Ancient Egyptian kingship

For modern people, kingship belongs to the misty realms of ancient history, or theatrical presentations of British monarchs such as Victoria, Elizabeth, or even King Henry VIII. But kings and their kingdoms permeate the pages of Scripture from the small warring kings of Genesis 14 with whom Abraham fought to the empire-wide authority of such figures as Ashurbanipal and Nebuchadnezzar to maniacal despots such as Antiochus Epiphanes IV and King Herod the Great. We must look closely at the role of kings in the ancient world to understand our Bible and the hope we maintain for the kingdom of God. In this paper, we will look at Psalm 2, one of the great royal, Messianic psalms. We will look at it within its cognitive environment and the practices of ancient Near Eastern kingship.

RE: Facades, illusions & ideological concepts created & promoted by ancient royalty out of necessity; effective creation of an alternate version of reality. It is only by knowing this information that the true nature of ancient texts may be understood correctly. Not knowing, means making incorrect assumptions & conclusions. Important!

El estudio de la evidencia textual, iconográfica y arqueológica del antiguo Egipto refleja la geminación de la persona del monarca. Esta doble naturaleza explica la multiplicidad de imágenes del rey en las fuentes oficiales y populares y justifica la ambigüedad de nuestras interpretaciones. En este artículo examino el proceso adaptativo de la monarquía egipcia a diversas condiciones políticas, sociales y religiosas desde sus inicios hasta la época grecorromana, discutiendo los principales mecanismos de poder, propaganda, control y legitimación. El dogma divino de la monarquía otorgó al rey el carácter de un dios a la vez que le relegó a la tierra como Horus en forma mortal. Como líder político aspiró a la consolidación del país, el control de sus recursos y la paz social; como dios demiurgo, generaba y expandía el cosmos, mediaba por la humanidad y protegía el equilibrio cósmico contra las fuerzas del caos. Para conseguir estos objetivos, el rey egipcio hizo uso de mecanismos políticos y mágicos que le asegurasen el dominio del país en el Próximo Oriente y el triunfo de Maat en el cosmos.

The analysis of the textual, iconographic and archaeological evidence in ancient Egypt reveals the gemination of the royal persona. This dual nature explains the multiplicity of images of the king in official and popular sources, and justifies the vagueness of our interpretations. In this work I examine the adaptative process of Egyptian kingship to diverse political, social and religious conditions from its origins to the Graeco-Roman times, focusings on the main mechanisms of power, propaganda, control, and legitimation. The divine royal dogma provided the king with the character of a god although also confined him to earth as Horus in human form. As a political ruler, he aimed at the boost of the country, the control of its recourses, and social stability; as a demiurgic god, he generated and extended cosmos, mediated on behalf of humankind, and protected cosmic equilibrium against the forces of chaos. In order to achieve these goals, the Egyptian king made use of political and magical mechanisms that ensured the hegemony of the country in the Near East and the triumph of Maat in cosmos.

“May they grant you eternity without its limit (as well as) unboundedness without its end” (Sinuhe B 212). This paper aims to discuss how the ancient Egyptian kings describe their eternal life. The ancient Egyptian didn’t have an exact word for “time”, only two abstract words nHH for the regenerative timelessness and Dt for the durative timelessness. Since royal inscriptions function as an immortalization (smn “to make endure”) of all deeds of the kings, they were inscribed on durable material, e.g. stelae, rocks, temple walls, obelisks and sculptures, and intended to be visible for eternity. This action, i.e. so-called jr mnw “monumentalisation”, was also effective through various building programs such as pyramids or houses of millions of years that symbolize “collective” and “eternity”. The Egyptian word for monument(s) is mnw, which is derived from the verb mn “to remain” and “to endure”. In addition, royal inscriptions use a lot of figurative expressions to display the continuity of kingship and its ideology, e.g. “Merenptah remains and appears as the ruler of all lands like his father Atum who is the beginning of eternity (of reign) and the inauguration of everlasting (of rule)” (KRI IV, 29:6–7). Therefore, royal inscriptions on these durable monuments could remain forever, and through them royal names, kingship and its ideology would also last for eternity.

