Senusret III
Encyclopedia
Khakhaure Senusret III was a pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...

 of Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

. He ruled from 1878 BC to 1839 BC, and was the fifth monarch of the Twelfth Dynasty
Twelfth dynasty of Egypt
The twelfth dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasties XI, XIII and XIV under the group title Middle Kingdom.-Rulers:Known rulers of the twelfth dynasty are as follows :...

 of the Middle Kingdom
Middle Kingdom of Egypt
The Middle Kingdom of Egypt is the period in the history of ancient Egypt stretching from the establishment of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Fourteenth Dynasty, between 2055 BC and 1650 BC, although some writers include the Thirteenth and Fourteenth dynasties in the Second Intermediate...

. Among his achievements was the building of the Sisostris Canal. He was a great pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty and is considered to be perhaps the most powerful Egyptian ruler of the dynasty. Consequently, he is regarded as one of the sources for the legend about Sesostris
Sesostris
Sesostris was the name of a legendary king of ancient Egypt who led a military expedition into parts of Europe, as related by Herodotus.-Account of Herodotus:...

. His military campaigns gave rise to an era of peace and economic prosperity that reduced the power of regional rulers and led to a revival in craftwork, trade and urban development. Senusret III was one of the few kings who were deified and honored with a cult during their own lifetime.

Initiatives

Senusret III cleared a navigable canal through the first cataract and relentlessly pushed his kingdom's expansion into Nubia
Nubia
Nubia is a region along the Nile river, which is located in northern Sudan and southern Egypt.There were a number of small Nubian kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages, the last of which collapsed in 1504, when Nubia became divided between Egypt and the Sennar sultanate resulting in the Arabization...

 (from 1866 to 1863 BC) where he erected massive river forts including Buhen
Buhen
Buhen was an ancient Egyptian settlement situated on the West bank of the Nile below the Second Cataract. It is well known for its fortress, probably constructed during the rule of Senusret III, around the year 1860 BC . The site may have been first established as an outpost in Nubia during the...

, Semna
Semna (Nubia)
Semna was a fortified town established in the reign of Senusret I on the west bank of the Nile at the southern end of a series of fortresses founded during the 12th Dynasty in the second-cataract area of Lower Nubia. The Semna gorge, at the southern edge of ancient Egypt, was the narrowest part...

 and Toshka at Uronarti
Uronarti
Uronarti was an ancient Egyptian settlement located on an island in the Nile above the Second Cataract. It is well known for its triangular-shaped fortress, constructed between the reigns of Middle Kingdom rulers Senusret I and Senusret III, in the nineteenth century BCE...

.

He carried out at least four major campaigns into Nubia in his Year 8, 10, 16 and 19 respectively. His Year 8 stela at Semna documents his victories against the Nubians through which he is thought to have made safe the southern frontier, preventing further incursions into Egypt. Another great stela
Stele
A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...

 from Semna dated to the third month of Year 16 of his reign mentions his military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

 activities against both Nubia
Nubia
Nubia is a region along the Nile river, which is located in northern Sudan and southern Egypt.There were a number of small Nubian kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages, the last of which collapsed in 1504, when Nubia became divided between Egypt and the Sennar sultanate resulting in the Arabization...

 and Canaan
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...

. In it, he admonished his future successors to maintain the new border which he had created:
His final campaign which was in Year 19 was less successful because the king's forces were caught by the Nile being lower than normal and they had to retreat and abandon their campaign to avoid being trapped in hostile Nubian territory.

Such was his forceful nature and immense influence that Senusret III was worshipped as a god in Semna by later generations. Jacques Morgan, in 1894, found rock inscriptions near Sehel Island
Sehel Island
Sehel Island is located in the Nile, about 2 miles southwest of Aswan in Egypt. It is a large island, twice the size of Aswan's Elephantine Island, and is roughly halfway between there and the Aswan Low Dam . On Sehel Island, there are many inscriptions in the granite boulders...

 documenting his digging of a canal under the king. Senusret III erected a temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...

 and town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 in Abydos
Abydos, Egypt
Abydos is one of the most ancient cities of Upper Egypt, and also of the eight Upper Nome, of which it was the capital city. It is located about 11 kilometres west of the Nile at latitude 26° 10' N, near the modern Egyptian towns of el-'Araba el Madfuna and al-Balyana...

, and another temple in Medamud
Medamud
Medamud was a settlement in Ancient Egypt. Its present-day territory is located about 8 km east-north from Luxor. The temple was excavated by Fernand Bisson de la Roque in 1925, who identified several structures dedicated to the war-god Monthu....

.

Length of Reign

His pyramid was constructed at Dahshur
Dahshur
Dahshur , is a royal necropolis located in the desert on the west bank of the Nile approximately 40 kilometres south of Cairo...

