Amenemhat I

Amenemhat I was the first ruler of the Twelfth Dynasty (the dynasty debated to be the beginning of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt). Amenemhet I was not of royal lineage, and hence took measures to assure the authority of his kingship, such as including literary works (the Prophecy of Neferti, Instructions of Amenemhat) and the revertion to the pyramid-style complexes of the 6th dynasty rulers. Amenemhet I also moved the capital from Thebes to Itjtawy and was buried in el-Lisht.

His son Senwosret I, followed a similar path as Amenemhet did, by building his pyramid at Lisht, although his son, the next ruler of Egypt, Amenemhet II, did not follow this tradition. Senwosret's pyramid is a closer reflection of the 6th dynasty pyramids than that of Amenemhet I. Amenemhet I and Senwosret I are thought to have shared a joint reign (co-regency) of at least 10 years, with Amenemhet I celebrating his jubilee (10 years of rule) one year after they began their joint reign.

After only 12 years, he is thought to have been assassinated. Nobody knows for sure, but it is written in "his own hand" that it was an attack by his bodyguard.

Amenemhat I's name is associated with one of only two sebayt or ethical "teachings" attributed to Egyptian monarchs. The document is entitled the Instructions of Amenemhat I. The only other royal sebayt was the Instruction for King Merikara from the First Intermediate Period (2150-2040 BC). As Merikara was a king during the unstable periods of the Seventh through Ninth Dynasties, however, almost nothing is known of him or of his father who presumably wrote the instructions.

Naguib Mahfouz, the Nobel Prize for Literature-winning Egyptian writer includes Amenemhat I in one of his stories published in 1941 entitled "Awdat Sinuhi". The story appeared in an English translation by Raymond Stock in 2003 as "The Return of Sinuhe" in the collection of Mahfouz's short stories entitled Voices from the Other World. The story is based directly on the "The Story of Sinuhe", although adding details of a lovers' triangle romance involving Amenemhat I and Sinuhe that does not appear in the original.

Reference

Mahfouz, Naguib. "The Return of Sinuhe" in Voices from the Other World (translated by Robert Stock), Random House, 2003.

Pharaohs of the Twelfth dynasty of Egypt

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Reference