Sobekneferu

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Sobekneferu
Neferusobek
Scemiophris from
Sobekhotep I or Wegaf
Royal titulary
Horus name
mryt-rꜥ
Meryt-re
Beloved of Re[14][15]
G5X1
N5U6M17M17X1

G5X1
N5Z1U6
X1
Nebty name
sꜣt-sḫm-nbt-tꜣwy
Sat-sekhem-nebet-tawy
The daughter of the powerful one is,
Mistress of the Two Lands[14]
G16
X1
G39		 S42V30
X1		 N16
N16
Golden Horus
ḏdt-ḫꜥw
Djedet-khau
Stable of appearances[14]
G8
X1
R11 N28 G43
S12
Prenomen  (Praenomen)
kꜣ-sbk-rꜥ
Ka-sobek-re
The ka of Sobek-Re[14]
M23L2
N5I4D28
Nomen
sbk-nfrw
Sobek-neferu / Neferu-sobek
Beauty of Sobek[14][16]
X1G39N5
F35F35F35I5A

sbk-šdt-nfrw
Sobek-shedet-neferu
Beauty of Sobek, lord of
Shedyt[17]

X1G39N5
I5AF30
X1		 F35F35F35
ConsortAmenemhat IV?
FatherAmenemhat III
BurialNorthern Mazghuna pyramid?
DynastyTwelfth Dynasty

Sobekneferu or Neferusobek (

Ancient Egyptian: Sbk-nfrw meaning 'Beauty of Sobek') was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the last ruler of the Twelfth Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom. She ascended to the throne following the death of Amenemhat IV, possibly her brother or husband, though their relationship is unproven. Instead, she asserted legitimacy through her father Amenemhat III. Her reign lasted 3 years, 10 months, and 24 days, according to the Turin King List
.

She adopted the full royal titulary, distinguishing herself from prior female rulers. She was also the first ruler to have a name associated with the crocodile god Sobek. Contemporary evidence for her reign is scant: there are a few partial statues – one with her face – and inscriptions that have been uncovered. It is assumed that the Northern Mazghuna pyramid was intended for her, though this assignment is speculative with no firm evidence to confirm it. The monument was abandoned with only the substructure ever completed. A papyrus discovered in Harageh mentions a place called Sekhem Sobekneferu that may refer to the pyramid. Her rule is attested on several king lists.

Family

See also: Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt family tree
Amenemhat III, father of Sobekneferu

Sobekneferu was the daughter of Pharaoh Amenemhat III,[5][18] but her mother's identity is unknown.[19] Amenemhat III had two known wives, Aat and an unnamed queen, both buried in his pyramid at Dahshur. He had at least one other daughter, Neferuptah, who had a burial at his second pyramid at Hawara that was eventually moved to her own pyramid.[20] Neferuptah appears to have been groomed as Amenemhat III's heir as she had her name enclosed in a cartouche.[21] Evidence of burials of three other princesses – Hathorhotep, Nubhotepet, and Sithathor – were found at the Dahshur complex, but it is not clear whether these princesses were his daughters as the complex was used for royal burials throughout the Thirteenth Dynasty.[22]

Amenemhat III's eventual heir, Amenemhat IV, is attested to be the son of

Sonbef, have been identified as possible sons of his based on their shared nomen 'Amenemhat'.[25] As such, Sobekneferu may have usurped the throne after Amenemhat IV's death, viewing his heirs as illegitimate.[26]

Female kingship

Sobekneferu was one of the few women that ruled in Egypt,[27][28] and the first to adopt the full royal titulary, distinguishing herself from any prior female rulers.[5][29] She was also the first ruler associated with the crocodile god Sobek by name, whose identity appears in both her birth and throne names.[30] Kara Cooney views ancient Egypt as unique in allowing women to acquire formal – and absolute – power. She posits that women were elevated to the throne during crises to guide the civilization and maintain social order. Though, she also notes that, this elevation to power was illusory. Women acquired the throne as temporary replacements for a male leader; their reigns were regularly targeted for erasure by their successors; and overall, Egyptian society was oppressive to women.[31]