. A papyrus
Papyrus
Papyrus is a thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt....

 in the Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 Museum shows Year 20 of his reign is equivalent to Year 1 of his son Amenemhat III
Amenemhat III
Amenemhat III, also spelled Amenemhet III was a pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt. He ruled from c.1860 BC to c.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...

. This means that he initiated a coregency with his son in this year. According to Josef W. Wegner
Josef W. Wegner
Josef William Wegner is an American Egyptologist and Associate Professor of Egyptology in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania, where he obtained his doctorate in Egyptology. He is noted for his continued research at Abydos, Egypt...

, a Year 39 hieratic control note was recovered on a white limestone block from:
Wegner stresses that it is unlikely that Amenemhet III, Senusret's son and successor would still be working on his father's temple nearly 4 decades into his own reign. He notes that the only possible solution for the block's existence here is that Senusret III had a 39-year reign, with the final 20 years in coregency with his son Amenemhet III. Since the project was associated with a project of Senusret III, his Regnal Year was presumably used to date the block, rather than Year 20 of Amenemhet III. This implies that Senusret was still alive in the first two decades of his son's reign.

Visually, Senusret III is known for his strikingly somber sculptures in which he appears careworn and grave.

His court included the viziers Sobekemhat
Sobekemhat
Sobekemhat was an Ancient Egyptian vizier under the king Senusret III in the Twelfth Dynasty. Sobekemhat is only known from his mastaba excavated in 1894 next to the pyramid of Senusret III at Dahshur. The mastaba was decorated on the outside with reliefs. These were only found in small fragments,...

, Nebit
Nebit
Nebit was an Ancient Egyptian official during the reign of king Senusret III. He held the position of vizier. Thus he was the most important official at the royal court. Nebit is only known from his large mastaba which was excavated next to the pyramid of the king at Dahshur. The mastaba was built...

 and Khnumhotep
Khnumhotep III
Khnumhotep was an Ancient Egyptian vizier of the Twelfth Dynasty.Khnumhotep was the son of the local governor Khnumhotep II, known from his tomb at Beni Hasan . Khnumhotep was promoted as a young man, under Senusret II to the royal court and was sent on several missions, one of them to the Red...

. Ikhernofret
Ikhernofret Stela
The Ikhernofret Stela is an important Ancient Egyptian stela dated to the Middle Kingdom and is notable for its veiled description of how the mysteries of Osiris were carried out in Abydos. The stela is 100 cm high and made of limestone. Osiris is depicted standing under a winged sun disk...

 worked as treasurer for the king at Abydos. Senankh
Senankh
Senankh was an Ancient Egyptian treasurer during the Twelfth Dynasty, under king Senusret III. Senankh is so far only known from a rock inscription carved on the island of Sehel, south of Aswan. Senankh bears the titles royal sealer, sole friend and leader of works in the whole land. His main title...

 cleared the canal at Sehel for the king.

Pyramid and complex

Senusret's pyramid complex was built north-east of the Red Pyramid
Red Pyramid
The Red Pyramid, also called the North Pyramid, is the largest of the three major pyramids located at the Dahshur necropolis. Named for the rusty reddish hue of its stones, it is also the third largest Egyptian pyramid, after those of Khufu and Khafra at Giza. At the time of its completion, it was...

 of Dashur and in grandeur far surpassed those from the early 12th dynasty in size and underlying religious conceptions.

There has been speculation that Senusret was not necessarily buried there but rather in his sophisticated funerary complex in Abydos
Abydos, Egypt
Abydos is one of the most ancient cities of Upper Egypt, and also of the eight Upper Nome, of which it was the capital city. It is located about 11 kilometres west of the Nile at latitude 26° 10' N, near the modern Egyptian towns of el-'Araba el Madfuna and al-Balyana...

 with his pyramid more likely to have been a cenotaph.

Senusret's pyramid is 105 meter square and 78 meters high. The total volume was about 288,000 cubic meters. The pyramid was built of a core of mud bricks. They were not made a consistent size implying that standardized moulds weren't used. The burial chamber was lined with granite. Above the vaulted burial chamber was a second relieving chamber that was roofed with 5 pairs of limestone beams each weighing 30 tons. Above this was a third mudbrick vault.

The pyramid complex included a small mortuary temple and 7 smaller pyramids for his queens. There is also an underground gallery with further burials for royal women. Here were found the treasures of Sithathor
Sithathor
Sithathor was an Ancient Egyptian princess with the title king's daughter. She is only known from her burial at Dahshur. Next to the pyramid of king Senusret III were found underground galleries as a burial place for royal women. Most of the burials were found looted, but there were two boxes for...

 and queen Mereret. There was also a southern temple, however this has since been destroyed.

Trivia

Senusret is a major character in Christian Jacq
Christian Jacq
Christian Jacq is a French author and Egyptologist. He has written several novels about ancient Egypt, notably a five book suite about pharaoh Ramses II, a character whom Jacq admires greatly....

's historical fiction series The Mysteries of Osiris http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/j/christian-jacq/tree-of-life.htm

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK