Mersekhemre Ined Explained

Mersekhemre Ined
Alt Name:Mersekhemre Neferhotep II ?
Reign:3 years, 1 to 4 months and 1 day
Dynasty:13th Dynasty
Predecessor:Sankhenre Sewadjtu
Successor:Sewadjkare Hori
Prenomen:Mersekhemre[1] [2]
Mr-sḫm-Rˁ
He who loves the power of RaM23:t-L2:t-<-ra-U7-sxm->
Turin canon: Mersekhemre Ined
Mr.j-sḫm-Rˁ-ind
He who loves the power of Ra, InedM23:t-L2:t-<-ra-U7:r-sxm-Z1-i-in:n-d:wr->
Nomen:(if the same person as Neferhotep II) Neferhotep
Nfr-ḥtp
Perfect and content
Nomen Hiero:nfr-Htp:t*p

Mersekhemre Ined was a pharaoh of the late 13th Dynasty, possibly the thirty-fifth king of this dynasty.[1] As such he would have reigned from Memphis over Middle and Upper Egypt for a short time either during the early or mid-17th century, from 1672 until 1669 BC or from 1651 until 1648 BC.[3] He may be the same king as Mersekhemre Neferhotep II.

Identity

The identity of Mersekhemre Ined with respect to Neferhotep II is still in doubt. Two royal statues of a king named Mersekhemre Neferhotep were uncovered by Georges Legrain in 1903 in the Karnak Cachette and are now in the Egyptian Museum, CG 42023 and CG 42024.[4] [5] Additionally, a king Mersekhemre Ined is mentioned in entry 7.6 of the Turin Canon and a king Mersekhemre appears in the Karnak king list, entry VI, 2. Egyptologists Jürgen von Beckerath, Detlef Franke, Jacques Kinnaer, Rolf Krauss and Donald B. Redford conclude that the Mersekhemre Ined of the Turin canon and Mersekhemre Neferhotep are one and the same person.[6] In contrast, Kim Ryholt sees in these documents the references to two distinct rulers with the same official royal name, as for example in the case of Merhotepre Sobekhotep V and Merhotepre Ini. Rather, Ryholt identifies Neferhotep II with a king "Mer...re" on column 8 row 16 of the Turin canon, which would place Neferhotep II at the very end of the 13th Dynasty, possibly the dynasty's 46th ruler.[1] However, this entry of the Turin canon may refer to Mershepsesre Ini II instead, with Neferhotep II being the same king as Mersekhemre Ined.[1]

Reign

According to the latest reading of the Turin canon by Kim Ryholt, Mersekhemre Ined reigned for 3 years, 1 to 4 months and 1 day.[7] He likely ruled Middle and Upper Egypt while the Hyksos 14th or 15th Dynasty probably already controlled large parts of the Delta region during Mersekhemre Ined's time on the throne in the late 13th Dynasty.

Notes and References

  1. Darrell D. Baker: The Encyclopedia of the Pharaohs: Volume I - Predynastic to the Twentieth Dynasty 3300 - 1069 BC, Stacey International,, 2008, p. 137
  2. http://www.ancient-egypt.org/kings/13/1336_ined/titulary.html Titulary of Ined
  3. Thomas Schneider: Lexikon der Pharaonen
  4. The Karnak cachette on the Institut Francais d'Archeologie Orientale, CG 42023
  5. The Karnak cachette on the Institut Francais d'Archeologie Orientale, CG 42024
  6. Jürgen von Beckerath: Untersuchungen zur politischen Geschichte der zweiten Zwischenzeit in Ägypten. Glückstadt 1964, p. 60, 254 (XIII 30)
  7. K.S.B. Ryholt, The Political Situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period, c.1800-1550 BC, (Carsten Niebuhr Institute Publications, vol. 20. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 1997, p.71 & p.192