Sihathor

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Menwadjre Sihathor was an ephemeral ruler of the 13th dynasty during the late Middle Kingdom. Sihathor may never have enjoyed an independent reign, possibly only ruling for a few months as a coregent with his brother Neferhotep I. According to egyptologist Kim Ryholt, Sihathor died in 1733 BC [2] while Detlef Franke dates his short reign to 1694 BC. [3] His tomb is likely to be the unfinished one located between the tombs of his brothers S9 and S10, in Abydos.

The Thirteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasties XI, XII and XIV under the group title Middle Kingdom. Some writers separate it from these dynasties and join it to Dynasties XIV through XVII as part of the Second Intermediate Period. Dynasty XIII lasted from approximately 1803 BC until approximately 1649 BC, i.e. for 154 years.

Middle Kingdom of Egypt period in the history of ancient Egypt between about 2000 BC and 1700 BC

The Middle Kingdom of Egypt is the period in the history of ancient Egypt following a period of political division known as the First Intermediate Period. The Middle Kingdom lasted from around 2050 BC to around 1710 BC, stretching from the reunification of Egypt under the reign of Mentuhotep II of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Twelfth Dynasty. The Eleventh Dynasty ruled from Thebes and the Twelfth Dynasty ruled from el-Lisht. Some scholars also include the Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt wholly into this period as well, in which case the Middle Kingdom would finish around 1650, while others only include it until Merneferre Ay around 1700 BC, last king of this dynasty to be attested in both Upper and Lower Egypt. During the Middle Kingdom period, Osiris became the most important deity in popular religion. The Middle Kingdom was followed by the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt, another period of division that involved foreign invasions of the country by the Hyksos of West Asia.

Neferhotep I Egyptian pharaoh

Khasekhemre Neferhotep I was an Egyptian pharaoh of the mid Thirteenth Dynasty ruling in the second half of the 18th century BC during a time referred to as the late Middle Kingdom or early Second Intermediate Period, depending on the scholar. One of the best attested rulers of the 13th Dynasty, Neferhotep I reigned for 11 years.

Contents

Attestations

According to the latest reading of the Turin canon by Ryholt, Sihathor is recorded there on column 7, line 26 (Gardiner col. 6, line 26). [2] Sihathor is attested on two statues from the Hekaib sanctuary in Elephantine as a "king's son", which is here an honorary title referring to his brother Neferhotep I being king. [2] Two rock inscriptions from Philae and Sehel Island further mention Sihathor as a brother to Neferhotep I. [2] According to Ryholt and Stephen Quirke, Sihathor is also attested as a king on a steatite cylinder seal, now in the Petrie Museum (UC1157), and a bead of unknown provenance, now in the Brooklyn Museum. [1] [2] [4] A few further seals mentioning a king's son Sihathor are known, but Ryholt concludes that they may correspond to another Sihathor. [2] Finally, Vivian Davies points to the existence of a statue of Sihathor made after his death and where he is only given the title of "king's son". [5]

Turin King List ancient Egyptian manuscript

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 in Turin. The papyrus is the most extensive list available of kings compiled by the ancient Egyptians, and is the basis for most chronology before the reign of Ramesses II.

Heqaib ancient Egyptian nomarch

Heqaib, also Hekaib or Hekayeb, was an ancient Egyptian nomarch of the 1st nomos of Upper Egypt under king Pepi II Neferkare, towards the end of the 6th Dynasty. He was also an officer in charge of military expeditions in Nubia.

Elephantine island

Elephantine ( EL-i-fan-TY-nee, -⁠TEE-; Ancient Egyptian: ꜣbw; Egyptian Arabic: جزيرة الفنتين‎, translit. Gazīrat il-Fantīn; Greek: Ἐλεφαντίνη; Coptic: is an island on the Nile, forming part of the city of Aswan in Upper Egypt. There are archaeological sites on the island.

Family

Scarab seals of the "Royal seal bearer, divine father Haankhef", the father of Sihathor, and "Princess, royal daughter Kema", daughter of Neferhotep, niece of Sihathor. Haankhef&KemaScarabsPetrie.png
Scarab seals of the "Royal seal bearer, divine father Haankhef", the father of Sihathor, and "Princess, royal daughter Kema", daughter of Neferhotep, niece of Sihathor.

The family of Sihathor is known thanks to the rock inscriptions of Philae and Sehel made by his brother Neferhotep I. Sihathor's father is thus known to be Haankhef, his mother was Kemi and his brothers were Neferhotep I and Sobekhotep IV, the later of whom eventually succeeded him on the throne. [2]

Haankhef Father of three pharaohs

Haankhef was the father of the Ancient Egyptian kings Neferhotep I, Sihathor, and Sobekhotep IV, who successively ruled Egypt during the second half of the 18th century BC as kings of the 13th Dynasty.

Tomb

The Egyptologist and archaeologist Josef W. Wegner of the University of Pennsylvania has led excavations of the tomb and funerary complex of Senusret III in Abydos as well as of the surrounding necropolis. This necropolis was found to comprise royal tombs dating to the Second Intermediate Period as well as from the earlier late Middle Kingdom. Two large tombs in particular, S9 and S10 are now believed to belong to Sihathor's pharaoh brothers, Neferhotep I and Sobekhotep IV. Indeed, evidences gathered from the neighbouring tombs reveal that a king Sobekhotep was buried in S10, who must be Sobekhotep IV given the size of the tomb, its general datation and location in Abydos. By extension, S9 is likely to belong to Neferhotep I. [7] [8]

Josef William Wegner is an American Egyptologist, archaeologist and associate 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 Egyptology. His father is the astrophysicist, Gary A. Wegner.

