Senebsumai
Encyclopedia
Thirteenth dynasty of Egypt
The thirteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasties XI, XII and XIV under the group title Middle Kingdom. Other writers separate it from these dynasties and join it to Dynasties XIV through XVII as part of the Second Intermediate Period...
and he held important administrative offices during the reign of Sobekhotep II
Sobekhotep II
birth name: Sobekhotep throne name: Sekhemre KhutawySobekhotep II was an Egyptian king of the 13th Dynasty.He is known from several monuments, including a statue, several Nile level records in Nubia and from building works at Medamud and Luxor...
that began ca. 1760 BC through the reign of Neferhotep I
Neferhotep I
Neferhotep I was an Egyptian king of the Thirteenth Dynasty and one of the most powerful rulers of this dynasty. The Turin Canon assigned him a reign length of 11 years....
that ended ca. 1730 BC.
The earliest known records of his career identify Senebsumai as high steward; later he became treasurer
Treasurer (Ancient Egypt)
The Treasurer in Ancient Egypt is the modern translation of the title imi-r ḫtmt . The office is known since the end of the Old Kingdom, where people with this title appear sporadically in the organisation of private estates...
. He held offices during the period now described as the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt
Second Intermediate Period of Egypt
The Second Intermediate Period marks a period when Ancient Egypt fell into disarray for a second time, between the end of the Middle Kingdom and the start of the New Kingdom...
. This period followed the collapse of the brilliant Egyptian twelfth dynasty, which came to an end around 1803 BC with the death of Queen Sobekneferu
Sobekneferu
Sobekneferu was an Egyptian pharaoh of the twelfth dynasty. Her name meant "the beauty of Sobek." She was the daughter of Pharaoh Amenemhat III. Manetho states she also was the sister of Amenemhat IV, but this claim is unproven. Sobekneferu had an older sister named Nefruptah who may have been...
, who apparently had no heirs. This sudden change closed the Golden Age of the Middle Kingdom
Middle Kingdom of Egypt
The Middle Kingdom of Egypt is the period in the history of ancient Egypt stretching from the establishment of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Fourteenth Dynasty, between 2055 BC and 1650 BC, although some writers include the Thirteenth and Fourteenth dynasties in the Second Intermediate...
, which was succeeded by the much weaker thirteenth dynasty. Retaining the seat of the preceding dynasty, the thirteenth dynasty ruled from Itjtawy
Itjtawy
Itjtawy , is the as-yet unidentified location of the royal city founded by Twelfth Dynasty Egyptian King Amenemhat I during year 20 of his reign. It is located in the Faiyum region, and its cemeteries were located at Lisht, el-Lahun and Dahshur...
("Seizer-of-the-Two-Lands") near Memphis
Memphis, Egypt
Memphis was the ancient capital of Aneb-Hetch, the first nome of Lower Egypt. Its ruins are located near the town of Helwan, south of Cairo.According to legend related by Manetho, the city was founded by the pharaoh Menes around 3000 BC. Capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom, it remained an...
and el-Lisht
El-Lisht
Lisht or el-Lisht is an Egyptian village located south of Cairo. It is the site of Middle Kingdom royal and elite burials, including two pyramids built by Amenemhat I and Senusret I. The two main pyramids were surrounded by smaller pyramids of members of the royal family, and many mastaba tombs of...
, just south of the apex of the Nile Delta
Nile Delta
The Nile Delta is the delta formed in Northern Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the east, it covers some 240 km of Mediterranean coastline—and is a rich...
. The power of administrative officials in the northern portion of Egypt rose with its loss of native royal succession and would gain in strength until native rulers from Thebes regained authority over all of Egypt, establishing the New Kingdom and the eighteenth dynasty
Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt
The eighteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt...
in 1550 BC.
Senebsumai is known from a remarkable series of monuments, the preservation of which makes him the best attested Egyptian official of the thirteenth dynasty. He is known from more than twelve stelae
Stele
A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...
all coming from Abydos
Abydos, Egypt
Abydos is one of the most ancient cities of Upper Egypt, and also of the eight Upper Nome, of which it was the capital city. It is located about 11 kilometres west of the Nile at latitude 26° 10' N, near the modern Egyptian towns of el-'Araba el Madfuna and al-Balyana...
. Most of the stele show Senebsumai with other, lower officials in scenes depicting them as they performed work for him.
There are more than thirty scarab seal
Scarab artifact
Scarabs were popular amulets in ancient Egypt. According to ancient Egyptian myths, the sun rolls across the sky each day and transforms bodies and souls. Modeled upon the Scarabaeidae family dung beetle, which rolls dung into a ball for the purposes of eating and laying eggs that are later...
s identified to date that relate to Senebsumai. This also is the highest number of seals for a thirteenth dynasty official. All of these finds reinforce an understanding of his longevity in offices held and the respect given to him.
Several other artifacts have been discovered at important Ancient Egyptian sites that are associated with Senebsumai. Fragments of accounts mentioning him were found in El-Lahun
El-Lahun
Located in the Faiyum, Egypt, el-Lahun or Kahun is the workers' village associated with the pyramid of Senusret II . It is located near the modern village of el-Lahun , and is often known by that name...
. A bronze statue of him was found at Hawara
Hawara
Hawara is an archaeological site of Ancient Egypt, south of the site of Crocodilopolis at the entrance to the depression of the Fayyum oasis. The first excavations at the site were made by Karl Lepsius, in 1843...
. A relief or a coffin fragment with coffin texts bearing his name and titles is recorded from finds at Dahshur
Dahshur
Dahshur , is a royal necropolis located in the desert on the west bank of the Nile approximately 40 kilometres south of Cairo...
.
Literature
- Herman de Meulenaere: Les monuments d'un haut dignitaire de la 13e dynastie, In: Chronique d'Égypte, Bulletin périodique de la Fondation Egyptologique Reine Elisabeth, 60 (1985), S. 75 - 84