Amenemhat II
Amenemhat II, also known as Amenemhet II was the third king of the 12th Dynasty of Egypt. Amenemhat II was known by his prenomen Nubkaure,. Although he ruled for at least 35 years, his reign is rather obscure, as well as his family relationships.
Family
Archaeological findings have provided the name of Amenemhat's mother, the "king's mother" Neferu III, but not the name of his father. Nevertheless, it is commonly assumed that he was a son of his predecessor Senusret I. An early attestation of Amenemhat may have come from the tomb of the namesake nomarch Amenemhat, buried at Beni Hasan. This nomarch, who lived under Senusret I, escorted the "King's son Ameny" in an expedition to Nubia, and it is believed that this prince Ameny was none other than Amenemhat II in his youth.The identity of Amenemhat's queen consort is unknown. Many royal women were buried within his pyramid complex, but their relationships with the king are unclear: a queen Keminub must be dated to the later 13th Dynasty, and three "king's daughters" named Ita, Itaweret, and Khenmet may have been Amenemhat's daughters, although conclusive proof is still lacking. A woman queen and king's mother called Senet is known from three statues. Her royal husband and sons are not known. Amenemhat II might have been her husband.
Children with unknown spouse(s)
- Nofret
- Khenemetneferhedjet: likely the same person as Khenemetneferhedjet I
Possible children
- Senusret II : His successor, who was likely his son. However, this is never explicitly stated anywhere.
- Amenemhatankh: Was either his son or brother
- Ita
- Itaweret
- Khenmet
Reign
Accession
Amenemhat II was once believed to have shared a period of coregency with his predecessor Senusret I, an hypothesis based on the double-dated stela of an official named Wepwawet-aa that bears the regnal year 44 of Senusret I and the regnal year 2 of Amenemhat II. The existence of such coregency is now considered unlikely and the meaning of the double-date on the stela is interpreted as a time range when Wepwawetō was in charge, from Senusret I's year 44 to Amenemhat II's year 2.Account of reign
The most important record for Amenemhat's early reign is on fragments of the so-called Annals of Amenemhat II unearthed at Memphis. It provides records of donations to temples and, sometimes, of political events. Among the latter, there is a mention of a military expedition into Asia, the destruction of two cities – Iuai and Iasy – whose location is still unknown, and the coming of tribute-bearers from Asia and Kush.Under Amenemhat II several mining expeditions are known: at least 3 in the Sinai, one in the Wadi Gasus and one in search for amethysts in the Wadi el-Hudi. He is known to have ordered building works at Heliopolis, Herakleopolis, Memphis, in the Eastern Delta, and rebuilt a ruined temple at Hermopolis. There are some mentions of the building of a "First temple" but it is still unclear what it could have been. A well-known finding associated with Amenemhat II is the Great Sphinx of Tanis, later usurped by many other kings. He is also named on the boxes of a treasure of silver objects found under the temple of Montu at Tod: notably, many of these objects are not of Egyptian workmanship but rather Aegean, evidencing contacts between Egypt and foreign civilizations in the Middle Kingdom. Many private stelae bears Amenemhat's cartouches – and sometimes even his regnal years – but are of little help in providing useful information about the events of his reign.