Amenemhet I 

Middle Kingdom (2040–1674 b.c.)

Dynasty XII (1991–1962 b.c.)

Having ascended the throne as a non-royal, Amenemhet I was nevertheless the first ruler of a new dynasty. He used the literature of prophecy to legitimize his position. In a work of fiction, a sage named Neferti is summoned to the court of Snofru where she prophesies the coming of a pharaoh later to be identified as Amenemhet I.

Literature was in a period of flowering in the Middle Kingdom, and texts attributed to this era would be popular for thousands of years to come. One of these was the Story of Sinuhe, which for generations would be an oft-told tale and a text for boys in scribal school. In our time it was made into a motion picture, The Egyptian, which combined the story of Sinuhe with the much later historical events surrounding Akhenaten (with Victor Mature playing General Horemheb).

Amenemhet I was responsible for a reorganization of Egypt’s administration and was a prolific builder. In about mid-February 1962 b.c. he was assassinated after a secret conspiracy in his harem.

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