Abstract
The similarity between the two crowns here discussed has long been recognized in modern scholarship. The blue crown is generally considered to represent the legitimacy of kingship but has also been interpreted as representing the king’s mortal nature or, perhaps more often, as a ‘war crown’ while the cap crown is frequently given ‘priestly’ connotations. However, the specific purpose of each crown remains uncertain.
The frequency with which certain crowns were worn is now attested, predominantly, in extant iconographic representation; in which usage each crown may be thought to be invested with some meaning, to represent some abstract state or ideal which may have symbolic reference to a king or to the office of kingship itself. An examination of the iconography of the Theban monuments of the New Kingdom period has revealed that in the portrayal of certain ritual festivals specific motifs were adopted which, it can be demonstrated, evolved during the late Eighteenth and early Nineteenth Dynasties. These motifs, which provide a relatively secure context from which the symbolic nature of the blue and cap crowns may be considered further, provide the focus for this paper.

Resumen : El estudio de la evidencia textual, iconografica y arqueologica del antiguo Egipto refleja la geminacion de la perso­na del monarca. Esta doble naturaleza explica la multiplicidad de imagenes del rey en las fuentes oficiales y populares y justifica la ambiguedad de nuestras interpretaciones. En este articulo exa­mino el proceso adaptativo de la mo­narquia egipcia a diversas condiciones politicas, sociales y religiosas desde sus inicios hasta la epoca grecorromana, discutiendo los principales mecanismos de poder, propaganda, control y legiti­macion. El dogma divino de la monar­quia otorgo al rey el caracter de un dios a la vez que le relego a la tierra como Horus en forma mortal. Como lider po­litico aspiro a la consolidacion del pais, el control de sus recursos y la paz social; como dios demiurgo, generaba y expan­dia el cosmos, mediaba por la humani­dad y protegia el equilibrio cosmico contra las fuerzas del caos. Para conse­guir estos objetivos, el rey egipcio hizo uso d...

The Ptolemaic period witnessed an enormous increase in the number of hieroglyphic signs and iconographic elements (composite crowns, scepters, and cult objects). The ancient scribes exploited this complexity when composing the reliefs used in temple decoration, selecting particular words, hieroglyphic signs, and iconographic elements in order to create interconnected multiple layers of meaning, forming a tapestry of sound and sight. The Theology of Hathor of Dendera examines these techniques on both micro- and macro-levels, from their smallest details to their broadest thematic connections, foregrounding individual techniques to determine the words and phrases singled out for emphasis. By synthesizing their use in the three-dimensional space of the most important cult chamber in the Temple of Hathor at Dendera, this new method of analysis not only reveals the most essential characteristics of the local theology, but also shows how the ancient scribes envisioned the universe and the place of humankind within it.

The article deals with a well-known fragment of Udjahorresnet’s autobiography describing his compiling an Egyptian royal titulary for Cambyses after his appearance in Egypt and Udjahorresnet’s elevation at his court. A comparison of Cambyses’ and Darius’ I solar prenomina (Mswty-RꜤ and Stwt-RꜤ, which can be understood as “the image of Re” and “the likeness of Re”) and an interpretation of the Fayum stela Berlin ÄS 7493 depicting Darius I in the image of the falcon Horus leads one to suspect that the theory finding an excuse to the rule of Achaemenids in Egypt postulated their “deriving” their qualities of sacral ritual rulers from gods incorporated in them. This theory must have been forwarded in Udjahorresnet’s time by his party loyal to the Persian rule.

Hatschepsut, Pharao der 18. Dynastie, wurde von den meisten Ägyptologen über viele Jahre hinweg mit wenig schmeichelhaften Worten betitelt: Der König gilt als "skrupellos", "eitel" und "hinterhältig" oder bestenfalls als "passiv" oder "stark von Anderen beeinflusst". Bemerkenswert ist dabei, dass sich diese Adjektive allein auf die Person Hatschepsut beziehen und kaum ihre – oft als gesetzwidrige Machtergreifung aufgefasste - Regierung beschreiben. Erst in den 80er und 90er Jahren wurde das akademische Narrativ um diesen Pharao ausgeglichener, und seit dem vergangenen Jahrzehnt erwägt man eine revidierte Beurteilung über ihr königliches Wirken. Der Hauptgrund dieser undifferenzierten Debatte um Hatschepsut liegt wohl einzig darin, dass sie eine Frau war.
Welches Bild von Hatschepsuts Herrschaft würde sich ungeachtet dieser Tatsache ergeben? Um ihre Leistung als König von Ägypten fair beurteilen zu können, sollen hier Belege nach den Maßstäben ihrer Zeit aufgeführt werden : einerseits nach Aspekten des göttlichen Königtums und anderseits nach einem Vergleich mit königlichen Vorgängern.

