Three Rulers in Nubia and the Early

Middle Kingdom in Egypt

Bruce Williams, The University of Chicago

Just over a century ago, Arthur Weigall identified the

names and titularies of three otherwise undocumented
rulers carved in Egyptian hieroglyphics on the rocks of
Lower Nubia in his survey of the monuments there,1
one already recorded by Breasted a short time before.2
The first (attested by the most numerous inscriptions)
ruler is known by fifteen inscriptions scattered between Umbarrakab and Abu Simbel, the second by
three, from Abu Hor to Toshka, and the third ruler
A. E. P. Weigall, Report on the Antiquities of Lower Nubia
(The First Cataract to the Sudan Frontier) and their condition in
19067 (Oxford, 1907), 1213, 76, 96, 108, for example. For a
recent review of the problem, see L. Trk, Between Two Worlds;
the Frontier Region between Ancient Nubia and Egypt 3700 BCAD
500 (Probleme der gyptologie 29; Leiden, 2009), 100102. See
also R. G. Morkot, Kingship and Kinship in the Empire of Kush,
in Studien zum antiken Sudan. Akten der 7. Internationalen Tagung fr metoitistische Forschungen vom 14. bis 19. September 1992
in Gosen/bei Berlin, ed. Steffen Wenig (Meroitica 15; Wiesbaden,
1999), 18485, W. Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt
(London, 2006), 2628. Morkot, The Black Pharaohs, Egypts Nubian Rulers (London, 2000), 5455 presents a less detailed discussion, but with additional analysis.
2
J. H. Breasted, Oriental Exploration Fund of the University of Chicago. First Report of the Egyptian Expedition. AJSLL
23 (19061907): 57, fig. 39. Oriental Institute Archives P2654:
http://oi.uchicago.edu/gallery/pa_egypt_bees_mediq/index.
php/I6F5_72dpi.png?action=big&size=original
1

by two inscriptions, both at Khor Dehmit.3 Weigalls

work there was partly reviewed and collated by Roeder
the next year,4 and later writers have regularly taken
note of these kings and almost all refer to them as
rulers located in Nubia.5 This alone is remarkable,
because they do not notice that these rulers arose in
T. Sve-Sderbergh, gypten und Nubien: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte altgyptischer Aussenpolitik (Lund, 1941), 4250 gives the
most detailed consideration. For Qakare, he lists (p. 47) three inscriptions found by Roeder and nine found by Weigall. Z. ba, The
Rock Inscriptions of Lower Nubia, Czechoslovak concession (Prague,
1974), 15455 added one more (also p. 141). W. K. Simpson,
Heka-Nefer and the Dynastic Material from Toshka and Arminna
(Publications of the Pennsylvania-Yale Expedition to Egypt 1; New
Haven, 1963), pl. XVIIIa and b, added two more inscriptions, for
a total of fifteen. For Iy-ib-khent-Re, Simpson lists three, all found
by Weigall; the inscription at Mediq was found earlier by Breasted
(Breasted, Oriental Exploration Fund, 57, fig. 39. Breasted calls
the site Molokab; for a photograph, see the URL in note 2).
4
G. Roeder, Dabod bis Bab Kalabsche, Tome Premier: Les Temples
immergs de la Nubie (Cairo, 1911), 11416 (nos. 30611),
pls. 108c and 109a; cf. Weigall, Report on the Antiquities of Lower
Nubia, pl. 19: 12 and pl. 21: 2.
5
An exception is Grajetzki (Middle Kingdom, 2628), who
notes that Mentuhotep IV is known only by inscriptions outside
Egypt and thinks they three were rulers of Egypt. However, Mentuhotep IVs inscriptions are in Wadi Hamamat, on the road to
Sinai, and in other locations that point to Egypt as his location,
whereas these rulers are found only in Nubia.
3

[JNES 72 no. 1 (2013)] 2013 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 02229682013/7201008 $10.00.

2 F Journal of Near Eastern Studies

Nubia at a timesome time after the Old Kingdom

and before the Newwhen Egypt had arrived at the
full canonical view of its geographical place in the universe that should exclude such eccentric behavior. Also
at that time, Lower Nubia (later known as Wawat) was
fully occupied by a Nubian culture whose archaeology
displays neither a shred of interest in Egyptian civilization nor the slightest inclination to submit to it.6
There are some baubles and odds and ends, but nothing that is organized in an Egyptian way.7 For these
reasons, the consequences of this seemingly inconsequential dynasty for our understanding of intercultural
relations are severe.
The Three Rulers
1. Qa-ka-Re Iny (contraction for Inyotef ?), known
from fifteen inscriptions, has a full five-fold titulary,
Horus Snefer-tawy.fy, Nebty Senefer-tawy.fy, Golden
Horus Nefer, Nesu-Bity Qa-ka-Re, Son of Re Iny.
Qa-ka-Re,8 it was noted from the first, is identical
with the throne (nesu-bity) name of an Eighth Dynasty
king who had a small pyramid at Saqqara South.9 His
personal Son of Re name, on the other hand, as a

