Khety was an
ancient Egyptian local governor 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, ...
in
Middle Egypt
Middle Egypt () is the section of land between Lower Egypt (the Nile Delta) and Upper Egypt, stretching upstream from Asyut in the south to Memphis in the north. At the time, Ancient Egypt was divided into Lower and Upper Egypt, though Middle ...
in the
Twelfth 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 ...
. He is only known from his decorated tomb chapel (BH 17) at
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 ...
.
In the decoration of his tomb chapel appear several inscriptions providing the name and titles of Khety. He was ''
great overlord of the entire Oryx nome''. This is the main title of the local governors of the Oryx nome. Other titles include ''count'' (
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 ...
), ''royal sealer'', ''sole friend'', ''king's acquaintance'', ''who is in the chamber'', ''who belongs to
Nekhen
Nekhen ( egy, nḫn, ); in grc, Ἱεράκων πόλις Hierakonpolis ( either: City of the Hawk, or City of the Falcon, a reference to Horus or ''Hierakōn polis'' "Hawk City" in arz, الكوم الأحمر, el-Kōm el-Aḥmar, lit=the ...
'' and ''overlord 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 ...
'', but also ''overseer of troops at all secret places''.
[ Percy E. Newberry (1893)ː ''Beni Hasan. Part II''. London, England: Kegan Paul, Trench, Tubner & Co., Ltd., p. 5]
online
/ref> Not much is known about his family. His father was a person called Baqet, his wife was called Khnumhotep and there is one son attested with the name Khety.[ ]Naguib Kanawati
Naguib Kanawati (born 1941) is an Egyptian Australian Egyptologist and Professor of Egyptology at Macquarie University in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Early life
Kanawati was born in Alexandria, Egypt to a Melkite Greek Catholic fami ...
wonders whether Khety was the son of Baqet III
Baqet III was an ancient Egyptian official and '' Great Chief of the Oryx nome'' (the 16th nome of Upper Egypt) during the 11th Dynasty in the 21st century BCE. Apart from the position of governor of the entire nome, Baqet III also held the title ...
. The latter's tomb and those of Khety share the same plan and are close to each other.
His tomb chapel is cut into the rock and consists of one room with six columns, also cut into the rocks. The tomb decoration is painted and shows Khety hunting in the marshes, workmen and farmers, wrestlers, but also a siege of a fortress.
His dating is uncertain; perhaps he lived at the beginning of the Twelfth Dynasty under king 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 ...
.[A. G. Shedid (1994)ː ''Die Felsgräber von Beni Hassan in Mittelägypten'', Mainz, von Zabern, . p. 22.]
External linksVirtual exploration of the tomb of Khety
h1>
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khety
Nomarchs
Officials of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt