Amenemhat, often reported with his short form Ameny (''Jmnjj''), was an ancient Egyptian "

Overlord An overlord in the English feudal system was a lord of a manor who had subinfeudated a particular manor, estate or fee, to a tenant. The tenant thenceforth owed to the overlord one of a variety of services, usually military service or serje ...

of the

Oryx nome The Oryx nome (Egyptian: ''Ma-hedj'') was one of the 42 '' nomoi'' (administrative divisions; Egyptian: ''sepat'') in ancient Egypt. The oryx nome was the 16th nome of Upper Egypt,Wolfram Grajetzki, ''The Middle Kingdom of ancient Egypt: history, ...

" (the 16th nome of

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south. In ancient ...

) and chief priest during the reign of

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 the an ...

Senusret I Senusret I (Middle Egyptian: z-n-wsrt; /suʀ nij ˈwas.ɾiʔ/) also anglicized as Sesostris I and Senwosret I, was the second pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt. He ruled from 1971 BC to 1926 BC (1920 BC to 1875 BC), and was one of the most ...

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 s ...

(20th century BCE).

Biography

Amehemhat's mother was a noblewoman called Henu, whilst his father's name is unknown. Amenemhat was married to Hetepet, a "mistress of the house" and daughter of a governor, and the couple had a son called Khnumhotep. However, any relationship between Amenemhat and the ruling family of governors founded earlier by

Khnumhotep I Khnumhotep I (''ẖnmw-ḥtp, "Khnum is pleased"'') was an ancient Egyptian '' Great Chief of the Oryx nome'' (the 16th nome of Upper Egypt) during the reign of Pharaoh Amenemhat I of the 12th Dynasty, Middle Kingdom (early 20th century BCE). T ...

is unknown, and it was proposed that he could rather have been a member of the previous family of local governors. In any case, he administered his governorate from the city of

Men'at Khufu MinyaAlso spelled '' el...'' or ''al...'' ''...Menia, ...Minia'' or ''...Menya'' ( ar, المنيا ; ) is the capital of the Minya Governorate in Upper Egypt. It is located approximately south of Cairo on the western bank of the Nile River ...

from Year 18 to at least Year 43 of Senusret I.

Wolfram Grajetzki Wolfram Grajetzki (born 1960, in Berlin) is a German Egyptologist. He studied at Free University of Berlin and made his Doctor of Philosophy at the Humboldt University of Berlin. He performed excavations in Egypt, but also in Pakistan. He publishe ...

, ''The Middle Kingdom of ancient Egypt: history, archaeology and society''. London, Duckworth Egyptology, 2006, pp. 113-14 Amenemhat accompanied the pharaoh in a military expedition to

Kush Kush or Cush may refer to: Bible * Cush (Bible), two people and one or more places in the Hebrew Bible Places * Kush (mountain), a mountain near Kalat, Pakistan Balochistan * Kush (satrapy), a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire * Hindu Kush, a m ...

; though the date is unknown, it's likely the same, known expedition of Year 18 of Senusret I. In another expedition Amenemhat escorted the "king's son Ameny" – very likely the future pharaoh

Amenemhat II Nubkaure Amenemhat II, also known as Amenemhet II, was the third pharaoh of the 12th Dynasty of ancient Egypt. Although he ruled for at least 35 years, his reign is rather obscure, as well as his family relationships. Family Archaeological fi ...

– with 400 men to collect gold from an unknown

Nubia Nubia () (Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), or ...

n location. Amenemhat also was sent to

Coptos Qift ( arz, قفط ; cop, Ⲕⲉϥⲧ, link=no ''Keft'' or ''Kebto''; Egyptian Gebtu; grc, Κόπτος, link=no ''Coptos'' / ''Koptos''; Roman Justinianopolis) is a small town in the Qena Governorate of Egypt about north of Luxor, situated und ...

along with the

vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was a ...

Senusret in order to bring other gold. These expeditions suggest that Amenemhat was a very important official who usually accompanied high dignitaries and even members of the royal family. Curiously, Amenemhat dated his monuments from his installation in a way usually associated to the kings: the highest known date, Year 43 of Senusret I (more precisely ''Year 43, Month 2 of Akhet, Day 15''Description of Amenemhat's tomb BH2
/ref>) corresponds to Amenemhat's Year 25. However, there is no proof that people living under his governorship effectively used Amenemhat's personal datation.
Amenemhat died some times after this date. His relationships with his probable successor Netjernakht are not known. He was also the last governor of Men'at Khufu who brought the title of "Overlord of the Nome". In addition to this office, Amenemhat also held a massive amount of civil, military and religious titles, such as ''

iry-pat Iry-pat ( egy, jrj-pꜥt "member of the elite") was an ancient Egyptian ranking title, that is a title announcing a high position in the hierarchy of the country. Iry-pat was indeed the highest ranking title at the royal court, and only the mos ...

