The brother of *Muwatallis, Khattusilis III held great authority over the north- eastern provinces of the kingdom. Urhi-Teshub, (*Muwatallis’ son and successor), sought to curtail this power, but after seven years Khattusilis III seized the Hittite throne from Urhi-Teshub and justified this action in an extensive document which is sometimes known as his ‘Autobiography’.
His reign was marked by peace and prosperity and he is remembered for the famous treaty which he concluded with *Ramesses II, in Year 21 of the latter’s reign (1269 BC). This treaty is the only one which has been discovered to date, although others were enacted between various Near Eastern rulers; it guaranteed peace and security for Egypt, the *Hittites and their vassal states in the Syria- Palestine region. It has survived in two versions: the Egyptian one is inscribed on a stela in the Temple of Karnak, while the *Hittite copy was discovered, in a less complete form, on two clay tablets in the archive at Boghazkoy, the *Hittite capital. In such treaties the participants were equals and sought ‘brotherhood’ with each other; it was both a defensive and an offensive alliance and reaffirmed an earlier agreement made in the reign of *Suppiluliumas. It removed the possibility of war, with both parties agreeing not to encroach on each other’s territory and to aid each other in the event of attack by a third power; it also provided for the equal extradition of refugees but insisted that they should be well-treated. In the Egyptian version, the gods of both lands were invoked as witnesses.
This treaty led to cordial relations and the exchange of correspondence between the two kings and their respective queens; thirteen years later the alliance was cemented by a marriage between *Ramesses II and a daughter of Khattusilis and his queen, Pudukhepa. Inscriptions on the walls of various Egyptian temples related
the story of the *Hittite princess’ arrival in Egypt; she was subsequently renamed Manefrure and found sufficient favour with *Ramesses II to become his Great Royal Wife.
BIBL. Langdon, S. and Gardiner, A.H. The Treaty of Alliance between Hattusili, king of the Hittites, and the Pharaoh Ramesses II of Egypt. JEA 6 (1920) pp. 179 ff; Gurney, O.R. The Hittites. Harmondsworth: 1964.
Khentkaues Queen c.2494–2487 BC.
According to the legend in the Westcar Papyrus, the first three kings of the Fifth Dynasty were triplets fathered by the sun-god Re and born to a commoner, the wife of a priest of Re at the town of Sakhebu. This folk-tale preserves the historical fact that the Heliopolitan priests of Re exerted an unprecedented influence on the rulers of this dynasty, although in fact these kings were probably descended from a secondary line of *Cheops’ family. *Userkaf, the founder of the Fifth Dynasty, probably married Khentkaues to strengthen his claim to the throne, for she was not only a descendant of the main branch of the royal family but also probably the daughter of King *Mycerinus.
She appears to have provided an important link between the Fourth and Fifth Dynasties, and her divine cult was maintained throughout the Fifth Dynasty. From her titles it can be inferred that she was the mother of two kings, *Sahure and *Neferirkare, and since she was the wife of *Userkaf, it is evident that these three early rulers of the Fifth Dynasty were father and sons and not in fact triplets as claimed in the Westcar Papyrus.
Khentkaues had a distinctive tomb at Giza, which is sometimes called the Unfinished or Fourth Pyramid, although it was actually a sarcophagus-shaped construction which imitated the tomb (Mastabat Fara’un) of *Shepseskaf. This monument was constructed on a base of natural rock faced with limestone, and was probably completed in the reign of the queen’s son, *Neferirkare.
BIBL. Jequier, G. Le Mastabat Faraoun. Cairo: 1928; Hassan, S. Excavations at Giza. (eight vols) Oxford and Cairo: 1932–53; AEL i. pp. 215–22.
Khety (Dua-khety) Author of a Wisdom Text c.2100 BC.
A unique Wisdom Text, often referred to as the ‘Satire of the Trades’, is couched in terms of instructions or advice which a humble man, Duauf son of Khety (or Dua- Khety in some texts), gives to his son Pepy. The text is preserved in sources which date to the New Kingdom (mainly schoolboy exercises of the Nineteenth Dynasty), but it appears to have originated in the First Intermediate Period. The most complete versions, written by the same scribe, are to be found in Papyrus Sallier II and Papyrus Anastasi VII in the British Museum.