See M. Bietak, Studien zur Chronologie der Nubischen CGruppe: Ein Beitrag zur Frhgeschichte Unternubiens zwischen 2200
und 1550 vor Chr (sterreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften,
phil.-hist. Klasse, Denkschriften 97; Vienna, 1968), 165: Appendix,
Chronological table. Bietak begins phase Ia about the end of the
Old Kingdom, Ib in the Eleventh Dynasty, IIa in the Twelfth Dynasty, and IIb about the end of the Thirteenth; for historical and
archaeological arguments, see pp. 14157. B. Williams, Excavations
between Abu Simbel and the Sudan Frontier, Keith C. Seele, Director. Part 5: C-Group, Pan Grave, and Kerma Remains at Adindan
Cemeteries T, K, U, and J (The University of Chicago Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition 5; Chicago, 1983), 220 undertook a
verification of the internal chronology of the C-Group.
7
See, for example G. Steindorff, Aniba, Erster Band, with contributions by R. Heidenreich, F. Kretschmar, A. Langsdorf and W.
Wolf (Gluckstadt, 1935), pl. 16a for inscribed stelae, and 16b for
offering tables that represent some use of Egyptian culture rather
than imports.
8
J. von Beckerath, Handbuch der gyptischen Knigsnamen
(Mnchener gypologische Studien 49; Mainz, 1999), 8081; note
the hieroglyphics have a typographical error, substituting ankh for
nefer): a; Sve-Sderbergh, gypten und Nubien, 47.
9
See von Beckerath, Handbuch der gyptischen Knigsnamen,
6869, no. 14, G. Jequier, La Pyramide dAba (Fouilles Saqqarah
16; Cairo, 1935) plate III, cols. 17 and 34, for example.
6

contraction of Inyotef, belongs to the Eleventh Dynasty at the earliest.10

2. Found directly behind one inscription of Qa-ka-Re
is the Horus name of the second ruler, Gereg-tawyfy.11 Only three inscriptions mention him, and he is
known in the second, professionally written inscription, only by that Horus name and his throne name,
conventionally read Iy-ib khent-Re.12 From the first
it was noticed that his Horus name was similar to
that of Neferhotep I (Gereg-tawy) of the Thirteenth
Dynasty.13
3. The third ruler is, in some respects, the most interesting. He is known by his Golden Horus name Ankh
(Bik-nebu ankh), and his throne name Wadj-ka-Re
(discounting the unusual reading of von Beckerath).14
Almost from the first, it was noticed that the throne
name Wadj-ka-Re also was the same as that of an
Eighth Dynasty ruler, this time from one of the
Coptos Decrees.15 His personal name was copied as
Segerseni by Weigall, who first recorded the inscription (see fig. 1a). 16 Roeder, who had the benefit of
Weigalls report, copied it the next year as Segersenti
(fig. 1b). 17 We do not have the inscription to review,
nor a high quality photograph, but the one we do
have (fig. 1c) shows a tall sign with a club end, rather

10
E. Meyer, Neue Nachtrge zur gyptischen Chronologie. 1.
Zwei Knige der 11. Dynastie, ZS 44 (1907): 115 noted the
frequent use of In as a contraction for Inyotef in the Eleventh
Dynasty.
11
Simpson, Heka-Nefer, 4546, pl. 23ab; Sve-Sderbergh,
gypten und Nubien, 48; Weigall, Report on the Antiquities of Lower
Nubia, pl. 651; J. H. Dunbar, The Rock-Pictures of Lower Nubia
(Cairo, 1941), pl. 15 fig. 68.
12
von Beckerath, Handbuch der gyptischen Knigsnamen,
8081 (XI c): b; Breasted, above, note 2; Weigall, Report on the
Antiquities of Lower Nubia, pl. 50: 1.
13
H. Gauthier, Nouvelles remarques sur la XIe Dynastie,
BIFAO IX (1911): 132, recounts the similarity and Borchardts,
Schfers and Steindorffs reading of it without the final f as the
name of Neferhotep I. He credits Breasteds copy as confirming the
final f and the existence of the new king.
14
Wadj-ka-Res two inscriptions were copied both by Weigall (Report on the Antiquities of Lower Nubia, pl. 19: 12, photograph pl.
21: 2) and G. Roeder, Dabod bis Bab Kalabsche, pls. 108c and 109a,
also von Beckerath, Handbuch der gyptischen Knigsnamen, 80.
15
W. C. Hayes, Royal Decrees From the Temple of Min at
Coptos, JEA 32 (1946): 20.
16
Weigall, Report on the Antiquities of Lower Nubia, pl. 19: 12
(fig. 1a).
17
G. Roeder, Dabod bis Bab Kalabsche, pls. 108c and 109a
(fig. 1b).

Three Rulers in Nubia and the Early Middle Kingdom in Egypt F3

Figure 1adThe Name of Segersenti.

1a. As copied by Weigall. Report on the Antiquities of Lower Nubia, pl. 19: 2.
1b. As copied by Roeder, Dabod bis Bab Kalabsche, pl. 108c.
1c. As it appears in Weigalls photograph (Report on the Antiquities of Lower Nubia, pl. 21, 2).
1d. Authors tracing from the photograph.

than a reed leaf where Roeder saw a ti-sign.18 Despite

the inadequacy of the photo, and the fact that the upper end of the sign tilts the wrong way, I must follow
Roeders identification (fig. 1d).
The Date of the Dynasty
With names and titularies clearly but only partly
derived from Eleventh (and even Eighth) Dynasty
models, and similar to one Thirteenth Dynasty name,
the rulers have plausibly been dated to any one of
three periods (with a subdivision). While mentioned
by everyone who deals in detail with at least the earlier two phases, the names are now mentioned almost
18

Weigall, Report on the Antiquities of Lower Nubia, pl. 21: 2.

in passing,19 hardly more than a speed bump in the

path of the Egyptian historical narratives majestic
monumental processionStaat aus dem Stein.20 Unfortunately, although shadowy, their mere existence
has major implications for the history of any phase to
which they might be assigned, and I attribute their
lack of importance in historical narratives to continued doubts about their date. The problem needs to
Morkot, Kingship and Kinship in the Empire of Kush,
18485; The Black Pharaohs, 5455, Trk, Between Two Worlds,
100102; Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom, 2628, G. Meurer, Nubier in gypten bis zum Beginn des Neuen Reiches. Zur Bedeuteung
der Stele Berlin 14753 (ADAIKR 13; Berlin, 1996), 7778.
20
I refer to H. G. Evers, Staat aus dem Stein. Denkmler, Bedeutung, und Geschichte der gyptischen Plastik whrend des Mittleren
Reiches (Munich, 1929).
19