University of Pennsylvania Private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private Ivy League research university located in the University City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Chartered in 1755, Penn is the sixth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. It is one of the nine colonial colleges founded prior to the Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Franklin, Penn's founder and first president, advocated an educational program that trained leaders in commerce, government, and public service, similar to a modern liberal arts curriculum. The university's coat of arms features a dolphin on its red chief, adopted from Benjamin Franklin's own coat of arms.

Senusret III Pharaoh of Egypt

Khakaure Senusret III was a pharaoh of Egypt. He ruled from 1878 BC to 1839 BC during a time of great power and prosperity, and was the fifth king of the Twelfth Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom. He was a great pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty and is considered to be, perhaps, the most powerful Egyptian ruler of the dynasty. Consequently, he is regarded as one of the sources for the legend about Sesostris. His military campaigns gave rise to an era of peace and economic prosperity that reduced the power of regional rulers and led to a revival in craftwork, trade, and urban development. Senusret III was among the few Egyptian kings who were deified and honored with a cult during their own lifetime.

These attributions are crucial for locating Sihathor's tomb, as indeed Wegner has found an unfinished royal burial at the immediate north-east of S10, east of S9. According to him, its position suggest very strongly that it was intended for Neferhotep's chosen heir Sihathor. The burial seems to have been abandoned at the death of its intended owner, its massive granite sarcophagus reused at a later time, during the chaotic Second Intermediate Period. [9]

Crown prince heir to the throne

A crown prince is the male heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. Its female form is crown princess, which may refer either to an heir apparent or, especially in earlier times, the wife of the person styled crown prince.

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S 10 (Abydos) ancient Egyptian tomb in Abydos

S 10 is the modern name given to a monumental ancient Egyptian tomb complex at Abydos in Egypt. The tomb is most likely royal and dates to the mid-13th Dynasty. Finds from nearby tombs indicate that S10 suffered extensive state-sanctioned stone and grave robbing during the Second Intermediate Period, only a few decades after its construction, as well as during the later Roman and Coptic periods. These finds also show that S10 was used for an actual burial and belonged to a king "Sobekhotep", now believed to be pharaoh Sobekhotep IV. According to the Egyptologist Josef W. Wegner who excavated S10, the tomb might originally have been capped by a pyramid, although Aidan Dodson states that it is still unclear whether S10 was a pyramid or a mastaba.

S 9 (Abydos) ancient Egyptian tomb in Abydos

S 9 is the modern name given to a monumental ancient Egyptian tomb complex at Abydos in Egypt. The tomb is most likely royal and dates to the mid-13th Dynasty, during the late Middle Kingdom. Finds from the area of the tomb indicate that S9 suffered extensive, state-sanctioned stone and grave robbing during the Second Intermediate Period, only a few decades after its construction, as well as during the later Roman and Coptic periods. Although no direct evidence was found to determine the tomb owner, strong indirect evidence suggest that the neighbouring and slightly smaller tomb S10 belongs to pharaoh Sobekhotep IV. Consequently, S9 has been tentatively attributed by the Egyptologist Josef W. Wegner to Sobekhotep IV's predecessor and brother, Neferhotep I . According to Wegner, the tomb might originally have been capped by a pyramid.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Darrell 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. 430
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 K.S.B. Ryholt, The Political Situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period, c.1800–1550 BC, Carsten Niebuhr Institute Publications, vol. 20. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 1997, excerpts available online here
  3. Thomas Schneider: The Relative Chronology of the Middle Kingdom and the Hyksos Period (Dyns. 12–17), in: Erik Hornung, Rolf Krauss, David A. Warburton (editors): Ancient Egyptian Chronology (= Handbook of Oriental studies. Section One. The Near and Middle East. vol 83). Brill, Leiden/Boston 2006, ISBN   978-90-04-11385-5, pp. 168–196.
  4. Picture of the cylinder seal
  5. Vivian Davies: A Statue of the King's Son, Sahathor, from Thebes, in: Stationen Beiträge zur Kulturgeschichte Ägyptens Rainer Stadelmann editor, Heike Guksch, Daniel Polz, pp. 177 - 179, ISBN   3-8053-2526-6
  6. Flinders Petrie: Scarabs and cylinders with names (1917), available copyright-free here, pl. XVIII
  7. Wegner, Josef W. (2015). "A royal necropolis at south Abydos: New Light on Egypt's Second Intermediate Period". Near Eastern Archaeology. 78 (2): 68–78.
  8. Wegner, J.; Cahail, K. (2015). "Royal Funerary Equipment of a King Sobekhotep at South Abydos: Evidence for the Tombs of Sobekhotep IV and Neferhotep I?". JARCE. 15: 123–164.
  9. Josef W. Wegner, lecture at the University of Chicago Oriental Institute. On Youtube The Pharaohs of Anubis-Mountain, 28 October 2015.
Preceded by
Neferhotep I
Pharaoh of Egypt
Thirteenth Dynasty
Succeeded by
Sobekhotep IV