Merankhre Mentuhotep

Last updated

Merankhre Mentuhotep VI was a Theban king of the Sixteenth Dynasty of Egypt based in Upper Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period. He was perhaps the 14th king of the dynasty. [3]

Contents

Attestations

Merankhre Mentuhotep is only attested through two statuettes, JE 37418/CG 42021 and BM EA 65429. The first, discovered in the Karnak cachette by Georges Legrain, [4] is missing its head and feet and gives the king's nomen and prenomen as well as a dedication to the god Sobek, lord of smnw . [2] [3] The second statuette, whose origin is unknown, also bears the titulary of the king but with no dedication.

Another possible attestation of Merankhre Mentuhotep VI is given by a fragment of a wooden coffin, now in the British Museum under the catalog number BM EA 29997. The coffin bears the following text: [2]

The Patrician, Royal Representative, Eldest King's son, the Senior Commander Herunefer, true of voice, who was begotten by king Mentuhotep, true of voice, and borne by the senior Queen Sitmut.

The prenomen of the king Mentuhotep is missing and the identification of this Mentuhotep remains problematic. Kim Ryholt notes however that the coffin is also inscribed with an early version of passages of the Book of the Dead, which is one of only two pre-New Kingdom inscriptions of this text. Thus, Ryholt argues that this Mentuhotep must have reigned during the late Second Intermediate Period. Thus three kings could possibly be the one mentioned on the coffin: Seankhenre Mentuhotepi, Sewadjare Mentuhotep V and Merankhre Mentuhotep VI. Although it sounds similar to Mentuhotep, Ryholt has shown that Mentuhotepi is a different name than Mentuhotep and would therefore not have been reported as Mentuhotep. To decide between the two remaining kings, Ryholt notes that the other instance of the Book of the Dead is found on the coffin of queen Mentuhotep, wife of Djehuti, the second pharaoh of the 16th Dynasty who reigned c. 1645 BC. In this case, the text is almost identical to that found on Herunefer's coffin, which argues for a close proximity in time between the two. While Sewadjare Mentuhotep reigned c. 10 years before Djehuti, Merankhre Mentuhotep is believed to have reigned 60 years after him. Hence, Ryholt concludes that Sewadjare Mentuhotep is the Mentuhotep of the coffin, Sitmut his queen and Herunefer his son. This identification is far from certain however, and Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton have instead dated the coffin to the end of the 16th dynasty, thereby giving Herunefer as the son of Merankhre Mentuhotep VI and Sitmut as his wife. [5]

Chronological position

Merankhre Mentuhotep is not attested on the surviving fragments of the Turin canon, his reign and those of four other kings of the end of the 16th Dynasty being lost in a lacuna. [2] For this reason, the exact chronological position as well as the length of his reign cannot be ascertained. Ryholt proposes that Merankhre Mentuhotep was a king of the late 16th dynasty based on two arguments. First, his prenomen Merankhre has the form X-ankh-re, similar to that of Djedankhre Montemsaf and both kings bear the nomen Montu-X which indicates that they succeeded one another closely in time. Second, the first statuette of Merankhre Mentuhotep is dedicated to Sobek of smnw (Sumenu) and was therefore probably set up at el-Mahamid Qibli near Gebelein where both Dedumose II and Djedankhre Montemsaf are attested before being moved to the Karnak cachette at a later point in time, perhaps at the collapse of the dynasty.

In an older study conducted in 1964 by Jürgen von Beckerath, Merankhre Mentuhotep was classified as a king of the 13th Dynasty. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imyremeshaw</span>

Smenkhkare Imyremeshaw was an Egyptian pharaoh of the mid 13th Dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sehetepkare Intef</span>

Sehetepkare Intef was the twenty-third king of the 13th Dynasty during the Second intermediate period. Sehetepkare Intef reigned from Memphis for a short period, certainly less than ten years, between 1759 BC and 1749 BC or c. 1710 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merhotepre Sobekhotep</span>

Merhotepre Sobekhotep was an Egyptian king of the late 13th Dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sobekemsaf I</span>

Sekhemre Wadjkhaw Sobekemsaf I was a pharaoh of Egypt during the 17th Dynasty in the Second Intermediate Period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sekhemre-Heruhirmaat Intef</span>

Sekhemre-Heruhirmaat Intef was an ancient Egyptian king of the Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt, who ruled during the Second Intermediate Period, when Egypt was divided between the Theban-based 17th Dynasty in Upper Egypt and the Hyksos 15th Dynasty who controlled Lower and part of Middle Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sekhemre-Wepmaat Intef</span> Egyptian pharaoh (1600–1600)

Sekhemre-Wepmaat Intef-Aa was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 17th Dynasty of Egypt, who lived late during the Second Intermediate Period, when Egypt was divided into two by Hyksos controlled Lower Egypt and Theban ruled Upper Egypt.

