Sekhemre Khutawy Sobekhotep

His chronological position is much debated. Kim Ryholt (1997) makes a strong case for Sobekhotep as the founder of the dynasty, a hypothesis that is now dominant in Egyptology. If so, he may be the first ruler with this name, making him Sobekhotep I. His double name may also be a filiation, Sobekhotep, son of Amenemhat.

Reign

We know almost nothing about his reign except what can be interpreted by archaeological finds. He ruled at a time of political turmoil during the early Thirteenth Dynasty, where the order of succession is unclear. At Lahun, a papyrus indicate that he ruled not long after Amenemhat III. The Nile level records were also inscribed for a limited number of rulers of the late 12th and early 13th dynasties. However, the Turin King List column 7 placed him in the middle of the list if read as a sequence of successors. Consequently, some scholars believe the scribe made a mistake where he should be put at the top of that list. His double name Amenemhat Sobekhotep may be a filiation meaning "Sobekhotep, son of Amenemhat" indicating he was a son of Amenemhat III or Amenemhat IV. Amenemhat III is only known to have had daughters. An antiyant husband (regent) or grandchild (by the first rank daughter) may have laid claim on the throne.

Chronological position

The subject of positively determining the successor to the throne following the reign of Sobekneferu – the final ruler of the Twelfth Dynasty and one of the few women to have held regnal power in Egypt, perhaps the first – has persisted in Egyptological discourse and is split between two candidates: Khutawyre Wegaf and Sekhemkhare Khutawy Sobekhotep.

The Turin Canon separates the rulers of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Dynasty with a summary that accords the former with eight kings ruling for 213 years, 1 month, and 15+x days. Thereafter it opens discussion of the kings that followed after Sehotepibre – the prenomen of Amenemhat I. The founding of the Thirteenth Dynasty is accorded to Khutawyre, who is stated to have reigned for two years, three months, and 24 days. Sobekhotep is listed in the papyrus under Sekhemre Khutawy Sobekhotep as the 15th king, though the length of his reign is lost in a lacuna.

However, the Nile level records and his appearance on a papyrus found at Lahun indicate that he might date to the early 13th Dynasty. In both monument types only kings of the late 12th and early 13th Dynasty are mentioned. Egyptologist Kim Ryholt maintains that it is possible that the writer of the list confused Sekhemre Khutawy with Khutawyre, the nomen of Wegaf.

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Contemporary attestations

Sobekhotep is attested by contemporary sources dating to the early 13th Dynasty.

In Year 1, he is attested on a papyrus at Lahun in the middle part of Egypt. Later, he is mainly attested by architectural elements in the 4th Nome of Thebes. His highest attested date is Year 4 according to Nile level records in Nubia.

Documents

Kahun Papyrus IV, Petrie Museum UC 32166

He is mentioned on the Kahun Papyrus IV. Written in hieratic text, it contains "a census of the household of a lector-priest that is dated to the first regnal year" of the king. The household includes a son of the lector-priest, and the papyrus records the birth of this son during a 40th regnal year of an unnamed king, "which can only refer to Amenemhat III." This establishes that Sekhemre Khutawy Sobekhotep reigned close in time to Amenemhat III, with the son still part of the household of the lector-priest.

Nile level records

In Nubia, three graffito were left at the second cataract forts during the reign of Sobekhotep: two at Semna during regnal years two and three and one at Kumma in regnal year four – the highest attested regnal year for the king. The graffito at Kumma records the height of the Nile inundation as being +2.91 m (9.5 ft) in Sobekhotep's fourth regnal year.

Cylinder seals

The Met has a cylinder seal (MET 30.8.319) belonging to Sobekhotep that bears his nomen on one side and an epithet on the other. The glazed steatite seal measures 2.1 cm (0.83 in) long with a diameter of 0.7 cm (0.28 in). The British Museum possesses three glazed steatite cylinder seals that may be associated with Sobekhotep as they bear the prenomen Sekhemre Khutawy on one side and an epithet associated with Sobek on the other. Two seals (EA 16752 and EA 28867) are smaller measuring 1.38 cm (0.54 in) and 1.64 cm (0.65 in) long with a diameter of 0.48 cm (0.19 in) and 0.56 cm (0.22 in) respectively. The remaining seal (EA 17029) is larger measuring 2.15 cm (0.85 in) with a diameter of 0.51 cm (0.20 in).

Architecture

A number of architectural elements bearing Sobekhotep's titulary are known: a fragment of a Hebsed chapel from Medamud, three lintels from Deir el-Bahri and Medamud, an architrave from Luxor and a doorjamb from Medamud that is now in the Louvre.

Medamud, Temple of Montu

Deir el-Bahri, Temple of Mentuhotep II

Sobekhotep contributed a relief to a limestone door lintel in the mortuary temple of Mentuhotep II at Deir el-Bahari.

Small finds

Smaller artifacts mentioning Sobekhotep comprise an adze-blade, a statuette from Kerma and a faience bead, now in the Petrie Museum (UC 13202).

Later attestations

In the Thutmosid period, Sekhemre Khutawy is attested on the Karnak list of early Egyptian kings in the thirty-sixth entry.

The Turin King List 7:19 contains the entry: "The Dual King Sobekhotep I reigned x years ...". In the list he is predeceded by 7:18 Sedjefakare and succeeded by 7:20 by Khendjer. Some scholars believe the scribe made an error being interchanged with 7:01 Khutawyre Wegaf.

Burial

The tomb of Sobekhotep has not been found. His tomb was believed to have been discovered in Abydos in 2013, but this attribution is now questioned. During a 2013 excavation in Abydos, a team of archaeologists led by Josef W. Wegner of the University of Pennsylvania discovered the tomb of a king with the name Sobekhotep. While Sobekhotep I was named as owner of the tomb on several press reports since January 2014, further investigations made it more likely that the tomb belongs to king Sobekhotep IV instead.

Theories

His double name Amenemhat Sobekhotep may be a filiation meaning "Sobekhotep, son of Amenemhat". It has been suggested that Sobekhotep was a son of the penultimate pharaoh of the 12th Dynasty, king Amenemhat IV. Therefore, Sobekhotep may have been a brother of Sekhemkare Sonbef, the second ruler of the 13th Dynasty. Other Egyptologists read Amenemhat Sobekhotep as a double name, these being common in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Dynasty.