'', ''

haty-a Ḥaty-a was an ancient Egyptian rank and title given to local princes, mayors, or governors. There is no standard translation for Ḥaty-a, and it is frequently left transliterated in scholarly literature. In strings of ranking titles ''Ḥa ...

'', "confidential friend of the King", "royal acquaintance", "mayor of

Nekheb El Kab (or better Elkab) is an Upper Egyptian site on the east bank of the Nile at the mouth of the Wadi Hillal about south of Luxor (ancient Thebes). El Kab was called Nekheb in the Egyptian language ( , Late Coptic: ), a name that refers to ...

", "overseer of the priests of

Khnum Khnum or also romanised Khnemu (; egy, 𓎸𓅱𓀭 ẖnmw, grc-koi, Χνοῦβις) was one of the earliest-known Egyptian deities, originally the god of the source of the Nile. Since the annual flooding of the Nile brought with it silt an ...

-lord-of-

Herwer Herwer was an ancient Egyptian town in the 16th nome (Oryx nome) in Upper Egypt. It is mentioned in several ancient inscriptions dating from the Old, Middle and New Kingdom. The main deities of the place were Khnum and Heqet, both several tim ...

", "

lector priest A lector priest was a priest in ancient Egypt who recited spells and hymns during temple rituals and official ceremonies. Such priests also sold their services to laymen, reciting texts during private apotropaic rituals or at funerals.Ritner, Robe ...

" and many others.

The tomb BH2

Amenemhat/Ameny was likely buried in his large, lively decorated tomb (no. 2) within the necropolis of

Beni Hasan Beni Hasan (also written as Bani Hasan, or also Beni-Hassan) ( ar, بني حسن) is an ancient Egyptian cemetery. It is located approximately to the south of modern-day Minya in the region known as Middle Egypt, the area between Asyut and Mem ...

.
The tomb's chapel consisted in a large room with four columns, placed after a courtyard and a

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

which was provided of two other columns. The chapel's main room is richly painted with scenes of

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

and of siege of a fortress, two themes commonly found within Beni Hasan tombs. Other scenes in Amenemhat's tomb consists in the so-called, ritual "Journey to Abydos", as well as many artisans and farmers at work and a hunting in the desert. On the south wall, Amenemhet himself and his wife Hetepet are depicted with a large amount of offerings. The room's ceiling was divided into three decorated naves. A small cult

niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ecology, the ...

was made in the east side of the main room, probably meant to host a statue group of the tomb owner, traces of which have been found. The tomb also bore a graffito which was a possible attestation of

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 dynasty ...

, a poorly known pharaoh dated to the later

Second Intermediate Period of Egypt 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 b ...

. This graffito has been considered a proof that Wepwawetemsaf, who probably had his seat of power in Abydos, could have extended his authority about 250 km north, up to Beni Hasan. The graffito has been tentatively read by

Jürgen von Beckerath Jürgen von Beckerath (19 February 1920, Hanover – 26 June 2016, Schlehdorf) was a German Egyptologist. He was a prolific writer who published countless articles in journals such as '' Orientalia'', ''Göttinger Miszellen'' (GM), ''Journal of t ...

as "Sekhemreneferkhau" (Wepwawetemsaf's

throne name A regnal name, or regnant name or reign name, is the name used by monarchs and popes during their reigns and, subsequently, historically. Since ancient times, some monarchs have chosen to use a different name from their original name when they ac ...

) but this remains uncertain as the original is now lost.

: ''Untersuchungen zur politischen Geschichte der Zweiten Zwischenzeit in Ägypten'', Glückstadt, 1964

References

Kurt Sethe Kurt Heinrich Sethe (30 September 1869 – 6 July 1934) was a noted German Egyptologist and philologist from Berlin. He was a student of Adolf Erman. Sethe collected numerous texts from Egypt during his visits there and edited the '' Urkunden ...

, ''Historisch-biographische Urkunden des Mittleren Reiches'' (= ''Urkunden des ägyptischen Altertums'', Abteilung 7). Hinrichs, Leipzig 1935, pp. 14 ff. {{authority control Nomarchs Officials of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt 20th-century BC people Overseers of the priests of Khnum Abydos Dynasty