai ...

and a doorjamb from Medamud that is now in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

Nile Level Records

Three Nile level records from

Semna The region of Semna is 15 miles south of Wadi Halfa and is situated where rocks cross the Nile narrowing its flow—the Semna Cataract. Semna was a fortified area established in the reign of Senusret I (1965–1920 BC) on the west bank of the ...

and Kumna in

Nubia Nubia () (Nobiin language, Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue ...

are also attributable to Sekhemre Khutawy Sobekhotep, the latest of which is dated to year 4, showing that he reigned for at least three complete years.

Small finds

Smaller artifacts mentioning Sekhemre Khutawy Sobekhotep comprise a cylinder seal from Gebelein, an

adze An adze (; alternative spelling: adz) is an ancient and versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with the cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. Adzes have been used since the Stone Age. They are used for smoothing ...

-blade, a statuette from Kerma and a

faience Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major ad ...

bead, now in the Petrie Museum (UC 13202).

Alleged tomb

His tomb was believed to have been discovered in

Abydos Abydos may refer to: *Abydos, a progressive metal side project of German singer Andy Kuntz * Abydos (Hellespont), an ancient city in Mysia, Asia Minor * Abydos (''Stargate''), name of a fictional planet in the '' Stargate'' science fiction universe ...

in 2013, but its attribution is now questioned.

Josef W. Wegner Josef William Wegner (born October 1967) is an American Egyptologist, archaeologist and Professor in Egyptology at the department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations of the University of Pennsylvania, where he obtained his Ph.D. degree in ...

: ''A Royal Necropolis at Abydos'', in: ''Near Eastern Archaeology'', 78 (2), 2015, p. 70 During a 2013 excavation in

, a team of archaeologists led by

of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universit ...

discovered the tomb of a king with the name ''Sobekhotep''. While Sobekhotep I was named as owner of the tomb on several press reports since January 2014, further investigations made it more likely that the tomb belongs to king Sobekhotep IV instead.

Chronological position

There is some dispute in

over the position of this king in the 13th Dynasty. The throne name ''Sekhemre Khutawyre'' appears 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, now in the Museo Egizio (Egyptian Museum) in Turin. The papyrus is the most extensive list av ...

as the 19th king of the 13th Dynasty. However, the Nile level records and his appearance on a

papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...

found at Lahun indicate that he might date to the early 13th Dynasty. In both monument types only kings of the late 12th and early 13th Dynasty are mentioned. In the

, ''Khutawyre'' appears as the first 13th Dynasty king; Egyptologist

maintains that it is possible that the writer of the list confused ''Sekhemre Khutawy'' with ''Khutawyre'', the nomen of Wegaf. Furthermore, the identification of any mention of

Sekhemre Khutawy Sekhemrekhutawy (also Sekhemre Khutawy) is an Ancient Egyptian name meaning "''Mighty Re, he who protects the Two Lands''". Sekhemrekhutawy was the name of three Egyptian pharaohs during the Second Intermediate period: K.S.B. Ryholt: ''The Polit ...

is difficult, as at least three kings are known to have had this name: Sekhemre Khutawy Sobekhotep, Sekhemre Khutawy Pantjeny and Sekhemre Khutawy Khabaw. Based on his name Amenemhat Sobekhotep, it has been suggested that Sobekhotep was a son of the penultimate pharaoh of the

12th Dynasty The Twelfth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty XII) is considered to be the apex of the Middle Kingdom by Egyptologists. It often is combined with the Eleventh, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth dynasties under the group title, Middle Kingdom. Some ...

, king Amenemhat IV. Amenemhat Sobekhotep can be read as Amenemhat's son Sobekhotep. Therefore, Sobekhotep may have been a brother of Sekhemkare Sonbef, the second ruler of the 13th Dynasty. Other Egyptologists read Amenemhat Sobekhotep as a double name, these being common in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Dynasty.Stephen Quirke: ''In the Name of the King: on Late Middle Kingdom Cylinders'', in: ''Timelines, Studies in Honour of Manfred Bietak'', Leuven, Paris, Dudley, MA. , 263-64

Attestations

Nile Level Records

Small finds

Alleged tomb

Chronological position

References

Further reading