Sankhenre Sewadjtu was the thirty-fourth pharaoh of the Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period. Sewadjtu reigned from Memphis, starting in 1675 BC and for a period of 3 years and 2 to 4 months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sewadjare Mentuhotep</span>

Sewadjare Mentuhotep is a poorly attested Egyptian pharaoh of the late 13th Dynasty, who reigned for a short time c. 1655 BC during the Second Intermediate Period. The Egyptologists Kim Ryholt and Darrell Baker respectively believe that he was the fiftieth and forty-ninth king of the dynasty, thereby making him Mentuhotep V. Thus, Sewadjare Mentuhotep most likely reigned shortly before the arrival of Hyksos over the Memphite region and concurrently with the last rulers of the 14th Dynasty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sobekhotep VIII</span>

Sekhemre Seusertawy Sobekhotep VIII was possibly the third king of the 16th Dynasty of Egypt reigning over the Theban region in Upper Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period. Alternatively, he may be a ruler of the 13th or 17th Dynasty. If he was a king of the 16th Dynasty, Sobekhotep VIII would be credited 16 years of reign by the Turin canon, starting c. 1650 BC, at the time of the Hyksos invasion of Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amenemhat VI</span> Egyptian pharaoh

Seankhibre Ameny Antef Amenemhat VI was an Egyptian pharaoh of the early Thirteenth Dynasty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sekhemre Sementawy Djehuty</span>

Sekhemre Sementawy Djehuty was a minor king reigning over parts of Upper Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sobekhotep VI</span> Egyptian pharaoh

Khahotepre Sobekhotep VI was an Egyptian king of the 13th Dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Djedankhre Montemsaf</span>

Djedankhre Montemsaf was a Theban king of the 16th Dynasty based in Upper Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period c. 1590 BC. As such, he would have ruled concurrently with the 15th Dynasty, which controlled Lower and Middle Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seankhenre Mentuhotepi</span>

Seankhenre Mentuhotepi was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh during the fragmented Second Intermediate Period. According to egyptologists Kim Ryholt and Darrell Baker, he was the fifth king of the 16th Dynasty reigning over the Theban region in Upper Egypt. Alternatively, Jürgen von Beckerath sees him as the fifth king of the 17th Dynasty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mersekhemre Ined</span> Egyptian pharaoh

Mersekhemre Ined was a pharaoh of the late 13th Dynasty, possibly the thirty-fifth king of this dynasty. As such he would have reigned from Memphis over Middle and Upper Egypt for a short time either during the early or mid-17th century, from 1672 until 1669 BC or from 1651 until 1648 BC. He may be the same king as Mersekhemre Neferhotep II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mershepsesre Ini II</span>

Mershepsesre Ini was a pharaoh of the late 13th Dynasty, possibly the forty-sixth king of this dynasty. He reigned over Upper Egypt during the mid-17th century BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nerikare</span> Egyptian pharaoh

Nerikare was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 13th Dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snaaib</span>

Menkhaure Snaaib was an Egyptian pharaoh during the Second Intermediate Period between the Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom at the end of the Middle Bronze Age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wazad</span>

Wazad was an Egyptian pharaoh during the Second Intermediate Period. According to the Egyptologists Kim Ryholt and Darrell Baker, Wazad was a member of the 14th Dynasty of Egypt reigning c. 1700 BC. As a king of the 14th Dynasty, he would have reigned from Avaris over the eastern Nile Delta and possibly over the western Delta as well. The Memphis-based 13th Dynasty reigned over Middle and Upper Egypt at the same time. Alternatively, according to Jürgen von Beckerath and Wolfgang Helck, Wazad was a ruler of the 16th Dynasty and a vassal of the Hyksos 15th Dynasty. This view is debated in Egyptology, in particular because Ryholt and others have argued that the 16th Dynasty was an independent Theban kingdom rather than a vassal dynasty of the Hyksos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sewahenre Senebmiu</span> Egyptian pharaoh

Sewahenre Senebmiu is a poorly attested Egyptian pharaoh during the Second Intermediate Period, thought to belong to the late 13th Dynasty.

References

  1. 1 2 New arrangement on Digital Egypt for Universities
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Kim Ryholt: The Political Situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period c.1800-1550 B.C, Museum Tusculanum Press, (1997)
  3. 1 2 Darell D. Baker: The Encyclopedia of the Pharaohs: Volume I - Predynastic to the Twentieth Dynasty 3300 - 1069 BC, Stacey International, ISBN   978-1-905299-37-9, 2008, p. 232
  4. IFAO, The Karnak cachette: complete list of objects
  5. Aidan Dodson, Dyan Hilton: The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Thames and Hudson, 2004.
  6. Jürgen von Beckerath: Untersuchungen zur politischen Geschichte der zweiten Zwischenzeit in Ägypten, Glückstadt 1964, S. 63, 255–256 (XIII G.)

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Merankhre Mentuhotep at Wikimedia Commons