4 F Journal of Near Eastern Studies

be solved, and I will illustrate the need with the three

hypothetical scenarios below.
Hypothetical scenario 1
The Dynasty Dates to Dynasty XI before the invasions
of Nubia. As the Eleventh Dynasty consolidated its
hold on Upper Egypt, a dissident group of officials,
royal family members, and soldiers, established a rival
dynasty in Nubia.21 Flaunting a relationship to the old
Eighth Dynasty, they competed head to head with
the Thebans, disrupting the supply of Nubian recruits
necessary for Thebes to battle the north,22 while offering an accessible refuge for dissidents as well as
presenting a threat to the southern flank.23
Hypothetical scenario 2a
The Dynasty dates to the time of troubles in the late
Dynasty XI. As the Eleventh Dynasty wound down,
the overly parochial view of the Dynasty created resistance and disorder.24 Dissidents, including officers,
took flight to Nubia, a major source of military manpower, to establish a well-controlled dynasty that combined the vigor of the earlier Eleventh Dynasty and
a connection to the late Old Kingdoms strength and
order.

See Sve-Sderbergh, gypten und Nubien, 50, who displays

some hesitation; E. Drioton and J. Vandier, Lgypte (Les peoples
de lorient mditerranen II; Paris, 1952), 243. For others, see
Morkot, Kingship and Kinship, 18485, and Meurer, Nubier in
gypten, 7779 for conditions, 12427 for soldiery. For a recent
review of historiography in the period, see Elisa Priglinger Die Erste
Zwischwenzeit gyptens Eine Historiographie (Saarbrcken, 2010).
22
For a summary of Nubian recruiting in Egyptian armies of the
period, see Meurer, Nubier in gypten, 12527.
23
Dissidence at the earliest stage of Theban development is attested by Ankhtify in the treachery of the commander at Armant.
See W. Schenkel, Memphis Herakleopolis Theben; die epigraphischen
Zeugnisse der 7.11. Dynastie gyptens (gyptologische Abhandlungen 12; Wiesbaden, 1965), 49. For the career of the policeman
Kay who was in the forefront of the army on the day of difficulty
and searched the ways of the western oasis to return the fugitive he
found there, see Rudolf Anthes, Eine Polizeistreife des mittleren
Reiches in die westliche Oase, ZS 65 (1930): 10814 and CarisBeatrice Arndt and Karl-Heinz Priese Agyptisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz : Katalog
(Berlin, 1991), S. 53 (non vide).
24
See H. Willems, The Nomarchs of the Hare Nome and Early
Middle Kingdom History, Jaarbericht ex Oriente Lux 28 (1983
84): esp. 101102 (the conclusion).
21

Hypothetical scenario 2b
The Dynasty dates to the time of troubles surrounding
the reign and death of Amenemhat I. The move to
Itj-Tawy was traumatic for Thebes and it engendered
resistance that ultimately led to the assassination of
Amenemhat.25 Dissidents fled to Nubia, where the
Nubian connections to the Eleventh Dynasty helped
them to set up a kingdom. With security issues ranging from the Walls of the Ruler26 to various Libyan
wars, to internal conflicts and exiles in western Asia
described in the Sinuhe story,27 the Twelfth Dynasty
was seriously threatened in many regions other than
Nubia.28 When finally the Twelfth Dynasty crushed
the resistance of these kings, it adopted new policies
of conquering and ruling Lower Nubia29 and reconciling distant refugees.30 The 2a and 2b scenarios could
be combined.

25
For example, J. Darnell, The Route of Eleventh Dynasty
Expansion into Nubia, ZS 131 (2004): 3536; for troubles subduing Egypt, D. Arnold, Amenemhat I and the Early Twelfth Dynasty at Thebes, Metropolitan Museum Journal 28 (1991): 1819.
26
For fortification as military doctrine, see W. Helck, Die Lehre
fr Knig Merikare (Kleine gyptische Texte 6; Wiesbaden, 1977),
3739, also J.-F. Quack, Studien zur Lehre fr Merikare (Gottinger
Orientforschungen IV. Reihe: Agypten 23; Wiesbaden, 1992), 61;
R. B. Parkinson, The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian
Poems 19401640 BC (Oxford, 1997), 139 for Nefertys prophesy Ed:
prophecy?
of the Walls of the Ruler.
27
You will hear the speech of Egypt, Parkinson, The Tale of
Sinuhe, 29 B 32; R. Koch, Die Erzhlung des Sinuhe (Bibliotheca
Aegyptiaca 17; Brussels, 1990), B3032; 24a.
28
See Arnold, Amenemhat I, 1819. This involved a riverbased action, either at or based in Thebes, or both.
29
An inscribed weight of Senwosret I appears to date the first
construction of Quban to that era. See S. Donadoni,Quban,
(Lexikon der gyptologie V; Wiesbaden, 1984), 5253. Ikkur is
typologically similar. Stelae dating to the reign of Senwosret I were
found in the North Temple at Buhen, outside the earlier fortress,
but they very likely indicate its date, according to C. Obsomer,
Ssostris Ier. tude chronologique et historique du rgne (Brussels,
1995), 25461, year 5. The second fortress at Aniba (II) he, quoting B. Kemp (265267), dates to Senwosret I year 5 because of its
typological relationship with Buhen; the first fort, they date to year
29 of Amenemhat I.
30
The most famous example is Sinuhe: see Parkinson, The Tale of
Sinuhe, 2126 for a literary interpretation; R. B. Parkinson, Poetry
and Culture in Middle Kingdom Egypt, a Dark Side to Perfection
(London, 2002), 14868. See also The Tale of Sinuhe, 1316 and R.
Koch, Die Erzhlung des Sinuhe for propaganda. The original interpretation as propaganda was by G. Posener, Littrature et politique
dans lgypte de la XIIe dynastie (Paris, 1956), 87115.

