Sobekneferu in Wikipedia
Sobekneferu (sometimes written "Neferusobek") 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 the intended heir. Neferuptah's name was enclosed in a cartouche and
she had her own pyramid at Hawara. Neferuptah died at an early age however. [1]
Sobekneferu is the first known female ruler of Egypt, although Nitocris may have ruled in the Sixth Dynasty, and there are five other
women who are believed to have ruled as early as the First Dynasty.[citation needed]
Amenemhat IV most likely died without a male heir, consequently, Amenemhat III's royal daughter Sobekneferu assumed the throne.
According to the Turin Canon, she ruled for 3 years, 10 months and 24 days,[2] in the late 19th century BC. She died without heirs and
the end of her reign concluded Egypt's brilliant twelfth dynasty and the Golden Age of the Middle Kingdom as it inaugurated the much
weaker, thirteenth dynasty.
Reign
Few monuments have been discovered for her, although many of her (headless) statues have been preserved including the base of a
representation of a king's royal daughter that was discovered in Gezer and bears her name.[3]. It is known that she made additions to
the funerary complex of Amenemhat III at Hawara (called a labyrinth by Herodotus) and also built structures at Herakleopolis Magna. A
fine cylinder seal bearing her name and royal titulary now is located in the British Museum.[4] A Nile graffito, at the Nubian fortress
of Kumma records the Nile inundation height of 1.83 metres in Year 3 of her reign.[5] Her monumental works consistently associate her
with Amenemhat III rather than Amenemhat IV, supporting the theory that she was Amenemhat III's royal daughter and was perhaps only a
stepsister of Amenemhat IV.[3] The Danish Egyptologist, Kim Ryholt, notes that the contemporary sources from her reign show that
Sobekneferu never adopted the title of "Queen or King's sister"--only King's Daughter'--which supports this hypothesis.[3]
Her tomb has not been identified positively, although she may have been interred in a pyramid complex in Mazghuna that lacks
inscriptions, immediately north of a similar complex ascribed to Amenemhat IV. A place called Sekhem-Neferu is mentioned in a papyrus
found at Harageh. This might be the name of her pyramid.
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