For almost three thousand years, Egypt and Mesopotamia were each ruled by the single sacred office of kingship. Though geographically near, these ancient civilizations were culturally distinct, and scholars have historically contrasted their respective conceptualizations of the ultimate authority, imagining Egyptian kings as invested with cosmic power and Mesopotamian kings as primarily political leaders. In fact, both kingdoms depended on religious ideals and political resources to legitimate and exercise their authority. Cross-cultural comparison reveals the sophisticated and varied strategies that ancient kings used to unify and govern their growing kingdoms.

Experiencing Power, Generating Authority draws on rich material records left behind by both kingdoms, from royal monuments and icons to the written deeds and commissions of kings. Thirteen essays provocatively juxtapose the relationships Egyptian and Mesopotamian kings had with their gods and religious mediators, as well as their subjects and court officials. They also explore the ideological significance of landscape in each kingdom, since the natural and built environment influenced the economy, security, and cosmology of these lands. The interplay of religion, politics, and territory is dramatized by the everyday details of economy, trade, and governance, as well as the social crises of war or the death of a king. Reexamining established notions of cosmic and political rule, Experiencing Power, Generating Authority challenges and deepens scholarly approaches to rulership in the ancient world.

Contributors: Mehmet-Ali Ataç, Miroslav Bárta, Dominique Charpin, D. Bruce Dickson, Eckart Frahm, Alan B. Lloyd, Juan Carlos Moreno Garcia, Ludwig D. Morenz, Ellen Morris, Beate Pongratz-Leisten, Michael Roaf, Walther Sallaberger, JoAnn Scurlock.

Jane A. Hill is Director of the Predynastic Egyptian Collections Project at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and a Consulting Scholar in the Museum's Egyptian Section. She also teaches anthropology at Rowan University.

Philip Jones is Associate Curator in the Babylonian Section at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and Executive Editor of the Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary Project.

Antonio J. Morales is University Lecturer and Research Associate at the Institute of Egyptology and the SFB 980 of the Freie Universität Berlin.

В центре данной работы стоят взаимоотношения власти и народа в их институциональном оформлении, а именно проблематика соотношения власти правителя, действующей общественной нормы и ее носителей. На широком конкретно-историческом материале, включающем традиционные и модернизирующиеся общества, прослеживаются такие аспекты данной проблематики, как характер представлений о непогрешимости или, напротив, несовершенстве правителя и политической системы, возможности правителя по отношению к действующим социальным нормам, возможности критики в адрес правителя и принудительных общественных санкций в его адрес, понятия о легитимности правителя и ее источниках, концепция высших целей существования института верховной власти и др. Используемый конкретно-исторический материал обобщается на основе формализованного выделения ключевых параметров, характеризующих данные феномены с установлением корреляций между ними, что позволяет осуществить типологизацию социумов с точки зрения исследуемой тематики.

Visual realizations of Iri-Hor’s royal name display varying degrees of formality that may reflect degrees of participation in that name’s layered semantics. At a time when new visual formulations were being elaborated, phoneticism in the name points to a realization in language of the proposition that the ruler is the one “who relates to” Horus, a proposition also made manifest visually through the inclusion of FALCON in the name as a visual mark (part 1). As a visual icon, Iri-Hor’s name, FALCON.on.MOUTH, could have been crafted to allude to, or as a visual derivation from, a pre-existing form FALCON.on.TRIANGLE, itself already carrying significations to do with kingship (part 2). It is suggested, finally, that in the rock tableau Wadi Ameyra III, the most formal known presentation of the royal name, the two signs above the name, rather than standing for “Memphis,” could be part of an apparatus expanding the royal name itself (part 3).

Pictorial expressions are groups of words, which convey a figurative meaning in the form of metaphors or com- parisons. These expressions are particularly frequent in various phrases included in royal inscriptions in order to elucidate royal ideology. With the help of inscriptions, the king presents his kingship to his people and to his descendants. In this process, pictorial expressions function as attributes. This contribution discusses various pic- torial expressions in relation to the aspect and phase of royal ideology as well as their use, function and purpose.