Duauf counsels his son and, unlike other authors of early Wisdom Texts, he is not a powerful and mighty individual (a king or a vizier), who is well-placed to advise his young charge; this is simply the wisdom of an ordinary man placed
before his son. The teaching is set between a prologue and an epilogue; it is explained in the preliminaries that Duauf, although he is of humble origin, is taking his child to the Residence (the royal palace) to place him amongst the children of the magistrates. On the river voyage Duauf has the opportunity to emphasise to Pepy the considerable advantages of the scribal profession (which he will be able to enter if he makes good progress in his studies), and the father contrasts it vividly with the tribulations and hardships endured by other trades and professions, of which eighteen are described in some detail. He urges Pepy to make the most of his chance to learn and encourages him to apply himself to his work. Emphasis is placed on the excellence of schools which undoubtedly made this text a most popular choice to be copied by generations of schoolboys.
BIBL. AEL i. pp 184–92.
L
Libyans (Libu) c.1304–1116 BC.
The *Greeks used the term ‘Libyans’ for the occupants of the Mediterranean coast of Africa who had white skin, red or blonde hair and blue eyes.The name ‘Libu’ occurs before that, in the Ramesside period and is used to identify a particular tribe. Together with the *Tjemhu, *Tjehnyu and *Meshwesh (who were other Libyan tribes), the Libu were driven through hunger to attempt to invade and settle in the Delta; on occasions they united with the *Sea-peoples in their conflict against Egypt. *Ramesses II successfully drove them off and built a line of forts along the western coast in an attempt to hold them back. In Year 5 of his on, *Merneptah’s reign, they united with the *Sea-peoples to attack Egypt, but were again repulsed; this was followed, in Years 5, 8 and 11 of *Ramesses III’s reign, by further unsuccessful onslaughts.
Unlike some of the *Sea-peoples, the Libu were uncircumcised; this is known because there are wall-scenes in Egyptian temples which show how, in the battle against *Merneptah, the genitals of the slain enemies were piled up for presentation to the Egyptian king.
BIBL. CAH ii, ch xxviii; Holscher, W. Libyer und Agypter. Gluckstadt: 1937; Wainwright, G.A. The Meshwesh. JEA 48 (1962) pp. 89 ff.
M
Maketaten Daughter of King *Akhenaten c.1379–1367 BC.
Maketaten was the second daughter of *Akhenaten and Queen *Nefertiti. She apparently died soon after Year 12 of *Akhenaten’s reign. She was probably buried in the Royal Tomb at Amarna in a subsidiary suite of chambers, where the wall- scenes show the king and queen grieving as they stand at the side of her bier while, outside the death chamber a female figure (probably a nursemaid) holds a baby. These representations have caused much speculation, and it has been suggested that Maketaten may have died in childbirth and that *Akhenaten may have been the father of her child.
BIBL. Martin, G.T. The Royal Tomb at El-Amarna. London: 1974; Aldred, C. Akhenaten, King of Egypt. London: 1988.
Manetho Historian 305–285 BC.
Manetho was an Egyptian priest who lived at the Temple of Sebennytos in the Delta. Very little is known of his life; he may have had some association with Mendes and the temple at Heliopolis. He lived during the reigns of *Ptolemy I and *Ptolemy II. He knew both Egyptian hieroglyphs and Greek and had personal knowledge of Egyptian religious beliefs and customs. He is credited with the authorship of eight works which dealt with a range of subjects, including religious doctrines, rituals and festivals.
His most important work was the Aegyptiaca (History of Egypt), which was based on registers which were compiled by the Egyptian priests and to which he obviously had access. Although the Aegyptiaca was written in the reign of *Ptolemy II, unfortunately no intact version has been discovered to date and it is preserved only in edited extracts in the writings of *Josephus, and in an abridged form in the works of Sextus *Africanus (early third century AD), *Eusebius (early fourth century AD), and George called *Syncellus (AD c.800) in his History of the world from
Creation to Diocletian.
Manetho’s History is essentially a chronicle of Egyptian kings, written in Greek, and if a complete version were available it would provide the best chronological source for ancient Egypt. After the rule of the gods and demi-gods, the kings from *Narmer (Menes) (c.3100 BC) down to the conquest by *Alexander the Great in 332 BC, are divided into thirty dynasties. Estimates are given of the lengths of the reigns and these often differ in the accounts of *Eusebius and *Africanus. Manetho
also provides anecdotes about various rulers, and it is evident that he made use of popular stories and legends as well as official records.
