Imyremeshaw
Imyremeshaw | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Imyremeshau, Mermeshau, Emramescha' | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pharaoh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Reign | less than 10 years, starting 1759 BC[1] or 1711 BC[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Predecessor | Khendjer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Successor | Sehetepkare Intef | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Consort | uncertain, possibly Queen 13th Dynasty |
Smenkhkare Imyremeshaw was a minor king of the early
Attestations
Imyremeshaw is mainly attested in the Memphis-Faiyum region.
Pair of Colossi, Cairo JE 37466 and JE 37467
At Memphis (?), Imyremeshaw was attested by a pair of colossi dedicated to Ptah "He who is south of his wall, Lord of Ankhtawy" (rsy-ínb=f nb ˁnḫt3wy).[3] This is a Memphite epithet indicating that the statues must originally have been set up in the temple of Ptah in Memphis.[1]
During the
In the
Finally, during the 21st Dynasty the statues were moved to Tanis. Here, the colossi remained until the 1897 excavations under the direction of Flinders Petrie.[1][4][5]
Bead, BM EA 74185
Of Unknown Provenance, a white
Statuette, Cairo JE 54493 (weak)
At Saqqara South, the torso of a statuette was found in an unfinished pyramid dated to the 13th Dynasty.[7] W. Davis (1981) proposed that the statuette belonged to a "close successor of Khendjer" which could be Imyremeshaw. The fragment however is uninscribed and Davies' identification of the owner of the statuette as Imyremeshaw is based solely "on grounds of provenance".[4][8]
Non-Contemporary Attestations
The Turin King List column 7:21 reads "The Dual King ...kara Imyremeshaw, [x years, x months, and] 4 days".[9][10] In the list Imyremeshaw is preceded by Userkare Khendjer (7:19) and succeeded by Sehotepkare Intef (7:22).
Theories
Name
The nomen of Imyremeshaw is a well attested name in use during the
Baker and Ryholt contest this hypothesis. They point to the lack of evidence for a military coup as one cannot rule out an usurpation by political means. Additionally, they note that Imyremeshaw was a common personal name at the time. Similar common names based on titles include Imyrikhwe (literally "Overseer of cattle"), Imyreper ("Steward") and Imyrekhenret ("Overseer of the compound").[1] For these reasons, Stephen Quirke suggests that the name of Imyremeshaw may simply reflect a family tradition and Ryholt adds that it could indicate a family with a military background.[1][12]
Chronological position and reign length
The exact chronological position of Imyremeshaw in the 13th Dynasty is not known for certain owing to uncertainties affecting earlier kings of the dynasty. According to the Turin canon, Imyremeshaw was the immediate successor of Khendjer. Baker makes him the twenty-second king of the dynasty, Ryholt sees him as the twenty-third king and Jürgen von Beckerath places him as the eighteenth pharaoh of the dynasty.
The exact duration of the reign of Imyremeshaw is mostly lost in a lacuna of the Turin canon and cannot be recovered, except for the end: "[and] 4 days". Ryholt proposes that the combined reigns of Imyremeshaw and his two successors
The exact circumstances of the end of Imyremeshaw's reign are unknown but the fact that his successor Sehetepkare Intef did not use filiative nomina points to a non-royal birth. Consequently, Ryholt proposes that Intef may have usurped the throne.[1]
Imyremeshaw reigned from Memphis, starting in 1759 BC[1] or 1711 BC.[2] The length of his reign is not known for certain; he may have reigned for five years and certainly less than ten years.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l K.S.B. Ryholt, The Political Situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period, c.1800–1550 BC, Carsten Niebuhr Institute Publications, vol. 20. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 1997, excerpts available online here.
- ^ a b Thomas Schneider following Detlef Franke: Lexikon der Pharaonen, Albatros, 2002
- ^ Cairo, Egyptian Museum JE 37466 and JE 37467
- ^ ISBN 978-1-905299-37-9, 2008, p. 134
- ^ Flinders Petrie: A history of Egypt from the earliest times to the 16th dynasty, pp. 209-210, 1897, available online
- ^ London, British Museum EA 74185
- ^ Cairo, Egyptian Museum JE 54493
- ^ W. Davies: A royal statue reattributed, British Museum occasional paper 28, London, 1981
- ^ "Turin King List: Column 7".
- ^ Alan Gardiner's entry 6.21
- ^ Jürgen von Beckerath: Untersuchungen zur politischen Geschichte der zweiten Zwischenzeit in Ägypten, Glückstadt, 1964, p. 52
- ^ Stephen Quirke in Middle Kingdom Studies, S. Quirke editor, SIA publishing, 1991, p. 131