In ancient Egyptian historiography, there is some evidence for other female rulers. As early as the

Neitiqerty Siptah.[36]

Reign

Serpentinite statuette head of Sobekneferu from the Louvre, Paris

The

Old Kingdom.[37] Amenemhat IV ruled for 9 or 10 years.[49] There is little information regarding his reign.[24]

It is to this backdrop that Sobekneferu acquired the throne.[37] She reigned for around 4 years, but as with her predecessor, there are few surviving records.[50] Her death brought a close to the Twelfth Dynasty[51][52] and began the Second Intermediate Period spanning the following two centuries.[53]

This period is poorly understood owing to the paucity of references to the rulers of the time.

Sobekhotep I[55] or Wegaf,[56] who inaugurated the Thirteenth Dynasty.[37] Stephen Quirke proposed, based on the numerosity of kingships and brevity of their rule, that a rotating succession of kings from Egypt's most powerful families took the throne.[50][57] They retained Itj-tawy as their capital through the Thirteenth Dynasty.[58][59] Their role, however, was relegated to a much lesser status than earlier and power rested within the administration.[57][59] It is generally accepted that Egypt remained unified until late into the dynasty.[58] Kim Ryholt contends that the Fourteenth Dynasty instead arose in the Nile Delta at the end of Sobekneferu's reign as a rival to the Thirteenth.[60] Thomas Schneider argues that the evidence for this hypothesis is weak.[61]

Attestations

Contemporary evidence

Louvre Museum

Only a small collection of sources attest to Sobekneferu's rule as pharaoh of Egypt.

steatite and is 4.42 cm (1.74 in) long with a diameter of 1.55 cm (0.61 in).[64]

A handful of headless statues of Sobekneferu have been identified.

Nine Bows, representing the subjugation of Egypt's enemies.[5] The three statues appear to be life-sized.[68] One statue with her head is known. The bust was held in the Egyptian Museum of Berlin but was lost during World War II. Its existence is confirmed by photographic images and plaster casts. It fits on top of the lower part of a seated statuette discovered at Semna which bears the royal symbol smꜣ tꜣwy on the side of the throne.[69] The lower half is held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.[70][71]

Damaged statuette of a Late Middle Kingdom Queen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, thought to represent Sobekneferu.

There is a damaged statuette in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York that has been suggested to represent Sobekneferu, though this assignment is unverified.[70] The schist bust depicts a woman in a wig, wearing a crown composed of a uraeus cobra and two vultures with outstretched wings which is of unknown iconography, and the ḥb-sd cloak.[50][72] The base of another statue bearing her name and identified as the representation of a king's royal daughter was discovered in Gezer, though it may also refer to a daughter of Senusret I or another unknown Sobekneferu.[73][74] A headless black basalt sphinx discovered by Édouard Naville in Khatana-Qantir bearing a damaged inscription is also tentatively assigned to Sobekneferu.[75]

There is evidence that she had structures built in Heracleopolis Magna and added to the Pyramid of Amenemhat III in Hawara.[50] She left inscriptions on four granite papyriform columns found at a temple in Kom el-Akârib, while a further ten granite beams there may date to the same period.[76] Her monumental works consistently associate her with Amenemhat III rather than Amenemhat IV, supporting the theory that she was the royal daughter of Amenemhat III and perhaps only a stepsister to Amenemhat IV, whose mother was not royal. Contemporary sources from her reign show that Sobekneferu adopted only the 'King's Daughter' title, which further supports this hypothesis.[73] An example of such an inscription comes from a limestone block of 'the Labyrinth' of the Pyramid at Hawara. It reads 'Beloved of Dḥdḥt the good god Nỉ-mꜣꜥt-rꜥ [Amenemhat III] given [...] * Daughter of Re, Sobekneferu lord of Shedet, given all life'. The inscription is also the only known reference to a goddess Dḥdḥt.[77][78] By contrast, Amenemhat IV's name does not appear at Hawara.[79]

