Hannu, Hennu or Henenu was an Egyptian noble, serving as ''m-r-pr'' "majordomo" to
Mentuhotep III
Sankhkare Mentuhotep III (also Montuhotep III) of the Eleventh Dynasty was Pharaoh of Egypt during the Middle Kingdom. He was assigned a reign of 12 years in the Turin Canon.
Reign
Mentuhotep III succeeded his father Mentuhotep II to the ...
in the 20th century BC. He reportedly re-opened the trade routes to
Punt and
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
for the
Middle Kingdom of Egypt
The Middle Kingdom of Egypt (also known as The Period of Reunification) 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 approximatel ...
. He was buried in a tomb in
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 ...
, in the
Theban Necropolis
The Theban Necropolis is a necropolis on the west bank of the Nile, opposite Thebes (Luxor) in Upper Egypt. It was used for ritual burials for much of the Pharaonic period, especially during the New Kingdom.
Mortuary temples
* Deir el-Bahri ...
, which has been catalogued as
TT313.
He is known from two inscriptions, in
Wadi Hammamat
Wadi Hammamat ( en, Valley of Many Baths, ''India way; gateway to India'') is a dry river bed in Egypt's Eastern Desert, about halfway between Al-Qusayr and Qena. It was a major mining region and trade route east from the Nile Valley in ancien ...
no. 114 (ca. 2000 BC) as ''hnw'' and in his Deir el-Bahari tomb as ''hnnw''. It is unclear whether the two inscriptions refer to the same person.
William C. Hayes
William Christopher Hayes (March 21, 1903 – July 10, 1963) was an American Egyptologist. His main fields of study were history of Egyptian art and translation/interpretation of texts.W. C. Hayes, ''The Scepter of Egypt'', part II, 4th print ...
postulated their identity while
Herbert Eustis Winlock
Herbert Eustis Winlock (February 1, 1884 – January 27, 1950)Note: ''Who Was Who'' notes death on January 27, Spring 1998 ''KMT magazine'' article states January 25. was an American Egyptologist and archaeologist, employed by the Metropolitan Mu ...
was hesitant to identify them.
James P. Allen
James Peter Allen (born 1945) is an American Egyptologist, specializing in language and religion. He was curator of Egyptian Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1990 to 2006. In 2007, he became the Charles Edwin Wilbour Professor of Egypt ...
considers ''hnw'' a successor of ''hnnw'' as the pharaoh's ''m-r-pr''.
Travels
In the eighth year of the reign of Mentuhotep III, Hannu set out from
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 ...
at the head of a three-thousand-man strong army, crossed the mountainous Eastern Desert by way of
Wadi Hammamat
Wadi Hammamat ( en, Valley of Many Baths, ''India way; gateway to India'') is a dry river bed in Egypt's Eastern Desert, about halfway between Al-Qusayr and Qena. It was a major mining region and trade route east from the Nile Valley in ancien ...
, and went on to the coast of the Red Sea.
Inscriptions
Hannu wrote of his expedition in stone. Under Sankhare (Mentuhotep III), whose name occurs as the 58th on the
Table of Abydus, lived a functionary named Hannu, who records on a rock-inscription, in this same valley of Hammamat, some particulars of Mentuhotep's reign, from which it appears that the kings of this dynasty had dealings with Arabia; and the trade thus introduced directly by the valley route from Coptos to the Red Sea, seems to have revived the fallen fortunes of the old monarchy.
[John Murray, John Gardner Wilkinson (1880)]
''Hand-book for travellers in (lower and upper) Egypt''
(afterw.) Handbook for Egypt and the Sudan. Being a new ed. of ''Modern Egypt and Thebes''. Page 40.
The first voyage to the
land of Punt
The Land of Punt ( Egyptian: '' pwnt''; alternate Egyptological readings ''Pwene''(''t'') /pu:nt/) was an ancient kingdom known from Ancient Egyptian trade records. It produced and exported gold, aromatic resins, blackwood, ebony, ivory an ...
took place under Sankh-ka-ra. According to the words of the rock inscription, everything needful was wisely prepared for the expedition, for which the Pharaoh chose as leader and guide the noble Hannu, who gives us the following account of his voyage:
[Brugsch, H. K., & Smith, P. (1881).]
I was sent to conduct ships to the land of Punt, to fetch for Pharaoh sweet-smelling spices, which the princes of the red land collect out of fear and dread, such as he inspires in all nations. And I started from the city of Coptos.—And his Holiness gave the command that the armed men, who were to accompany me, should be from the south-country of the Thebai'd.'
After a destroyed passage of the inscription, of considerable length, of which, however, enough has been preserved to show us that the narration went on to state that the armed force was sent with the expedition to protect and defend it against the enemy, and that officers of the king, as well as stonecutters and other workpeople, accompanied it, Hannu continues:
Then I reached the Great Green (w''ȝ''ḏ-wr). Then I made the ships and I dispatched them with all manner of things and made for them a great oblation of cattle, oxen and gazelles. When I returned from the Great Green, I performed what His Majesty commanded: I brought for him every product that I found on the shores of God's Land. I descended by WSg (unidentified) (and) Ro-Henu (Wadi Hammamat). I brought for him splendid blocks of stone for the temple statues.
Principal stations
In his account of the journey Hannu speaks of five principal stations at which the wanderer halted, and man and beast (then probably the ass, the only beast of burden proved to have been used in those times) strengthened themselves for their further progress by enjoying the fresh drinking water. This is also the same road that, in the time of the Ptolemies and Romans, led from Coptos in an easterly direction to the harbour of Leucos Limen (now Qossier) on the Red Sea; the great highway and commercial thoroughfare of merchants of all countries, who traded in the wonderful products of Arabia and India; the bridge of the nations, which of old united Asia and Europe.
See also
*
List of explorers
The following is a list of explorers. Their common names, countries of origin (modern and former), centuries when they were active and main areas of exploration are listed below.
List
See also
* Age of Discovery
* ...
References
Bibliography
*J. H. Breasted, ''Ancient Records of Egypt'', Part One, Chicago 1906
§§427-433*Brugsch, H. K., & Smith, P. (1881)
A history of Egypt under the pharaohs: Derived entirely from the monuments, to which is added a discourse on the exodus of the Israelites Vol I
Page 135 - 139
*Lionel Casson, ''The Ancient Mariners: Seafarers and Sea Fighters of the Mediterranean in Ancient Times'', Princeton University Press 1991, p. 10
*Couyat, Jean and Montet, Pierre. ''Les inscriptions hieroglyphiques et hieratiques du Ouâdi Hammâmât''. Cairo: Impr. de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale, 1913
pp. 81-84*Osbert Guy Stanhope Crawford, ''Antiquity'', Antiquity Publications 1996, p. 241
*James P. Allen: ''The high officials of the early Middle Kingdom'' in: Strudwick, Nigel and Taylor, John H.: The Theban Necropolis Past, Present and Future, London 2003, 14 - 29.
*James P. Allen:
Some Theban Officials of the Early Middle Kingdom' in: Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson, Boston 1996, 1 - 26
*William Christopher Hayes: ''Career of the Great Steward Henenu under Nebhepetre Mentuhotpe'', in: Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 35 (1949), 43 - 47.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henenu
20th-century BC Egyptian people
Ancient Egyptian high stewards
Egyptian explorers
20th-century BC deaths
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
Explorers of Arabia
Ancient explorers
Land of Punt