Three Rulers in Nubia and the Early Middle Kingdom in Egypt F5

Hypothetical scenario 3
The Dynasty dates to the Second Intermediate Period.
Some time after Neferhotep I and before the Kushite takeover of Lower Nubia,31 dissidents in Nubia
attempted to revive the power of the old Eleventh
Dynasty. Surviving for a time between the still-occupied forts of the Middle Kingdom, this dynasty gradually became Nubian if it did not begin Nubian32 and
it fought battles to the north successfully enough to
survive to record them. Its success was provocation
enough for the Kushites to move forward to occupy
Lower Nubia as far as Aswan in the mid-Seventeenth
Century.33
Implications of the scenarios
Quite clearly, one of Nubias most frustrating historical topics has been this chronological issue of three
interconnected rulers who could not have ruled in all
three periods. The chronological implications for writing effective history in these periods are severe. Writers
on the subject have used several methods of assigning
dates. Some methods are more robust than others, and
we should of their typology; different works rely on:
briefly evaluate each type:
1. No argument is made, just an assignment without
support.34

31
B. Kemp, Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and Second Intermediate Period c. 26861552 BC, in Ancient Egypt, a Social
History ed. B. G. Trigger et al. (Cambridge, 1983), 16869. The
Second Intermediate Period date is not defended there on grounds
of the Horus name of Iy-ib-khent-Re and its resemblance to the
Horus name of Neferhotep I, but because the graffiti are accompanied by Middle Kingdom inscriptions.
Ed: x-ref
32
See below, 00 for Segersenti as a Nubian.
33
No historical records indicate this date. Pottery vessels from
Kerma burials in Lower Nubia indicate that the occupation included
the phases corresponding to tumuli KX and KIV at Kerma. The distinctive carinated base and dull surface of beakers from earlier KXVI
and the more open, angled side on beakers from later KXVI are
missing. Yehudiyya pottery from KX is of an early type. See G. A.
Reisner, Excavations at Kerma, Parts IV (Harvard African Studies
56; Cambridge, MA, 1923), vol. 6, fig. 264: 23, 25.
34
See H. E. Winlock, primarily The Rise and Fall of the Middle
Kingdom in Thebes (New York, 1947), 100, but also The Theban
Necropolis in the Middle Kingdom, AJSLL XXXII (1915): 6 n. 3;
and The Court of King Neb-hepet-Re Mentu-hotpe at the Shatt
er-Rigal, AJSLL LVII (1940): 161 n. 96 where the typologies of
the names are cited.

2. Historical correlation: the rulers are assigned to a

period in which their appearance would be most
appropriate.35
3. The royal inscriptions are associated with other,
better-dated, inscriptions nearby.36
4. The royal inscriptions are typologized by
a. paleography,37
b. the structure of the titulary,38 or
c. the contents of the names.39
5. The author polls the opinions of prior work.40
In this work, I cant admit the first or the last. Polling scholarly opinion is sometimes necessary, but it
is a kind of confession of futility that leads to using
endorsement as a means of settling a problem. The
second method, historical correlation, is problematic.
Although other means of dating are often wanting,
if we date a person or event to a period that seems
appropriate and we then attempt to use it as data, we
have only reasoned in a circle.
The third approach, an association with other inscriptions, is quite interesting. ba attempted to
prove an association between the inscription of Qaka-Re and a number of roughly Middle Kingdom rock
inscriptions and pictures not far from Gerf Hussein
temple.41 In one case, there is a clear typological resemblance that could be called definitive, namely the
cartouche of Qa-ka-Re and the figure of an armed
man just above and behind it. Other inscriptions on
the rock and nearby ba identifies as early Twelfth
Dynasty.42 Unfortunately, the only link between them
and Qa-ka-Re is proximity, and Zabas attempt to use
them to date his cartouche fail because there are too
many Nubian inscriptions in Nubia were done by

See B. Kemp, Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and Second

Intermediate Period, 168, for example. The first part of the argument is by association; see following note.
36
ba, The Rock Inscriptions of Lower Nubia, 16063. For
more general comments as well as doubts about proof, see p. 177.
Relative patination often used to date rock art is quite inexact, as
he shows on p. 177, for Verner actually quantified differences for
inscriptions which ba believed were contemporary.
37
By this, I mean the shaping of hieroglyphs rather than the
style of the hand.
38
See below, n. 51
39
See below, n. 52.
40
For example Morkot, Kingship and Kinship, 18485.
41
ba, Rock Inscriptions of Lower Nubia, primarily 16163,
but also 16466.
42
Ibid., 16165, nos. 14954.
35

