| Sekhemre Seusertawy Sobekhotep VIII | |
| Alt Name: | Sobkhotep, Sebekhotep |
| Reign: | 16 regnal years? 1645-1629 BC |
| Dynasty: | 16th Dynasty |
| Predecessor: | Djehuti |
| Successor: | Neferhotep III |
| Prenomen: | Sekhemre Seusertawy Sḫm-Rˁ-s-wsr-t3.wj Powerful is Ra, he who makes the two lands strong |
| Prenomen Hiero: | |
| Nomen: | Sobekhotep Sbk-ḥtp Sobek is satisfied |
| Nomen Hiero: | |
Sekhemre Seusertawy Sobekhotep VIII was an ancient Egyptian ruler during the Second Intermediate Period whose exact chronological placement remains uncertain. He may have ruled over the Theban region in Upper Egypt. Scholars debate whether he belonged to the 13th, 16th, or 17th Dynasty. If Sobekhotep VIII was a king of the 16th Dynasty, it is thought that he is listed in the Turin Canon (11:2), which credits him with a 16-year reign.[1] [2]
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The only contemporary attestation of Sobekhotep VIII is a stela found inside the third pylon at Karnak. This stela was used as construction material to fill the pylon during Amenhotep III's extensive works at the site. The stela is dated to the epagomenal, or final five days, of Sobekhotep VIII's fourth regnal year, and describes his attitude at a temple, probably that of Karnak, during a massive Nile flood:[3] According to Egyptologist John Baines, who studied the stela in detail, by coming to the temple as it was flooded, the king reenacted the Egyptian story of the creation of the world in imitating the actions of the creator god Amun-Ra, to which the stela iconography closely associates the king, ordering the waters to recede from around the primordial mount.[3]
Egyptologists Jürgen von Beckerath and Labib Habachi considered Sobekhotep VIII to be a king of the 13th Dynasty.[4] [5]
The Turin King List (11:2) reads: "The Dual King Sekhemra ... 16 years ...".[6] Egyptologists Kim Ryholt and Darrell Baker assign this entry to Sekhemre Seusertawy, which is Sobekhotep VIII's nomen. If this identification is correct, then Sobekhotep VIII reigned for 16 years as the third king of the 16th Dynasty. This would make him the direct successor of Djehuti and the predecessor to Neferhotep III, although his relation to both of these kings remains unknown.[1] [2] In his reconstruction of the chronology of the Second Intermediate Period, Ryholt proposes that Sobekhotep VIII reigned from 1645 BC until 1629 BC, shortly after the Hyksos 15th Dynasty took over the Nile Delta and the city of Memphis, thereby precipitating the collapse of the 13th Dynasty.