Historical sources

Drawing by Flinders Petrie of the cylinder seal of Sobekneferu in the British Museum[80]

She is mentioned on the

Second Intermediate Periods, and of the Amarna Period, is an indicator of whom Ramesses II and Seti I viewed as the legitimate rulers of Egypt.[83] She is credited in the Turin Canon with a reign of 3 years, 10 months, and 24 days.[49][84][85] She is mentioned by Manetho as 'Scemiophris', where she is credited with a reign of 4 years.[86]

Funerary monument

Sobekneferu's tomb has not yet been positively identified. The Northern Mazghuna pyramid is assumed to be her monument. There is, however, no clear evidence to confirm this assignment[87][88] and the pyramid may date to a period well after the end of the Twelfth Dynasty.[89] Only its substructure was completed; construction of the superstructure and wider temple complex was never begun. The passages of the substructure had a complex plan. A stairway descended south from the east side of the pyramid leading to a square chamber which connected to the next sloping passage leading west to a portcullis. The portcullis consisted of a 42,000 kilograms (93,000 lb) quartzite block intended to slide into and block the passage. Beyond the passage wound through several more turns and a second smaller portcullis before terminating at the antechamber. South of this lay the burial chamber which was almost entirely occupied by a quartzite monolith which acted as the vessel for a sarcophagus. In a deep recess lay a quartzite lid which was to be slid into place over the coffin and then locked into place by a stone slab blocking it. The builders had all exposed surfaces painted red and added lines of black paint. A causeway leading to the pyramid was built of mudbrick, which must have been used by the workers. Though the burial place had been constructed, no burial was interred at the site.[88][89] A place called Sekhem Sobekneferu is mentioned on a papyrus found at Harageh which may be the name of her pyramid.[90][91] On a funerary stela from Abydos, now in Marseille, there is mention of a storeroom administrator of Sobekneferu named Heby. The stela dates to the 13th Dynasty and attests to an ongoing funerary cult.[92][93]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Proposed dates for the reign of Sobekeneferu: c. 1805–1802 BC,[3][4] c. 1790–1786 BC,[5][6] c. 1790–1785 BC,[7] c. 1787–1783 BC,[8] c. 1785–1782 BC,[9] c. 1785–1781 BC,[10] c. 1777–1773 BC,[11][12] c. 1763–1760 BC,[2] c. 1760–1755 BC.[13]