As they have come down to us, the records of Manetho are therefore often unreliable and inaccurate. The sources of *Eusebius and *Africanus often give divergent accounts, and both the chronology of the kings’ reigns and the total years of each reign are unreliable. In particular, the chronology for the Old Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom is too high in almost every instance. Kings’ names are sometimes distorted and in some dynasties only the overall number of the rulers is given—for example, in the Seventh Dynasty Manetho states that there were ‘Seventy kings who reigned for seventy days’.
Nevertheless Egyptologists have accepted Manetho’s division of the reigns into dynasties and this continues to be used as the basis for Egyptian chronology. Today, the dynasties are further divided into groups and placed within particular historical periods such as the Old Kingdom (the Third to the Sixth Dynasty), or the Second Intermediate Period (the Thirteenth to the Seventeenth Dynasty). More accurate dates for some reigns and dynasties can now be obtained from comparative information from excavated sites and material, and from treaties and other historical texts found in Egypt and neighbouring countries. Manetho’s anecdotal details, for which there is often no alternative source, are treated with extreme caution.
Despite its shortcomings, it was Manetho’s chronology that assisted Champollion in 1828 when he discovered the cartouches of various kings on the monuments and deciphered their names. By using Manetho’s lists, he was able to determine their positions within the sequence of rulers and confirm his identifications.
BIBL. Manetho, (transl. by Waddell, W.G.) London: 1942.
Medjay.
The Medjay are mentioned in the Egyptian records as early as the Old Kingdom, when the term is used to denote a group of desert tribesmen in *Nubia who became scouts and light-armed auxiliaries in the Egyptian army. By the First Intermediate Period it is evident that they are still in the military service, since an inscription at the Hatnub quarry mentions them among the followers of the prince of the Hermopolitan nome.
By the Eighteenth Dynasty, this term simply comes to mean a ‘policeman’. The Medjay were men who patrolled and guarded the desert frontiers, protected the cemeteries and undertook general duties to maintain order throughout Egypt. They even acted as law enforcement officers and protected the royal necropolis workers’ village at Deir el Medina. The senior police officer in charge of the force was called ‘Chief of the Medjay’, and in each large town there was a police force under the control of a ‘Captain of the Medjay.’ By the New Kingdom, the term ‘Medjay’ no longer implied a person of *Nubian origin and many of them were now undoubtedly of native Egyptian stock.
BIBL. Davies, N. de G. The Tombs of Two Officials ofTuthmosis the Fourth. EES. London: 1923. MEDJAY
Menna Official reign of *Tuthmosis IV c.1420 BC.
Menna was Scribe of the cadastral survey and Estate Inspector during the reign of *Tuthmosis IV (1425–1417 BC). His tomb is situated at Sheikh Abd el Qurna, Thebes, and is decorated with wall-scenes that illustrate agricultural activities and duties during this period.
Menna is shown overseeing the workforce in the fields as he did during his lifetime: the peasants carry and measure the corn, and winnow, thresh and transport it, and one scene illustrates the use of the surveying cord. Other traditional scenes show Menna and his wife being presented with gifts, and their relatives bring them food and flowers; there is also a funerary banquet and prayers are offered to *Osiris, the god of the dead.
The scenes also depict the ceremonies that surrounded the death of the tomb- owner, including the rituals performed on the mummy, and the journey of the deceased to Abydos, the burial place of Osiris, in order to enhance his chances of a blessed eternity. There is also a representation of the Day of Judgement scene in which the deeds of the deceased during his lifetime are judged by the assessor gods. Here, Menna’s heart is shown in the balance where it is weighed against the symbolic Feather of Truth.
Mentuhotep II (Nebhepetre) King 2060–2010 BC.
Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II had a successful and impressive reign and later came to be regarded as the pharaoh who had reunited Egypt after the troubles and dissension of the First Intermediate Period.
The rulers of Heracleopolis and their supporters who, by trying to recover the city of This, had reopened the conflict with the Thebans, fell to Mentuhotep II (the Theban leader) in c.2040 BC. A chapel relief from Gebelein records this action of destroying the Heracleopolitan supporters and consequently gaining the submission or support of the local governors (nomarchs) of Lower and Middle Egypt. It is evident that Mentuhotep II did not obliterate the entrenched nomarchs of Middle Egypt, but probably imposed only limited restrictions on them so that, as at Hermopolis and Assiut, they could continue to prosper. He appointed his own men to all the key positions of authority and consolidated his power at Thebes, thus gaining a firm control of the country.
