Everything about Amenemhet I totally explained
Amenemhat I, also
Amenemhet I, was the first ruler of the
Twelfth Dynasty (the dynasty debated to be the beginning of the
Middle Kingdom of Egypt). He ruled from
1991 BC to 1962 BC.
Amenemhet I wasn't of royal lineage, and the composition of some literary works (the
Prophecy of Neferti, the
Instructions of Amenemhat) and, in architecture, the revertion to the
pyramid-style complexes of the
6th dynasty rulers are often considered to have been attempts at legitimizing his rule. Amenemhat I moved the capital from
Thebes to
Itjtawy and was buried in
el-Lisht.
His son
Senwosret I followed in his footsteps, building his pyramid–a closer reflection of the 6th dynasty pyramids than that of Amenemhat I–at Lisht as well, but his grandson, Amenemhat II, broke with this tradition.
Assassination
Amenemhat I is thought to have been assassinated in his sleep by his royal guards, the culmination of a double harem conspiracy. At the time, his son and co-regent Senwosret was leading a campaign in Libya. A literary work from the time of his son gives an account of the king's murder:
Succession
Amenemhat I was the first king of Egypt who is known to have had a
coregency with his son, Senwosret I. A double dated stele dates to the thirtieth year of Amenemhat I and to the tenth year of Senwosret I, which establishes that Senwosret was made co-regent in Amenemhat's 20th regnal year.
Name
Amenemhat I's name is associated with one of only two
sebayt or ethical "teachings" attributed to Egyptian monarchs, entitled the
Instructions of Amenemhat, though it's generally thought today that it was composed by a scribe at the behest of the king.
Amenemhat I's
Horus name,
Wehemmesu, which means renaissance or rebirth, is an allusion to the
Old Kingdom period, whose cultural icons and models (such as pyramidal tombs and Old Kingdom artistic motifs) where emulated by the Twelfth Dynasty kings after the end of the
First Intermediate Period. The cult of the king was also promoted during this period, which witnessed a steady return to a more centralized government.
Naguib Mahfouz, the
Nobel Prize-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 "
Story of Sinuhe", although adding details of a lovers' triangle romance involving Amenemhat I and Sinuhe that doesn't appear in the original.
Further Information
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