Intef I
Intef I | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Antef, Inyotef, Anjotef, Anyotef, Enyotef | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pharaoh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Reign | 4 to 16 years, 2134—2118 BC,[1] c. 2120 BC or c. 2070 BC[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Predecessor | Mentuhotep I | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Successor | Intef II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Father | uncertain, most probably 11th Dynasty |
Sehertawy Intef I was a local
Sources
Intef is known for certain from only one near-contemporary monument: two inscribed blocks from the temple of Montu at Tod which were erected during Mentuhotep II's reign. The blocks represent Mentuhotep II facing the names of three of his ancestors which are identified by their proper name (nomen) and Horus name. These are Intef (I) Sehertawy, Intef (II) Wahankh and Intef (III) Nakht-neb-tep-nefer (although in this case only the Horus names Sehertawy and Wahankh are preserved).[5] This relief establishes the succession of kings of the 11th Dynasty.
There are no contemporary monuments which can be positively attributed to Intef I.[6] A possible exception is a short inscription discovered in the western desert: "the assault troops of the son of Re, Intef". In the original publication of the inscription this king Intef is identified with Intef I, although Intef II has also been proposed as a possibility.[4] The inscription is located in the vicinity of an inscription commissioned by the contemporary Coptite nomarch named Tjauti (see below).[7]
Intef I is most likely attested on later king lists, but this remains uncertain as his name is either lost or damaged. In the
Reign
Sehertawy Intef I was the first member of his Dynasty to assume a pharaonic title with the Horus name of Sehertawy variously rendered as "Maker of peace in the two lands", "He who has brought calm to the two Lands" and "Pacifier of the two lands".[3][4][8] Intef's parents may possibly have been Mentuhotep I and Neferu I.[4]
By taking a Horus name with both crowns, Intef declared himself ruler of all Egypt.
Intef I got rapidly embroiled in a war with his northern neighbors. A graffito discovered by the Theban Desert Road Survey in the Gebel Tjauti northwest of Thebes reports the presence there of "the assault troops of the son of Ra, Intef".[4][10] It has been posited that this inscription refers to Intef I whose soldiers were fighting the Coptite nomarch Tjauti. In support of this hypothesis is a nearby worn out stele erected by Tjauti reporting the construction of a road to allow his people to cross the desert "which the ruler of another nome had sealed off [when he came in order to] fight with my nome...".[4] Although not named explicitly, Darell Baker and other Egyptologists contend that this ruler must either be Intef I or his successor Intef II.[4] In any case, the subsequent defeat of Tjauti ultimately put Koptos, Dendera and the three nomes of Hierakonpolis under Theban control, expanding the Theban kingdom 250 km northward with a border near Abydos.[4]
Tomb
Intef's funerary complex was dug in a hill side at El-Tarif on the opposite bank of the Nile at Thebes and is known today as Saff el-Dawaba. The site of El-Tarif comprises three monumental royal tombs, known as saff tombs. Inscriptions found in one tomb indicate that it belonged to Wahankh Intef II, Intef I's successor. At the opposite, the Saff el-Dawaba is devoid of inscriptions but yielded the earliest type of pottery found at El-Tarif and, for this reason, is most often assigned to Intef I.[2][11] The Saff el-Dawaba comprises a large 300 by 75 metres (984 ft × 246 ft) sunken courtyard backed by a colonnade leading to a mortuary chapel carved into the hill and flanked by two chambers. The burial chamber of Intef I was dug beneath the mortuary chapel.[4]
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Court of the tomb of Intef I.
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Portico of the tomb, columns half buried in the sand.
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Pillared gallery in front of the burial chamber.
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Burial chamber.
References
- ISBN 978-0-19-510234-5.
- ^ a b c Thomas Schneider: Ancient Egyptian Chronology - Edited by Erik Hornung, Rolf Krauss, And David a. Warburton, available online, see p. 491
- ^ ISBN 0-500-28628-0
- ^ ISBN 978-1-905299-37-9, 2008, pp. 143-144
- ^ Labib Habachi: King Nebhepetre Menthuhotep: his monuments, place in history, deification and unusual representations in the form of gods, in Mitteilungen des deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts, Kairo 19 (1963), fig. 22)
- ^ Schneider, op. cit. p. 161
- ISBN 9781885923172.
- ^ Nicholas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford: Blackwell Books, 1992), p. 143
- ^ Grimal, p.142
- yale.edu. Archived from the originalon 2013-12-01.
- ISBN 978-1-906137-09-0, 31-35