Idudju-iker was an ancient Egyptian high official who lived around 2050 BC in the 11th Dynasty. His title ''foremost one of the chiefs of Lower Nubia'' demonstrates his important position in the administration of

Lower Nubia Lower Nubia is the northernmost part of Nubia, roughly contiguous with the modern Lake Nasser, which submerged the historical region in the 1960s with the construction of the Aswan High Dam. Many ancient Lower Nubian monuments, and all its modern p ...

. Idudju-iker is only known from the fragments of a stela found reused in the

Second Intermediate Period 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 ...

tomb of king

Senebkay Woseribre Senebkay (alternatively Seneb Kay) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh during the Second Intermediate Period. The discovery of his tomb in January 2014 supports the existence of an independent Abydos Dynasty, contemporary with the Fifteen ...

at Abydos. On the stela Idudju-iker bears the titles ''sole friend'', ''count'' and ''hereditary prince'' (smr waty,

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 ...

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 ...

) but is also called ''foremost one of the chiefs of Lower Nubia'' (HAt HqAw nw wAtwAt). The first three titles place him high in the social hierarchy, while the latter title is so far unique. He was evidently the highest official in charge of Lower Nubia. The stela contains an autobiography of Idudju-iker that is heavily destroyed. Lower Nubia and the land of the

Medjay Medjay (also ''Medjai'', ''Mazoi'', ''Madjai'', ''Mejay'', Egyptian ''mḏꜣ.j'', a nisba of ''mḏꜣ'',) was a demonym used in various ways throughout ancient Egyptian history to refer initially to a nomadic group from Nubia and later as a ge ...

are mentioned and the text also refers to many rituals that Idudju-iker performed at Abydos. On stylistic grounds, the stela can be dated under the 11th Dynasty king

Intef II Wahankh Intef II (also Inyotef II and Antef II) was the third ruler of the Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt during the First Intermediate Period. He reigned for almost fifty years from 2112 BC to 2063 BC. His capital was located at Thebes. In his time, ...

. From several texts it is known that the king conquered Abydos, an evident that had a high symbolic importance. Although the texts on the stela are much destroyed, Josef W. Wegner concludes that Nubian soldiers perhaps under Idudju-iker were part of the military forces that seized the city.Wegner, inː ''Revue d'Égyptologie'' 68 (2017-2018), 188-194.

References

Officials of the Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt History of Nubia