The text reconsidered in this paper, taken from Coffin Text Spell 148, is significant for the office of ancient Egyptian kingship in that it relates the birth of Horus, the metaphysical aspect of the mortal ruler, and establishes his position among the group of entities each of which represent concepts essential to pharaonic rule: those who together constitute the company in the primeval barque.
Online at: http://www.enim-egyptologie.fr

The article is the second part of the study dealing with the object that bears the hieroglyphic inscription with the unique Pharaonic titulary of Alexander the Great containing all the five traditional names. Alexander’s names on the artifact are different from those found on his Egyptian monuments (the latter showing not more than three of them), their major theme being his world-preponderance; especially telling is the Horus’ name HoA HoAw nw tA (r) Dr.f (“Lord of lords of the earth (to) its limits”) indicating, as it seems, his succession to the Achaememids (due to the affinity with their traditional title “King of kings”). Contrary to the views of its earlier students, it is argued that there are no indisputable reasons to date the artifact to the reign of Alexander (the arguments of F. Bosch-Puche founded on the paleography of the artifact’s Greek inscription are weak); rather it was erected under the early Ptolemies, in order to show their succession to Alexander and to highlight his “Egyptian mythology” shaped around the famous episode in the Siwa Oasis.

The Cannibal Hymn (PT 273-274, § 393-414), one of the most debated religious texts  from the Ancient Egypt, has been widely studied, translated and interpreted but its meaning has not been fully understood. It reflects the final acceptance of the king as an absolute power, the accomplishment of his heavenly ascension and thus becoming the supreme being of the Egyptian pantheon, the creator-god. The article aims, by comparing the so-called Cannibal Hymn and the Creation Myth, to (re-)define the motif of divine authority and the mutual relationship between the king and the deities within the two literary, religious and ideological compositions.

The figurative expression is an important element of rhetoric and style. It appears in almost all languages and at all times. It can be defined as a group of words that includes a comparison, a simile, or a figurative sense. These expressions refer to similarities of shape, colour, feature or function. Two important elements of figurative expressions are the “simile” and the “metaphor.” Figurative language is found in all the royal inscriptions of the kings of ancient Egypt. This paper will look at the type, purpose and function of animal figurative expressions in the royal inscriptions of the 18th Dynasty.

The phraseology used to compose the royal titularies during the Eighteenth Dynasty was as varied as it was circumscribed. Following a long-established tradition, the Eighteenth Dynasty kings chose names that corresponded to the situation they inherited at their accession. When the rulers of the family that reunited Egypt drew up their titulary, they first looked to celebrated predecessors for inspiration to compose their royal titulary. Later pharaohs looked more closely in time to their immediate predecessors. The titulary also reveals much about the concept of kingship during the period. From belligerent phrases to wishes for prosperity and longevity, the kings revealed much about themselves and their personalities through their chosen titulary.

從古至今，大部分的語言學家都把隱喻視為是修辭學的一種，它的作用在於比較兩種不同的事物，用其一來類比其二。但自從1980年雷考夫（George Lakoff）和詹森（Mark Johnson）大膽地提出了「概念隱喻理論」（Conceptual Metaphor Theory）之後，在語言學界掀起了一個全新探索隱喻的視野。他們指出隱喻其實無所不在，它不只在語言內，也在思想及行動表現中，與我們的生活密不可分。他們利用一般人認知的底層論證了「空間方位隱喻」（orientational metaphor）、「實體隱喻」（ontological metaphor）和「結構隱喻」（structural metaphor），前兩種得自於我們肉體經驗的原初認知，第三種則是原初概念基礎上的系統性。
　　「空間方位隱喻」意味用方向來表示抽象的情境，例如：「上」、「下」、「左」、「右」、「前」、「後」、「裡」、「外」等等。舉例來說，「上」─「下」的空間方位隱喻可以衍生出以下抽象的情境：「上」代表著好、高姿態、活著、有控制權和主動；相反的，「下」就代表著不好、低姿態、死亡、失去控制權和被動。舉例來說，古埃及王總是站著直立，處於高位，相反的，敵人總是蹲著、趴著或是跪著，處於低下的狀態。若是將空間方位隱喻描繪古埃及王與敵人的關係，則可得知以下情境：國王是上，敵人是下，這也意味著國王有著控制力，是主動的並且保有活力；相對的敵人是被控制的，被動的，也是死氣沉沉的。
　　埃及學學者時常用不同角度和觀點去探討古埃及王權，因此它一直是埃及學中熱門的主題。古埃及的王權與神權密不可分，國王不僅是荷魯斯的化身，更是太陽神之子。王權與神權的關係，從古王朝的時期就可以明顯看到，尤以國王圖像為甚，再者，文字的發展漸趨成熟，這種關係也普及到古埃及所有文獻，國王銘文更是記載了國王得到權利的合法經過。因此，本文的主要重點將透過「空間方位隱喻」的角度來解析國王圖像和銘文中的古埃及王權，探討古埃及王與其敵人的關係，以及發展經過。

