Khety I was an ancient Egyptian

nomarch A nomarch ( grc, νομάρχης, egy, ḥrj tp ꜥꜣ Great Chief) was a provincial governor in ancient Egypt; the country was divided into 42 provinces, called nomes (singular , plural ). A nomarch was the government official responsib ...

of the 13th '' nomos'' 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 E ...

(''"the Upper

Sycamore Sycamore is a name which has been applied to several types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms. The name derives from the ancient Greek ' (''sūkomoros'') meaning "fig-mulberry". Species of trees known as sycamore: * ''Acer pseudoplata ...

"'') during the 10th dynasty (c. 21st century BCE, during the First Intermediate Period). Like many other local governors, he also was a priest of the native deity

Wepwawet In late Egyptian mythology, Wepwawet ( hieroglyphic ''wp-w3w.t''; also rendered Upuaut, Wep-wawet, Wepawet, and Ophois) was originally a war deity, whose cult centre was Asyut in Upper Egypt (Lycopolis in the Greco-Roman period). His name means ...

. It is generally assumed that Khety I was the earliest of a trio of related nomarchs datable to the Herakleopolite period; he was likely followed by his son Tefibi and then by his grandson Khety II.Donald B. Spanel, in

Donald B. Redford Donald Bruce Redford (born September 2, 1934) is a Canadian Egyptologist and archaeologist, currently Professor of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies at Pennsylvania State University. He is married to Susan Redford, who is also an Egyptolo ...

(ed), ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt'' vol. 1, Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 154-6.

Biography

He was member of a long line of nomarchs in

Asyut AsyutAlso spelled ''Assiout'' or ''Assiut'' ( ar, أسيوط ' , from ' ) is the capital of the modern Asyut Governorate in Egypt. It was built close to the ancient city of the same name, which is situated nearby. The modern city is located at ...

with strong bonds of loyalty and friendship towards the Herakleopolite dynasty: as a child he was raised along with the herakleopolite

royal prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

s and their father – the

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 ...

– appointed Khety as nomarch and also joined the

mourning Mourning is the expression of an experience that is the consequence of an event in life involving loss, causing grief, occurring as a result of someone's death, specifically someone who was loved although loss from death is not exclusively ...

for the death of Khety's grandfather. Khety ruled his ''nomos'' during a peaceful period, and is known that he ordered the realization of many new

irrigation canal An acequia () or séquia () is a community-operated watercourse used in Spain and former Spanish colonization of America, Spanish colonies in the Americas for irrigation. Particularly in Spain, the Andes, northern Mexico, and the modern-day A ...

s and imposed the maintenance of the existing ones, thus expanding the cultivable land. During a period of

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompani ...

caused by a particularly small

Nile flood The flooding of the Nile has been an important natural cycle in Egypt since ancient times. It is celebrated by Egyptians as an annual holiday for two weeks starting August 15, known as ''Wafaa El-Nil''. It is also celebrated in the Coptic Church b ...

, he bestowed grain to the people of his district, although he denied the grain to the inhabitants of the neighboring ''nomoi'', also affected by famine, by closing the borders of his district. Although he ruled during peaceful times, Khety boasted his ability as a warrior and ordered the organization of a provincial defence militia.Hayes, op. cit., p. 468-469. After his death Khety was buried in Asyut (tomb V) and his titles passed to his son

Tefibi Tefibi (or Itj-ibj – ''It(.i)ib(.i)''Donald B. Spanel, in Donald B. Redford (ed), ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt'' vol. 1, Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 154-6. – in a more modern reading) was an ancient Egyptian nomarch ...

, who is likely to have lived during the reign of

Wahkare Khety Wahkare Khety was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 9th or 10th Dynasty during the First Intermediate Period. Identity The identity of Wahkare Khety is controversial. While some scholars believe that he was the founder of the 9th Dynasty ...

and

Merykare 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 ...

Biography

References

Further reading