6 F Journal of Near Eastern Studies

individuals in passing, almost as tags or grafitti.43

There is no logical connection between these highly
diverse inscriptions even though the niwt-sign in
bas inscription 150 is carved in much the same
way as the sun disk of Qa-ka-Re.44 Unfortunately,
the hieroglyphic paleography for Nubian inscriptions
of this period is not clear, save for royal inscriptions
at the cataract.
Apart from the one similarity just noted, the inscriptions are really difficult to compare. Rock inscriptions from lower Nubia are generally not published in
detail, or the publications are concentrated on more
formal examples.45 At least one of this group, that of
Iy-ib-khent-Re at Mediq is actually very well made
and quite well formed. Unfortunately, when we attempt to compare the most elaborate feature, the great
Horus falcon, we find that it resembles late Eleventh
and early Twelfth Dynasty examples well enough and
differs from late Twelfth Dynasty, Thirteenth Dynasty,
and Old Kingdom examples.46 Unfortunately, the
falcon of Segersenti does not follow this trend, and
the result is inconclusive.47
Finally, we have the typology of the names and
titularies themselves. Kemp believed that because
Neferhotep Is Horus name was Gereg-tawy that
Iy-ib-khent-Re actually copied him and that would
date the dynasty to late Dynasty XIII.48 Against that,
43
Some garfitti without dates are quite elaborate, as J. Darnell,
The Rock Inscriptions of Tjehemau at Abisko, ZS 130 (2003):
3148.
44
ba, Rock Inscriptions of Lower Nubia, fig. 259 vs. fig. 262.
45
For these inscriptions, ba, Rock Inscriptions of Lower Nubia
was one of the most thorough. Weigall (Report on the Antiquities of
Lower Nubia) and G. Roeder (Dabod bis Bab Kalabsche ) had much
wider responsibilities than rock inscriptions.
46
Compare Weigall, Report on the Antiquities of Lower Nubia,
pl. 49: 1 with E. Naville, The XIth Dynasty Temple at Deir el Bahari. Part I (Egypt Exploration Fund Memoir 28; London, 1907),
pl. XIII: 1 (Mentuhotep II) and Evers Staat aus dem Stein, pl. 14,
falcon on the serekh (Amenemhat I), pl. 102 falcon on the serekh (Amenemhat III), LD II, 151e (Neferhotep), and D. RandallMacIver and A. C. Mace, El Amrah and Abydos 18991901 (Egypt
Exploration Fund 23; London, 1902), pl. 29 falcon on the serekh
(Neferhotep).
47
G. Roeder, Dabod bis Bab Kalabsche, pl. 108c.
48
Kemp, Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and Second Intermediate Period, 168; Winlock also later dated them to this time
but without giving a reason (Rise and Fall of the Middle Kingdom,
100). Trk, Between Two Worlds, 101, quotes von Beckerath as
having indicated that Qa-ka-Res Horus name was modeled on
Neferhotep I, but von Beckerath firmly places these rulers, based
on the style of the names and titles in the time of troubles, at the
end of Dynasty 11 (Chronologie des pharaonischen gypten. Die

however, are the facts that the Golden Horus name of

Qa-ka-Re could be empty (as shown previously),49 and
his personal name-ring contains the title Son of Re,
which were both practices of Dynasty XI not repeated
after the first reign or so of XII.50 The throne names of
both Qa-ka-Re Iny and Sewadj-ka-Re Segersenti are
modeled on Eighth Dynasty names,51 an influence that
would be hard to support at much temporal distance.
At this point, one of the two earlier possibilities becomes the appropriate answer. We receive some more
definitive guidance from the Horus and Nebty names
in this, because of their structure, for because Mentuhotep IIIs name Seankh-tawy.fy parallels exactly the
Horus and Nebty names of Qa-ka-Re and the Horus
name of Iy-ib-khent-Re.52 Von Beckerath o
bserved
that the Golden Horus names of Mentuhotep III
also parallel those of Qa-ka-Re and Segersenti53 and
(I add) the throne names do also.54 It is worth noting that the parallelism among Golden Horus names
extends to as late as Amenemhat I,55 but not later,
and throne names as late as Senwosret I (skipping
Zeitbestimmung der gyptischen Geschichte von der Vorzeit bis 332.
v. Chr. [Mnchener gypologische Studien 46; Mainz, 1997], 141;
see also von Beckerath, Handbuch der gyptischen Knigsnamen,
8081: ac).
49
This feature was noted by Meyer (Neue Nachtrge 115
16), and discussed by Gauthier (Nouvelles remarques sur la XIe
Dynastie, 135), who noted that Neb-hepet-Re and Seankh-ka-Re
could have the Golden Horus name empty or actually with a name,
which is the case with Qa-ka-Re (see Simpson, Heka-Nefer, pl. 23a
and p. 46).
50
Winlock (Court of King Neb-hepet-Re: 161 n. 96) took
note of this as an Eleventh Dynasty feature. Amenemhat I also used
it (von Beckerath, Handbuch der gyptischen Knigsnamen, 8283:
E4). It does not appear later in Dyn. XII through the Second Intermediate Period.
51
Ibid., 6869 no. 14 (QakaRe Ibi I); 7071: b (Jequier, La
Pyramide dAba, pl. III, cols. 17 and 34); WadjkaRe (Hayes, Royal
Decrees, 19).
52
von Beckerath, Handbuch der gyptischen Knigsnamen,
8182: 6H, N, aH, N, bH. This was first noted by Meyer in 1907,
and he considered it to definitively date these rulers to the late
Eleventh Dynasty. See also Gauthier, Nouvelles remarques, 135
36. Gauthier in that place considered this dynasty Nubian and a
prototype for the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty; see now Andreas Frank
(Mentuhotep IV Neb-tawi-Re und der Beginn der 12ten Dynastie, Gttinger Miszellen 229 [2011]: 2425) has offered a reconstruction that begins this dynasty in Thebes, but ends it in Nubia.
53
von Beckerath, Handbuch der gyptischen Knigsnamen, 81:
6G1 and G2, aG, and bG.
54
Ibid., 6T1 and T2, aT and cT, although the orthography differs from that used here.
55
Ibid., 8283: 1G1 and 2G2.

