Merikare

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Merikare
Merykare, Merykara
Scribe palette of the chancellor Orkaukhety, bearing the cartouche of Merikare
Scribe palette of the chancellor Orkaukhety,
bearing the cartouche of Merikare
Pharaoh
Reignc. 2075–2040 BCE
PredecessorWahkare Khety ?
Successorpossibly an unnamed ephemeral successor,[1] then Mentuhotep II (11th Dynasty)
Royal titulary
Prenomen  (Praenomen)
Merikare
ka of Ra
M23L2
N5
U7		 D28
Nomen
possibly Khety[3]
Ḥty
FatherWahkare Khety ?
Diedapproximately 2040 BCE
Burial
10th Dynasty

Merikare (also Merykare and Merykara) was an

First Intermediate Period
.
Purportedly inspired by the teaching of his father, he embarked on a semi-peaceful coexistence policy with his southern rivals of the
Herakleopolis instead of waging an open war with Thebes. His policy was not rewarded, and shortly after his death his kingdom was conquered by the Theban Mentuhotep II, marking the beginning of the Middle Kingdom
. The existence of his pyramid has historically been ascertained, although it has not yet been discovered.

Reign

Biography

According to many scholars, he ruled at the end of the 10th Dynasty in his middle-age,

Egyptologists. Some scholars tend to identify Merikare's predecessor with Wahkare Khety.[6][7][8] These sebayt ("teachings", in ancient Egyptian) – possibly composed during the reign of Merikare and fictitiously attributed to his father – are a collection of precepts for good governance. The text also mentions the eastern borders, recently secured, but still in need of the king's attention.[9] In the text, Merikare's unnamed father mentions having sacked Thinis, but he advises Merikare to deal more leniently with the troublesome Upper Egyptian realms.[8]

Once crowned, around 2075 BCE,

Shashotep, likely to quell a revolt, and at the same time as a show of force to the turbulent southern border areas.[11]

Merikare died in c. 2040 BCE, a few months before the fall of Herakleopolis. Thus, the final defeat by the Thebans, led by

11th Dynasty, was likely inflicted upon an ephemeral, unnamed successor.[1]

Burial

Main article: Pyramid of Merikare
Stele of Anpuemhat, attesting the funerary cult of Merikare in Saqqara during the 12th Dynasty

Many sources suggest that Merikare was buried in a yet-undiscovered pyramid in

12th Dynasty; in fact, Merikare's cartouche appears on the stelae of at least four priests who were responsible for the funerary cult of Teti and Merikare during the Middle Kingdom.[12] They include Gemniemhat
who also held other important positions.

Attestations

Despite the fact that his name cannot be recognized in the Turin King List, Merikare is the most attested among the Herakleopolite rulers. His name appears on:

Hypothesis of an earlier reign

In 2003, the Egyptologist Arkadi F. Demidchik suggested that Merikare's placement within the dynasty should be reconsidered. According to him, if Merikare reigned during the campaign led by Mentuhotep II then the former's pyramid and its cult couldn't have survived the Theban conquest; again, Merikare likely would not be able to obtain granite from the South as mentioned in the Teachings. Demidchik also argued that the battles for Thinis mentioned by Tefibi and Merikare were the same, being fought in the opposite front by the Theban ruler Wahankh Intef II, thus suggesting that Merikare's reign should be placed some decades earlier than usually thought, when the 10th Dynasty's power was at its peak.[3]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-521-077915
    , pp. 467–78.
  2. ^ a b Jürgen von Beckerath, Handbuch der Ägyptischen Königsnamen, 2nd edition, Mainz, 1999, p. 74.
  3. ^ a b c Arkadi F. Demidchik (2003), "The reign of Merikare Khety", Göttinger Miszellen 192, pp. 25–36.
  4. ^ a b c Flinders Petrie, A History of Egypt, from the Earliest Times to the XVIth Dynasty (1897), pp. 115-16.
  5. ^ William C. Hayes, op. cit. p. 996.
  6. ^ a b Nicolas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt, Oxford, Blackwell Books, 1992, pp. 141–45.
  7. ^
    ISBN 0-203-44328-4
    , p. 113.
  8. ^ a b c d William C. Hayes, op. cit. p. 466–67.
  9. ^ William C. Hayes, op. cit. p. 237.
  10. ISBN 0-520-02899-6
    , p. 97.
  11. ^ Alan Gardiner, Egypt of the Pharaohs. An introduction, Oxford University Press, 1961, p. 113.
  12. James Edward Quibell, Excavations at Saqqara (1905-1906)
    , Le Caire, Impr. de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale (1907), p. 20 ff; pl. XIII, XV.

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Merikare.
  • Wolfgang Kosack; Berliner Hefte zur ägyptischen Literatur 1 - 12: Teil I. 1 - 6/ Teil II. 7 - 12 (2 Bände). Paralleltexte in Hieroglyphen mit Einführungen und Übersetzung. Heft 8: Die Lehre für König Merikarê. Verlag Christoph Brunner, Basel 2015.
    ISBN 978-3-906206-11-0
    .
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