Merikare

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Merikare (also Merykare and Merykara) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 10th Dynasty who lived toward the end of the First Intermediate Period.
Purportedly inspired by the teaching of his father, he embarked on a semi-peaceful coexistence policy with his southern rivals of the 11th Dynasty, focusing on improving the prosperity of his realm centered on Herakleopolis instead of waging an open war with Thebes. His policy was not rewarded, and after his death his kingdom was conquered by the Theban Mentuhotep II, marking the beginning of the Middle Kingdom. The existence of his pyramid has historically been ascertained, although it has not yet been discovered.

Contents

Reign

Biography

According to many scholars, he ruled at the end of the 10th Dynasty in his middle-age, [1] [3] [4] [5] [6] following a long reign by his father. The identity of his predecessor (the so-called "Khety III" who was the purported author of the Teaching for King Merikare ) is still a question of debate among Egyptologists. Some scholars tend to identify Merikare's predecessor with Wahkare Khety. [5] [6] [7] These sebayt ("teachings", in ancient Egyptian) – possibly composed during the reign of Merikare and fictitiously attributed to his father – are a collection of precepts for good governance. The text also mentions the eastern borders, recently secured, but still in need of the king's attention. [8] In the text, Merikare's unnamed father mentions having sacked Thinis, but he advises Merikare to deal more leniently with the troublesome Upper Egyptian realms. [7]

Once crowned, around 2075 BCE, [9] Merikare wisely resigned himself to the existence of two separate kingdoms (the Herakleopolite and the Theban ones) and tried to maintain the policy of peaceful coexistence achieved by his father. [7] It seems that the period of peace brought a certain amount of prosperity to Merikare's realm. [6] Some time later, the pharaoh was forced to sail up the Nile with his court on a great fleet. Once he reached Asyut, the king installed the loyalist nomarch Khety II, who succeeded his deceased father Tefibi; [7] he also made restorations at the local temple of Wepwawet. After that, Merikare advanced farther upstream to the town of Shashotep, likely to quell a revolt, and at the same time as a show of force to the turbulent southern border areas. [10]

William C. Hayes argues that Merikare was the fourth and penultimate king of the Tenth Dynasty, based on his reading of the Turin King List. [11] However, his reconstruction of the king list is outdated. There is no break between the Ninth and Tenth Dynasties in the list, and there is only space for 18 names. The existence of a 19th ruler is purely reliant on the much later account of Manetho, which is based on already corrupted sources. [12] [13]

Burial

Stele of Anpuemhat, attesting the funerary cult of Merikare in Saqqara during the 12th Dynasty Stele Anpuemhat Quibell.png
Stele of Anpuemhat, attesting the funerary cult of Merikare in Saqqara during the 12th Dynasty

Many sources suggest that Merikare was buried in a yet-undiscovered pyramid in Saqqara, called Flourishing are the Abodes of Merikare, that had to be near to the pyramid of Teti of the 6th Dynasty. [11] The titles of the officials involved in its construction are documented, as his funerary cult endured into the 12th Dynasty; in fact, Merikare's cartouche appears on the stelae of at least four priests who were responsible for the funerary cult of Teti and Merikare during the Middle Kingdom. [14] They include Gemniemhat who also held other important positions.

Attestations

Despite the fact that his name cannot be recognized in the Turin King List, Merikare is the most attested among the Herakleopolite rulers. His name appears on:


Theories

Hypothesis of an earlier reign

In 2003, the Egyptologist Arkadi F. Demidchik suggested that Merikare's placement within the dynasty should be reconsidered. According to him, if Merikare reigned during the campaign led by Mentuhotep II then the former's pyramid and its cult couldn't have survived the Theban conquest; again, Merikare likely would not be able to obtain granite from the South as mentioned in the Teachings. Demidchik also argued that the battles for Thinis mentioned by Tefibi and Merikare were the same, being fought in the opposite front by the Theban ruler Wahankh Intef II, thus suggesting that Merikare's reign should be placed some decades earlier than usually thought, when the 10th Dynasty's power was at its peak. [2]

References

  1. 1 2 Jürgen von Beckerath, Handbuch der Ägyptischen Königsnamen, 2nd edition, Mainz, 1999, p. 74.
  2. 1 2 3 Arkadi F. Demidchik (2003), "The reign of Merikare Khety", Göttinger Miszellen 192, pp. 25–36.
  3. 1 2 3 Flinders Petrie, A History of Egypt, from the Earliest Times to the XVIth Dynasty (1897), pp. 115-16.
  4. ↑ William C. Hayes, op. cit. p. 996.
  5. 1 2 Nicolas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt, Oxford, Blackwell Books, 1992, pp. 141–45.
  6. 1 2 3 Michael Rice, Who is who in Ancient Egypt, 1999 (2004), Routledge, London, ISBN   0-203-44328-4, p. 113.
  7. 1 2 3 4 William C. Hayes, op. cit. p. 466–67.
  8. ↑ William C. Hayes, op. cit. p. 237.
  9. ↑ Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol. 2. pp. 97-109. University of California Press 1980, ISBN   0-520-02899-6, p. 97.
  10. ↑ Alan Gardiner, Egypt of the Pharaohs. An introduction, Oxford University Press, 1961, p. 113.
  11. 1 2 William C. Hayes, in The Cambridge Ancient History , vol 1, part 2, 1971 (2008), Cambridge University Press, ISBN   0-521-077915, pp. 467–78.
  12. ↑ Málek, Jaromír (1982). "The Original Version of the Royal Canon of Turin". The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. 68: 93–106. doi:10.2307/3821628. ISSN   0307-5133. JSTOR   3821628.
  13. ↑ Turin King List: column 5–6. Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt
  14. ↑ James Edward Quibell, Excavations at Saqqara (1905–1906), Le Caire, Impr. de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale (1907), p. 20 ff; pl. XIII, XV.

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