Three Rulers in Nubia and the Early Middle Kingdom in Egypt F7

Amenemhat),56 but not later within the dynasty. The

combination of features makes a very close fit for our
Nubian rulers at the end of the Eleventh Dynasty and
start of the Twelfth, and no other period.
I conclude that alternative scenario 2possibly
some of 2a, but more surely 2bis the correct historical choice for the placement of this series of three
rulers in Nubia. ba was right about the date after
all, as were von Beckerath and Morkot.57 The duration of these rulers reigns is questionable, but the
fact that there were three in a series would indicate
some success and that it lasted a generation or so .
The dynastys rule would have to have ended by the
campaign of year 29 of Amenemhat which seized
Wawat.58 They could have initiated their counterkingdom sometime in the reign of the poorly-known
Mentuhotep IV (he was possibly a usurper himself,
and his reign may explain the seven empty years at
the end of Dynasty XI) or at the time when Amenemhet I usurped the throne.59 Given the fact that this
period is bracketed by the campaigns against Wawat

56

of Mentuhotep II,60 Amenemhat I, and against Kush

by Senwosret I,61 this is the best historical fit.
Segersentis Ethnic Identification
Segersenti was a Nubian. His name was always recognized as foreign to Egypt,62 but after Osing published
the names of almost 200 Nubians from Old Kingdom
execration texts, the proof can be found in the parallelism of several names to Segersentis.63 The potential
consequences extend far beyond this dynasty in Nubia
and cannot be dealt with here. Segersentis is the only
historical inscription of the dynasty, wherein he or his
son recorded that he overthrew his enemies north of
a place called Sen-Bebet, (house of a woman named
Bebet), that he saw Zekha and Wag.64 The fact that
he and/or his son survived long enough to record
these events indicates that Segersenti was, for at least
a brief time, not unsuccessful. Since Sen-Bebet had
to be in the vicinity of Khor Dehmit (from the other
inscription, which names it as Sen-Bet in the course of
an appeal for prayers65), there is little doubt about the
opponents identity, for Khor Dehmit is only a very
short distance from Aswan.

That is, referring to the/a k; of Re instead of plural k;s or

Ed: not
some other aspect altogether; von Beckerath, Handbuch der gypclear from
tischen Knigsnamen, 8187.
pdf pls
57
clarify
ba, Rock Inscriptions of Lower Nubia, 16163; Morkot,

Black Pharaohs, 5455 who favors this phase without commitment; K. Zibellius-Chen, Zur Problematik von Herrschaft und
Herrschaftsform im Mittleren Niltal vom 3. bis zum 1. Jt v. Chr.,
Mitteilungen der Sudanarchologischen Gesellschaft zu Berlin 12
(2001): 2526.
58
Grajetzki, Middle Kingdom, 31. One campaign inscription
(ba, Rock Inscriptions, 3135, no. 4) gives a date of year 29
and only the fact that they came to overthrow Wawat. The more
graphic formal rock stela of Intefiker (Ibid., 98109, translation, pp.
99100, no. 73) is not dated, but is normally assigned to the same
campaign. The mention of repressing Nubians in the instruction
of Amenemhat is cryptic (Parkinson, Tale of Sinuhe, 208: M3.1).
59
See Grajetzki, Middle Kingdom, 26. It is widely believed that
the vizier Amenemhat in the Wadi Hammamat inscriptions became
Amenemhat I. Although Mentuhotep IV is ignored in several inscriptions that list rulers from late Dynasty XI and early Dynasty XII
(Ibid., 25), one courtiers biography at Lisht listed four rulers, three
unnamed, ending in Amenemhat I. While this proves a certain continuity as indicated in more detail by Arnold (see Amenemhat I,
15 and figs. 1516 for a slate bowl inscribed for Mentuhotep IV
on one side and Amenemhat I on the other), it does not prove a
normal succession. As both Arnold and Grajetzki point out, the
early years of Amenemhat I are somewhat shadowy, lacking contemporary inscriptions, although the determination to make major
changes appears to have happened early (ibid., 18; Grajetzki, Middle
Kingdom, 32).

The Residence of the Rulers

Throughout this period, there is no record of an
Egyptian-style building in Lower Nubia, except for
the house of the lady Senbebet, which sounds rather
like the kind of rough establishment used by travelers, merchants and footloose soldiers also described

60
Mentuhotep Is campaigns include a mention of a victory
over Wawat from Deir el Ballas and the inscription of Tjehemau (see
below) and an inscription of Khety who returned from Wawat. See
also Darnell, Route of Eleventh Dynasty Expansion into Nubia,
2337. None of these indicate heavy campaigning, which happened
later, but establishment of a dominance that was friendly enough for
Mentuhotep to recruit local volunteers personally.
61
Obsomer, Ssostris Ier. tude chronologique et historique du
rgne, 31135.
62
Exceptionally, see Sve-Sderbergh, gypten und Nubien, 44.
63
For parallels, see J. Osing chtungstexte aus dem Alten
Reich (II), MDAIK 32 (1976): 16164; for the -ti,- nti, and -snti
or -znti endings, see (Osings designation) Boston 8, 9, 15, 22 (parent), 26, 30 (mtjtjnti, parent?), 49 (jb;sti), 57, 62, 86 (mtjtjnti vari-Ed: semicolon?
ant of 30?), Cairo 7, 8 (both mtjtjnti), 14, 21, 24, 28, 33, 53, 54space?
(rsti) 73 (parent), Junker 16 (jznznti), for example.
64
Sve-Sderbergh, gypten und Nubien, 43.
65
G. Roeder, Dabod bis Bab Kalabsche, pl. 109a.

8 F Journal of Near Eastern Studies

by Burckhardt in the 19th century a.d.66 Physical

evidence might have been eradicated in a vengeful
campaign by Amenemhat or subsequent wall-looters.
However, the one building at least partly surviving
from this general period, Areika, has, in its earliest
phase, the aspect of unfortified official buildings.67 The
chronology for the site is quite long, with material
from C-Group Ib, IIa, and IIb.68 Egyptian material
was admitted from the early (Senwosret I) through
the late Twelfth Dynasty,69 but some published pieces
must be a bit earlier.70 This would correspond to dates
proposed by Wegner, but one could adjust his interpretation slightly, with the building having originated
as the palace of the Qakare dynasty, having been
breached by the Egyptians, and finally reused by a mix
of Nubian and Egyptian military.71 It is, perhaps, no
coincidence that a conspicuous boulder about 100m
to the south of Areika had the name of Qakare inscribed on it.72
Non-royals and the Dynastys Historical Setting
John Darnell has published a reconsideration of a
series of inscriptions by a Nubian soldier in Egyptian
66

