Sarenput II

Sarenput II
Nomarch of the 1st nomos of Upper Egypt
Sarenput II on the painted niche in his tomb
Dynasty	12th Dynasty
Pharaoh	Amenemhat II, Senusret II, Senusret III
Father	Khema
Mother	Satethotep
Children	Sattjeni
Burial	Qubbet el-Hawa, tomb 31

Sarenput II, also called Nubkaurenakht (Nbw-kȝw-rˁ-nḫt, "Strong is Nubkaure", i.e. Amenemhat II) was an ancient Egyptian nomarch during the reign of pharaohs Senusret II and Senusret III of the 12th Dynasty.

Family and career

Sarenput was the son of Khema, a governor of Elephantine during the reign of Amenemhat II, and of his wife Satethotep,^[1] as well as the nephew of the nomarch Sarenput I. Among his titles, he was nomarch of the 1st nomos of Upper Egypt ("Land of the Bow"), mayor of Elephantine, high priest, overseer of the priests of Satet and Khnum, and "leader of the border patrols at the narrow door of the southern lands".^[2] He held the title of nomarch since regnal Year 4 of Senusret II until Year 8 of Senusret III at least.^[3]

Sarenput II had a younger brother, Shemai, whose undisturbed burial was discovered in March 2017 by University of Jena in the Qubbet el-Hawa area of Aswan, the same area where Sarenput had his tomb. Shemai's mummy was found and covered with a "beautiful mask".^[4][1] Sarenput also had a daughter, Sattjeni, who has been identified as the mother of two subsequent nomarchs at Elephantine: Amenyseneb and Heqaib III.^[1]

Like many of his predecessors, Sarenput made additions at the sanctuary of Heqaib at Elephantine: in particular, he ordered a shrine for his father Khema and one for himself, containing a statue of Khema and one of Sarenput II respectively.^[2] The two statues are stylistically different, with the former (Khema) being idealized and typical of the reign of Amenemhat II while the latter (Sarenput II) is more expressive, realistic and detailed, reflecting the style in use during the subsequent reign of Senusret II: both statues are considered to be masterpieces of the Middle Kingdom sculpture. Another statue depicting Sarenput II and probably coming from his tomb, is again stylistically typical of the reign of Amenemhat II.^[5][3][6]

Tomb

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Sarenput – Nubkaurenakht Sȝ-rnpwt – Nbw-kȝw-rˁ-nḫt in hieroglyphs
Era: Middle Kingdom (2055–1650 BC)

Sarenput II built for himself the finest and largest tomb of Qubbet el-Hawa (No. 31). After crossing a courtyard, a hallway lead to a large hall whose ceiling is supported by six pillars. Then another hallway – with several niches containing osirian statues of Sarenput on both sides – lead to the inner room, with four pillars and a niche once hosting a granodiorite statue whose remains are now in the British Museum (EA98^[7]). In spite of the tomb's grandness, only the niche and few pillars of the innermost chamber are decorated; nevertheless, the scenes are vividly painted and detailed, chiefly depicting the tomb owner.^[2]

References

1. "Burial chamber discovered". Ahram Weekly. Retrieved 2017-03-25.
2. Simpson, William K. (1984). "Sarenput II". In Helck, Wolfgang; Otto, Eberhard (eds.). Lexikon der Ägyptologie. Band V. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. pp. 429–30.
3. Freed, Rita E. (2010). "Sculpture of the Middle Kingdom". In Lloyd, Alan B. (ed.). A companion to Ancient Egypt, volume 2. Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 899–900. ISBN 9781405155984.
4. "Spanish Archaeologists Discover Unopened 4000-Year-Old Tomb in Aswan". Egyptian Streets. 2017-03-22. Retrieved 2017-03-25.
5. Habachi, Labib (1985). Elephantine IV: The Sanctuary of Heqaib. Mainz am Rhein: von Zabern. pp. 42–44. ISBN 3-8053-0496-X.
6. Assmann, Jan (1996). "Preservation and Presentation of Self in Ancient Egyptian Portraiture". In Der Manuelian, Peter (ed.). Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson, volume 1. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts. pp. 72–3, figg. 21–22. ISBN 0-87846-390-9.
7. Statue of Sarenput II at the British Museum