Intef II
Intef II | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Inyotef II, Antef II, Si-Rêˁ In-ˁo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pharaoh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Reign | 49 years, 2112–2063 BC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Predecessor | Intef I | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Successor | Intef III | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Consort | Possibly 11th Dynasty |
Wahankh Intef II (also Inyotef II and Antef II) was the third ruler of the
Family
Intef's parents were Mentuhotep I and Neferu I. His predecessor Intef I may have been his brother. Intef was succeeded by his son Intef III.
Reign
After the death of the
After these wars, more friendly relations were established and the rest of Intef's reign was peaceful. The discovery of a statue of Intef II, wrapped in a sed festival robe, in the sanctuary of Heqaib at Elephantine suggests that this king's authority extended to the region of the First Cataract and, perhaps, over part of Lower Nubia by his 30th year.[3] This impression would appear to be confirmed by an expedition led by Djemi from Gebelein to the land of Wawat (i.e.: Nubia) during his reign.[3] Consequently, when Intef II died, he left behind a strong government in Thebes which controlled the whole of Upper Egypt and maintained a border just south of Asyut.[3]
The earliest attested dating of the god
Titulary
Intef II apparently never held the full royal fivefold titulary of the
Officials
We know the name and activities of some of the officials who served under Intef II :
- Tjetjy was the chief treasurer and king’s chamberlain of Intef II and Intef III.Ka desired."[8]
- Djary was a military officer who fought the Herakleopolitan forces in the Abydene nome during Intef II's armies' northward push.[6] His stele recounts the struggle for the control over Middle Egypt: "Intef fought the house of Khety to the north of Thinis".[9]
- Hetepy was an official from Elkab who administered the three southernmost nomes of Intef II's realm. This means that there were no monarchs in Theban-controlled territories. Just as in the case of Tjetjy, the constant reference to the king in Hetepy's stele demonstrates the centralized organization of the government of the Theban kingdom and the power of the king, to whom everything was due: "I was one beloved of my Lord and praised by the lord of this land and his majesty truly made this servant happy. His majesty said: 'There is no one who [. . .] of (my) good command, but Hetepy!', and this servant did it exceedingly well, and his majesty praised this servant on account of it".[6]Finally, Hetepy's stele mentions a famine that occurred during Intef II's reign.
- Idudju-iker was foremost one of the chiefs of Lower Nubia. He was in charge of Lower Nubia and helped the king conquering Abydos.[10]
Monuments
On his funerary stele Intef emphasizes his monument building activities. It is significant that the earliest surviving fragment of royal construction at
In fact, Intef II started a tradition of royal building activities in the provincial temples of Upper Egypt which was to last throughout the Middle Kingdom.Tomb
Intef's tomb in El-Tarif at Thebes is a saff tomb. Saff stands for "row" in Arabic and refers to the double row of columns and entry ways fronting a large 250 by 70 metres (820 ft × 230 ft) trapezoidal courtyard at the eastern end of which was a mortuary chapel.[12] This chapel may have been intended to serve the same purpose as a valley temple.[13]
Intef II's tomb was investigated by a royal commission during the reign of
Following the tradition of his nomarch ancestors, Intef II erected a biographical stele in the entrance of his tomb which relates the events of his reign and credits him with 50 years of reign.
References
- ^ ISBN 0-500-28628-0
- ^ a b c d Ian Shaw, The Oxford history of ancient Egypt p.125
- ^ a b c Nicholas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford: Blackwell Books, 1992), p. 145
- ^ Column 5 row 14
- ^ The Ancient Egypt Web Site, Antef II Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, (accessed September 7, 2007)
- ^ a b c Ian Shaw The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt p.126
- ^ Stele of Tjetjy
- ^ a b William Kelly Simpson, The literature of Ancient Egypt
- ^ The stele of Djary Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Josef Wegnerː The Stela of Idudju-ikerː Formost-one of the Chiefs of Wawat, inː Revue d'égyptologie, 68 (2017-2108), 153-209, plates VII-XII
- ^ Ian Shaw The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, p.127
- ^ ISBN 978-0-500-28547-3, pp 165
- ^ ISBN 9780500051399, pp 186-187
- ISBN 978-1-905299-37-9, 2008, pp. 145-146
- ^ Alan Gardiner, Egypt of the Pharaohs: an introduction, Oxford University Press, 1961, pp. 118–119
- ^ Stele of Intef II
Further reading
- ISBN 0-7156-3435-6, 12-15