J. L. Burckhardt, Travels in Nubia (London, 1819), 21723,

280.
67
J. W. Wegner, Regional Control in Middle Kingdom Lower
Nubia: The Function and History of the Site of Areika, JARCE
XXXII (1995): 12760; see 12829 and 13638 for a military appearance. Note (p. 137), however, that the walls are only a meter
thick and there are no towers, as at Wadi el Hudi, which he compares (13738 and fig. 4). Note that the er-Riqa buildings appear to
be an assembly of administrative structures of the type found inside
the Wadi el-Hudi fort.
68
D. Randall-MacIver and C. L. Woolley, Areika (Eckley B.
Coxe Junior Expedition to Nubia 1; Philadelphia, 1909), pl 12a:
4181, dating to Ib (Williams, C-Group, Pan Grave, and Kerma
Remains, pl 6e, g, h, and I); 4182, dating to IIa (ibid., pl. 9); 4183,
dating to IIa (ibid., pl. 13; 4185 and 4186), dating to IIb and III
(ibid, pl. 18 a, b, e).
69
Wegner, Regional Control in Middle Kingdom Lower Nubia, 13942; the military plaques and sealings (pp. 14248) mostly
date to the later Middle Kingdom, as he notes.
70
See Randall-MacIver and Woolley, Areika, pl. 11: 4160,
4162, and 4168; Compare G. Brunton, Qau and Badari II (British
School of Archaeology in Egypt 45; London, 1928), pls. 91 92T
and 95 95Y.
71
See Wegner, Regional Control in Middle Kingdom Lower
Nubia, 144150, for military stamp plaques.
72
Randall-MacIver and Woolley, Areika, pl. 2b and p. 4. See
Gauthier, Nouvelles remarques sur la XIe Dynastie, 134 no 5;
Weigall, Report on the Antiquities of Lower Nubia, pl. 52 no. 2, pl.
54 no 1; Dunbar, The Rock-Pictures of Lower Nubia, pl. 15 fig. 73.

service named Tjehemau.73 He enlisted in his home

country directly with Mentuhotep II, during that
kings visit to Nubia apparently at or after his year
41.74 Tjehemau saw service from Asia to the Western
Desert, in Wawat (and possibly Irtjet) and in Egypt
itself,75 returning to boast poetically of his exploits in
seven impressive inscriptions on a khor (a gully leading
to the main Nile Valley) wall at Abisko. Although Darnell does not say so in so many words, it seems clear
that Tjehemaus exploits included a confrontation on
the river bank at Thebes itself.76 His account is remarkable for its details of a personal career, and for its
inscription in a semi-monumental hieratic.77 It is also
remarkable for the fact that Tjehemau mentions no
ruler after Nebhepetre, nor does he indicate his own
rank. Darnell believes this soldier had a long career
of service before returning home, a credible conclusion considering the amount of action he saw. If he
lasted twenty-five years, then his inscriptions date to
the time of Amenemhet I78and the Nubian Dynasty
under discussion.
What is a Nubian trooper doing with such fluent literacy unless he had a scribe in tow? Why did he bother
to put an inscription in this Abisko khor far from the
scenes of glory, where the local people could not read
it? Was his audience not the court in Nubia? Whose
side was he on? Had he really spent his military years
as a ranker or did he, as it appears, rise to become a
commander with a staff? Did he not then inscribe his
story to support a claim to return home with his unit
after the Theban affair as a supporter of the heirs of

J. Darnell, Rock Inscriptions of Tjehemau at Abisko, 3148;

ibid., Route of Eleventh Dynasty Expansion into Nubia, 2337.
74
Ibid., 34.
75
Darnell, The Rock Inscriptions of Tjehemau at Abisko,
4748.
76
Although Darnell (ibid., 44) would like to consider the approach to Thebes as a simple triumphal return of Tjehemau, the
translation he gives (ibid., 43) indicates that a confrontation was
planned and that Tjehemauwas responsible for overcoming the opposition. This is what Thebes was saying in its own district (ibid.,
45). His next remarks, that he was coming by the upper road to
make the way pleasant and opened the doors that he might arrive
successfully could then be taken to mean that he left Egypt by a desert road to avoid unpleasantness (enemies) and opened the doors as
Darnell indicates (ibid., 4546), taking defended passes to escape
to Wawat.
77
Darnell, The Rock Inscriptions of Tjehemau at Abisko, 32
and 48 (summary).
78
Darnell, Route of Eleventh Dynasty Expansion into Nubia, 34.
73

