Amenemhat III, alt.
Amenemhet III, (c.
1860 BC-1814 BC) was a
pharaoh of the
Twelfth Dynasty of
Egypt. He ruled from ca.
1860 BC to ca.
1814 BC, the latest known date being found in a
papyrus dated to Regnal
Year 46, I Akhet 22 of his rule. He is regarded as the greatest monarch of the
Middle Kingdom. He may have had a long
coregency (of 20 years) with his father,
Sesostris III.
Towards the end of his reign he instituted a coregency with his successor
Amenemhet IV, as recorded in a now damaged rock inscription at Konosso in Nubia, which equates Year 1 of
Amenemhet IV to either Year 46, 47 or 48 of his reign. His daughter,
Sobekneferu, later succeeded Amenemhat IV, as the last ruler of the 12th Dynasty. Amenemhat III's throne name, Nimaatre, means "Belonging to the Justice of Re."
He built a first
pyramid at
Dahshur (the so-called "
Black Pyramid") but there were building problems and this was abandoned. Around Year 15 of his reign the king decided to build a new pyramid at
Hawara. The pyramid at Dahshur was used as burial ground for several royal women.
His mortuary temple at
Hawara (near the
Fayum), is accompanied by a
pyramid and was known to
Herodotus and
Diodorus Siculus as the "
Labyrinth." Strabo praised it as a wonder of the world. The king's pyramid at Hawara contained some of the most complex security features of any found in Egypt and is perhaps the only one to come close to the sort of tricks
Hollywood associates with such structures. Nevertheless, the king's burial was robbed in antiquity. His daughter,
Neferu-Ptah, was buried in a separate pyramid (discovered in
1956) 2km southwest of the king's.
The
Rhind Mathematical Papyrus is thought to have been originally composed during Amenemhat's time.
Egyptologist
David Rohl, in his book "Pharaoh's and Kings", proposes an alternate chronology for the
Old Testament which has found little acceptance among archaeologists. Dr. Rohl believes that
Joseph, son of Jacob, was the
vizier (Chief Adviser or Prime Minister) during the reign of Pharoah Amenemhat III.
Other names:
*
Ammenemes
*
Lamares, Ameres (According to
Manetho)
*
Moeris 
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