This was a time of military activity since it was necessary to consolidate Egypt’s neglected borders and to re-open the trading routes, mines and quarries. Punitive expeditions were sent out to quell the disturbances caused by the *Libyans of the western desert and the *Beduin who wandered in Sinai and the eastern desert. The necessary commodities of timber and gold were once again acquired from *Byblos and *Nubia, and routes across the desert from Koptos to the Red Sea were restored to provide access to the incense-land of *Punt.
*Nubia required special attention and the king himself sailed south to deal with the problem. Probably since the late Old Kingdom, when Egypt was itself in turmoil, an independent dynasty of rulers had established itself in Nubia; in fact, this may
have been inaugurated by an Egyptian official. Mentuhotep II wished to regain control of Nubia and to restore the power that the kings of the Sixth Dynasty had enjoyed, which had enabled them to easily acquire both commodities and manpower from there. He was successful in restoring Egyptian supremacy in the region of Lower Nubia as far as the Second Cataract and in renewing the tribute levy, but the Egyptians did not as yet have a permanent military presence there.
The famous Chancellor, Achthoes, concentrated on exploiting Lower Nubia, and evidently *Nubians came to fight as auxiliaries in the Egyptian army. A tomb at Deir el Bahri was found to contain the bodies of sixty Egyptian soldiers who had been killed while attacking a fortress or town which was perhaps in Nubia, but there were also Nubian servants in the Theban royal household. From tombs of this dynasty (the Eleventh), there are elaborate funerary models of Nubian as well as Egyptian soldiers who were designed to fight on behalf of their deceased Egyptian owner in his afterlife, (e.g. Mesehti, now in the Cairo Museum.)
Mentuhotep II built extensively throughout Upper Egypt, at Elephantine, El Kab, Gebelein, Tod, Abydos and Denderah, but his most impressive monument was his unique burial complex at Deir el Bahri, which was later overshadowed by Queen *Hatshepsut’s own funerary temple. Mentuhotep II’s building incorporated a pyramid and a temple, which were combined in an innovative way, and the complex also housed the burials of the royal women, including the king’s mother and sister. The complex was approached by an avenue lined with sandstone statues of the king wearing his jubilee-festival garments, and both the setting and architectural features would have made this a most impressive monument to a great king.
The renewal of great building projects emphasised the strength and confidence of this reign, and the selection of Montu, god of war, as the patron deity of this dynasty expressed the attitude of Mentuhotep II as the founder of the line.
BIBL. Winlock, H.E. Excavations at Deir el Bahri, 1911–31. New York: 1942; Winlock, H. E. The rise
and fall of the Middle Kingdom in Thebes. New York: 1947; Winlock, H.E. The slain soldiers of Neb- hepet-Re Mentu-hotpe. New York: 1945; Naville, E. The XIth Dynasty Temple at Deir el Bahari. London:
1907–13.
Mentuhotep III (S’ankhkare) King 2009–1998 BC.
S’ankhkare Mentuhotep III succeeded his great father, Nebhepetre *Mentuhotep II, as the last recorded king of the Eleventh Dynasty, although he was probably briefly succeeded by Nebtowyre *Mentuhotep IV.
In his twelve year reign, he apparently built on a large scale throughout many towns in Upper Egypt, where inscribed blocks testify to the existence of temples or chapels of this period. Also, during his reign, there was activity in the stone quarries at Wadi Hammamat, where an inscription dated to Year 8 recalls how a steward was sent there with the task of quarrying stone for the production of statues that were to be placed in temples and tombs. The king’s burial place may have been situated at a location in a circular bay to the south of Deir el Bahri, similar to the place which his father selected for his own great complex.
BIBL. Winlock, H.E. Excavations at Deir el Bahri, 1911–1931. New York: 1942; Winlock, H.E. The
rise and fall of the Middle Kingdom in Thebes. New York: 1947.
Mentuhotep IV (Nebtowyre) King 1997–1991 BC.
Nebtowyre Mentuhotep IV does not appear in the Turin Canon (which enters no ruler for the seven years after the death of *Mentuhotep III), but his name is known from inscriptions in quarries to which he sent expeditions. He probably succeeded Mentuhotep III as the last king of the Eleventh Dynasty. An inscription which dates