Three Rulers in Nubia and the Early Middle Kingdom in Egypt F9

the Eleventh Dynasty in Nubia,79 a spiritual ancestor

of such professional warriors as Colleoni, Gattamelata,
or Sir John Hawkwood?80
The era of the late Eleventh Dynasty and the reign
of Amenemhat I was one of conflict and famine, most
likely mutually-reinforcing events. As always with remote times, events are difficult to correlate, but the
tenor of the times is clear, along with the general trend
of events. After a brief service in the south, perhaps at
Buhen, Tjehemau went to the north, where he fought
against Asiatics in Djaty and battled in the Fayum. If
Tjehemaus northern career was prolonged, he would
have been well-placed in Egypt for the warfare depicted in the tombs of Beni Hasan and recounted by
Nehri I, nomarch of the neighboring Hare Nome,
who, with his sons becomes our second set of actors.
The family of Nehri obeyed the king when he said,
possibly in desperation, make for yourself a fighting
company, for I am with another fighting company.81
They confronted a day of plunder, a day of fighting, a period of fear on account of the royal house,
and ultimately saved their city from the terrible fear
of the royal palace on the day of fighting.82 In Nehris
own year 5, his son Kay offered a description of his
enemies as Upper and Lower Egyptians, Mejay-
people, Wawat-people, Nehesy-people, and Aamu
people united against him.83 Since Nehri and his sons
survived in office, we can conclude that the king they
served was Amenemhat I, the ultimate winnerso
which royal palace could have inspired such fear but
an embattled remnant of the Eleventh Dynasty? And
where in this wcould Tjehemau have been, but on
that side?
With Middle Egypt under some sort of control,
the action shiftsed to Thebes and this brings another
actor to our attention, a certain Nesu-Montu. This
overseer of troops says he trained his troops in ambush
and at daybreak when the landing stage surrendered.
He said he grasped the tip of the bow and led the
battle for the Two Lands and took so much spoil he
had to leave some on the ground. He appears to have
See also Willems, The Nomarchs of the Hare Nome, 100
101 for a discussion of disorder at this period.
80
For a resume of Nubian professional soldiers in this period,
see Meurer, Nubier in gypten, 12527.
81
Willems, The Nomarchs of the Hare Nome, 95 and n. 111.
My comparison with distinguished condottieri of later Italy is instructive, but very approximate.
82
Ibid. See nn. 1215.
83
Ibid. See nn. 109.
79

been leading Theban recruits. His stela from Abydos

is dated to year 24, and includes references to both
Amenemhat I and Senwosret I, although the events
described refer to Amenemhat I alone and appear to
be earlier than the coregency.84 Although this inscription has been taken to reflect a power base in for NesuMontu in Thebes, it could well recount an incident
of the type announced by Tjehemau when he found
the Thebans ready to fight on the sandbank; this and
made them rejoice, but from the other side. It could
even be that Tjehemau and Nesu-Montu describe the
same incident, and that it was Nesu-Montus victory
that propelled Tjehemau, in his own words thereafter,
to open the doors to Nubiaand quickly.
Finally, we are brought to the campaign that ended
the Eleventh D dynasty in Nubia, apparently in year
29 of Amenemhat I, when we came to overthrow
Wawat. Vizier Intefiker steps on to the historical stage
and speaks in strong and vivid terms, ones that recall
the battle scenes of Beni Hasan: Then the Nubians of
the remaining part of Wawat were slaughtered. Then I
sailed victoriously upstream, slaughtering the Nubians
on the riverbanks. Then I sailed downstream plucking corn and cutting down remaining trees. I set fire
to their houses.85 He says this was the punishment
for rebels as one has to act against him who has
rebelled against the king.86 Such an utterance was
no mere routine propaganda. It was serious business
that contrasts quite strongly with Mentuhoteps mild
treatment of Wawat and his personal recruiting there.
At least now we know why.87

Arnold, Amenemhat I, 1819; Grajetzki, Middle Kingdom,

32. See C. Obsomer, La date de Nsou-Montou (Louvre C1),
Revue dgyptologie 44 (1993): 13839 for a slightly later date for
this stela. C. Obsomer, Ssostris Ier., 45136 also develops a detailed
argument against a coregency between Amenemhet I and Senwosret I to support the later date. Andreas J.G. Frank (Mentuhotep IV
Neb-tawi-Re und der Beginn der 12ten Dynastie, GM 229 [2011]:
24) also dates Nesu-Montu here.
85
Grajetzki, Middle Kingdom, 31; ba, Rock Inscriptions of
Lower Nubia, 9899, fig. 150: One has been engaged in building
this stronghold. Then the Nubians of the entire remaining part of
Wawat were slaughtered. Thereupon I sailed victoriously upstream,
slaughtering the Nubian on his river bank(s) and as one has to act
against him who rebelled against the King (of Upper Egypt). Never
did I hear (about) any other military man who accomplished the
like (thereof).
86
Grajetzki, Middle Kingdom, 28.
87
This interpretation is in substantial congruence with that of
Frank in GM 229, 2127, where the preservation of a t; in the
Karnak List (23) is taken to indicate Gereg-tawy-fy. Although Frank
84

10 F Journal of Near Eastern Studies

Conclusion
Recalling the Eleventh Dynasty, the three rulers in
Lower Nubia were a clear threat to the security of
the Twelfth Dynasty Egyptian state. The policy of recruiting foreign soldiers backfired when they could
go home with full knowledge of Egypt and its capabilities.88 A troop of these condottieri could support
a nomarch, but a thousand could shake a kingdom.
With a king of their own at their head, these other
dissidents could rally to them and thus deploy a major
believes the dynasty began as counter-king pretenders at Thebes
(2425), no clear inscription of these rulers is known from Egypt.
88
Meurer, Nubier in gypten, 138 that there is slight evidence
for C-Group inhabitants in Egypt, epecially of the funerary variety.
For that reason, he concludes that most Nubian veterans returned
home.

threat. It is little wonder that by year 29 of Amenemat I, Egypts policy toward Lower Nubia changed
to incorporate it fairly brutally within the borders of
the state,89 as a limited imperial territory where none
had existed before. It is also little wonder that, a year
later, Amenemhat I was assassinated in his palace.
89
H. S. Smith (Nubia, in Ancient Centres of Egyptian Civilization, ed. H. S. Smith and R. M. Hall [London, 1983]: 77) first
firmly stated the opinion that the Old Kingdom depopulation of
Lower Nubia was a matter of policy. It was a major theme developed
in more detail in H. S. Smith and L. L. Giddy, Nubia and Dakhla
Oasis in the Late Third Millennium B.C.: The present balance of
textual and archaeological evidence, in Mlanges offert Jean Vercoutter, ed. F. Geus and F. Thill (Paris, 1985), notably in the conclusion, 330. As they point out (p. 321), C-Group Ia includes Sixth
Dynasty material, stamp seals of Qau Sixth Dynasty type. It probably began somewhat earlier than the imports, however. Note that
the Old Kingdom got resources without occupation and fortresses.