References

  1. ^ Schneider 2006, p. 174.
  2. ^ a b Krauss & Warburton 2006, pp. 480 & 492.
  3. ^ Keller 2005, p. 294.
  4. ^ Oppenheim et al. 2015, p. xix.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Gillam 2001, p. 301.
  6. ^ Redford 2001, Egyptian King List.
  7. ^ Grimal 1992, p. 391.
  8. ^ Lehner 2008, p. 8.
  9. ^ Clayton 1994, p. 84.
  10. ^ Dodson & Hilton 2004, p. 289.
  11. ^ Shaw 2003, p. 483.
  12. ^ Cooney 2018, p. 6.
  13. ^ Wilkinson 2010, p. xv.
  14. ^ a b c d e Leprohon 2013, p. 60.
  15. ^ Cooney 2018, p. 87.
  16. ^ Cooney 2018, p. 88.
  17. ^ The British Museum n.d., Description.
  18. ^ Dodson & Hilton 2004, pp. 92 & 95.
  19. ^ a b Zecchi 2010, p. 84.
  20. ^ Dodson & Hilton 2004, pp. 93, 95–96 & 99.
  21. ^ Dodson & Hilton 2004, p. 98.
  22. ^ Dodson & Hilton 2004, pp. 92, 95–98.
  23. ^ Dodson & Hilton 2004, p. 95.
  24. ^ a b c Callender 2003, p. 158.
  25. ^ Dodson & Hilton 2004, pp. 102 & 104.
  26. ^ Ryholt 1997, p. 294.
  27. ^ Cooney 2018, pp. 12 & 14.
  28. ^ Wilkinson 2010, pp. 128–129.
  29. ^ Robins 2001, p. 108.
  30. ^ Zecchi 2010, pp. 84–85.
  31. ^ Cooney 2018, pp. 9–13.
  32. ^ Cooney 2018, p. 30.
  33. ^ a b Roth 2005, p. 12.
  34. ^ a b Ryholt 2000, p. 92.
  35. ^ a b Cooney 2018, pp. 9–10.
  36. ^ Ryholt 2000, pp. 92–93.
  37. ^ a b c d Grimal 1992, p. 171.
  38. ^ Callender 2003, pp. 154–158.
  39. ^ Grimal 1992, pp. 166–170.
  40. ^ Grimal 1992, p. 166.
  41. ^ Callender 2003, p. 154.
  42. ^ Callender 2003, pp. 154–155.
  43. ^ Grimal 1992, p. 168.
  44. ^ Callender 2003, p. 156.
  45. ^ Schneider 2006, p. 172.
  46. ^ Callender 2003, pp. 156–157.
  47. ^ Grimal 1992, p. 170.
  48. ^ Callender 2003, pp. 157–158.
  49. ^ a b c Schneider 2006, p. 173.
  50. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Callender 2003, p. 159.
  51. ^ Gillam 2001, p. 403.
  52. ^ Simpson 2001, p. 456.
  53. ^ Grimal 1992, p. 182.
  54. ^ Ryholt 1997, p. 2.
  55. ^ Dodson & Hilton 2004, pp. 100&102.
  56. ^ Callender 2003, pp. 159–160.
  57. ^ a b Wilkinson 2010, p. 131.
  58. ^ a b Quirke 2001, p. 394.
  59. ^ a b Grimal 1992, p. 183.
  60. ^ Ryholt 1997, p. 75.
  61. ^ Schneider 2006, p. 177.
  62. ^ Almásy & Kiss 2010, pp. 174–175.
  63. ^ The British Museum & n.d. b, description.
  64. ^ The British Museum & n.d. b, materials, technique & dimensions.
  65. ^ a b c Berman & Letellier 1996, pp. 46–47.
  66. ^ Bietak 1999, p. 950.
  67. ^ Cooney 2018, p. 338.
  68. ^ a b Habachi 1954, pp. 458–460.
  69. ^ Fay et al. 2015, pp. 89–91.
  70. ^ a b Cooney 2018, p. 339.
  71. ^ MFA n.d.
  72. ^ MMA n.d.
  73. ^ a b Ryholt 1997, p. 213.
  74. ^ Weinstein 1974, pp. 51–53.
  75. ^ Naville 1887, p. 21.
  76. ^ Arnold 1996, p. 46.
  77. ^ Uphill 2010, p. 34.
  78. ^ Petrie 1890, p. Pl. XI.
  79. ^ Zecchi 2010, p. 85.
  80. ^ Petrie 1917, p. pl. XIV.
  81. ^ Louvre n.d., Chambre des Ancêtres.
  82. ^ Hawass 2010, pp. 154–157.
  83. ^ a b The British Museum n.d., curator's comments.
  84. ^ Ryholt 1997, p. 15.
  85. ^ Malék 1982, p. 97, fig. 2, col. 10, row. 2.
  86. ^ Waddell, Manetho & Ptolemy 1964, p. 69.
  87. ^ Lehner 2008, p. 184.
  88. ^ a b Verner 2001, p. 433.
  89. ^ a b Lehner 2008, p. 185.
  90. ^ Cooney 2018, p. 96.
  91. ^ The Petrie Museum n.d.
  92. ^ Siesse 2019, p. 130.
  93. ^ Ilin-Tomich n.d.

Bibliography

General sources

Royal titulary

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