This paper aims to investigate the use of the figurative language of the ancient Egyptian royal inscriptions, with a special focus on the animal similes and metaphors. The pharaoh’s body symbolizes royal physical power and strength. This royal power can be shown both by the iconographic and written images. Through the different kinds of characters of animals the king can represent his power, elation, anger, fear, awe or speed. The usage, function and purpose of the figurative language referring to animals will also be treated.

The article examines the ancient egyptian notion of the ruler, based on the Teachings. These Wisdom texts give us the opportunity to see both the attitude of the person toward the king and on the other hand the responsibilies and duties of the king seen through his own eyes. This way we are able to take a peek in the ideology of the kingship in Ancient Egypt.

Abstract
Plenty of textual and archaeological sources dealing with Amenemhat III show a close connection between this king and the local form of the god Horus ‚Or-Hr.i-ib-Cd.t’. On closer inspection the question arose wether this epithet can be seen as the the cult name under which Amenemhat III. achieved divine worship (Ka-cult). This paper presents various kinds of proof, which characterize Amenemhat III. functioning as Horus under a specific aspect with respect to the Faijum. It should be demonstrated that this king of dynasty 12 at least created new significant features of a royal cult, which one believed to be established not before the New Kingdom and which flowering period were the reigns of Amenhotep III. and Ramesses II. The paper does not deal with the posthumous cult, in which Amenemhat III. got divine worship as an individual after his death in particular during the greek and roman periods. This refers to another kind of deification. It is also important to note, that it is not about different degrees (low – middle – high) of divinity, but about further iconographic and linguistic possibilities to express divine aspects of the king.

Zusammenfassung
Zahlreiche schriftliche und archäologische Quellen zu Amenemhet III. weisen eine enge Beziehung zwischen dem König und der lokalen Form des Gottes Horus ‚Or-Hr.i-ib-Cd.t’ auf. Bei näherer Untersuchung kam die Frage auf, ob dieses Eptheton als Kultname interpretiert werden kann, unter dem Amenemhet III. göttlich verehrt wurde (Ka-Kult). Der Artikel präsentiert verschiedene Formen von Belegen, die nachweisen, dass Amenemhet III. in seiner Funktion als Horus unter einen besonderen Aspekt in Bezug zum Faijum charakterisiert wurde. Es soll aufgezeigt werden, dass dieser König der 12. Dynastie bereits neue signifikante Merkmale des Königskultes geschaffen hat, von denen man gemeinhin annahm, dass diese nicht vor dem Neuen Reich etabliert wurden und ihre Blütezeit unter der Herrschaft Amenophis III. und Ramses II. hatten. Der Beitrag handelt nicht von dem posthumen Kult, in dem Amenemhet III. als Individuum nach seinem Tod – insbesondere in der griechisch-römischen Zeit – göttlich verehrt wurde. Hierbei handelt es sich um eine andere Form von Vergöttlichung. Ferner ist es wichtig festzuhalten, dass es nicht um verschiedene Grade (gering – mittel – hoch) von Göttlichkeit geht, sondern um eine weitere ikonographische und sprachliche Möglichkeit, die göttlichen Aspekte des Königs darzustellen.

Even though in the Old Kingdom the Egyptians already erected giant pyramids of stone for their pharaohs, provincial temples were still being constructed of nondurable mud-bricks. It is usually considered that the construction of stone temples was initiated in the provinces
at the behest of the early XIth dynasty kings Wahankh Intef and Nakht-Nebtepnefer Intef (21st cent. BC). The article explores the Intefs’ incentive for such a grand and labour-intensive innovation, which happened amidst First Intermediate Period turmoil, at the moment when
their fledgling Theban monarchy controlled only ten southernmost nomes.
It is argued that the Intefs’ stone building in the provinces was mainly confined to the construction and redevelopments of the chapels of the goddess Satet and the god Khnum on the island of Elephantine of the archipelago of the First Cataract of the Nile. Close scrutiny of the inscriptions from the chapels proves that Satet and Khnum were invoked there primarily as the lords of the sources of the Upper Egyptian inundation, believed to be located at the First Cataract. This correlates well with the fact that deficient Nile floods and acute food shortages are mentioned in the First Intermediate Period and early Middle Kingdom writings far more often than in any other period of Egyptian history. It is highly probable that the Intefs undertook innovative stone construction on Elephantine first and foremost for the sake of deliverance from such calamities. Later, The Book of the Temple and the famous Famine
Stele emphasized that it had been the deficiency of the Nile floods that had once forced kings to dramatically increase royal favours to provincial temples.

The kingship of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty has been up to now repeatedly studied from different points of view, such as of its succession, legitimation, theory, reality and so on. Actually, royal inscriptions of this period contain many so-called “archaising” phrases, which imitated from the inscriptions of the Eighteenth or Nineteenth Dynasties. This paper aims to discuss the use of figurative language in royal inscriptions of the New Kingdom and the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, and focus on its function, and purpose, particularly on its differences and development. It will show that power of images has still a strong effect in these propagandistic inscriptions. The kingship and its ideology can spread between the two kingdoms with the use of these images.

This study strives to show the culturally reflexive properties of mythological narratives by describing the dynamism stemming from the simultaneous inclusion of various types of temporality and specific usage of space. The basic premise is that any symbolic system/culture contains antithetical principles which are nevertheless upheld simultaneously (in case of ancient Egypt exemplified by the " positional succession " phenomenon). These cultural paradoxes are both a source of discomfort to the system (as they show its incongruence and thus contingency), but also a source of alternative symbolical layout and thus of great power (because they transcend the given social structures). Certain phenomena, myth being one of them, enable to both cope with these paradoxes and utilise their transformative potential. To exemplify how exactly such a process occurs, I provide an analysis of the papyrus d'Orbiney, also known as the Tale of Two Brothers, subsequently identifying it as a " ring-composition ". Consequences of such an identification in relation to the reflexive quality of mythological narratives are then discussed.

The article considers the royal names and designations of Alexander the Great in hieroglyphic texts of Egyptian monuments of the early Hellenistic time: in the bark sanctuary reconstructed during his reign at Luxor, in the tomb of Petosiris at Tuna el-Gebel and on the “altar” (pedestal) from the temple of Amun at the Bahariya Oasis. All these designation contain a component with similar meaning “Defender of Egypt”, which, however, is expressed in different ways. Probably these designations come back to the meaning of the personal name Ἀλέξανδρος (“defending people”), with its reinterpretation well-expected for an Egyptian king. At first this reinterpretation manifests itself in the Horus’ name of Alexander attested at Luxor (mk-Kmt); in due course it was reproduced on the same logic of “translating the name” but with employing different lexica in the late 4th and in the early 3rd centuries B. C., already under Ptolemy I. The topicality of this designation at that time might be explained by the active Ptolemaic propaganda of Alexander’s qualities as a liberator of Egypt, world-dominating ruler and the successor of the legitimate Pharaohs.

Despite Senusret I’s fame as a great pharaoh, there is evidence of disastrous crop failures during his reign: the second letter of Heqanakht, the tomb biographies of the nomarch Ameny and overseer of priests Mentuhotep; probably “The Story of Sinuhe”, B 154−155, and some “year of death” in pReisner I. According to S. Hodjash and O. Berlev, the seven year famine which started in Year 24 made the king shift his heb-sed festival by one year.
These data show that even under the greatest kings, Egyptians were allowed to publicly mention acute food shortages. Hence the absence of such mentions in the Old Kingdom and during dynasty XII after Senusret I’s reign testifies to relative prosperity, in comparison with which the crop failures of the XXII−XX centuries B. C. seemed enormously frequent and disastrous.
The sources do not mention any extraordinary measures aimed at supplying food to the hungry by Senusret I’s central government. At the same time, however, he launched a large scale building program in almost all important temples, which is considered to have given him a reason to tighten control over the country. But could an objective of this program also be to persuade the gods to save Egypt from crop failures? In two compositions about the seven year famine, in the “Famine Stela” and the introduction to the “Book of the Temple”, it is deficient Nile floods that are said to have forced kings to swiftly increase royal favors to temples. J. F. Quack considers dating the “Book of the Temple” to the Middle Kingdom. Could it be the reign of Senusret I, with its series of crop failures and large scale building program in temples? His inscription on Elephantine mentions a god’s revelation to the king in a dream, which is also key episodes in the “Book of the Temple” and “Famine Stela”.