| Senusret III the Magnificent | |
|---|---|
| |
| Pharaoh of Egypt | |
| Reign | 8 February 1885 - 29 November 1837 |
| Predecessor | Senusret II |
| Successor | Amenemhat III |
| Born | March 16, 1925 Itj Tawy, Egypt |
| Died | November 29, 1837 (aged 88) |
| Spouse | Khenemetneferhedjet II the Younger Mertseger Neferthenut |
| Issue | Amenemhat III , Sithathor , Menet, Senetsenebtisi, Meret |
| Full name | |
| Horus Name: Netjerkheperu Nebty Name: Netjermesut Golden Horus Name: Kheper Praenomen: Khakaura Nomen: Senusret | |
| House | Sesostris |
| Father | Senusret II |
| Mother | Khnemetneferhedjet I |
| Religion | Kemetism |
Khakaura Senusret III (also written as Senwosret III or the hellenised form, Sesostris III) was a pharaoh of Egypt. He ruled from 1885 BC to 1837 BC during a time of great power and prosperity, and was the fifth king of the Twelfth Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom. He was a great pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty and is considered to rule at the height of the Middle Kingdom. Consequently, he is regarded as one of the sources for the legend about Sesostris. 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 among the few Egyptian kings who were deified and honored with a cult during their own lifetime.
Family[]
Sesostris III was the son of Sesostris II and queen Khenemetneferhedjet I Ueret ("the elder"). Two of his wives are known with certainty: Khenemetneferhedjet II "the Younger" and Neferthenut , thanks to their burials near the pyramid of Sesostris, in Acanthus, just as various daughters are attested for their tombs near the pyramid of Sesostris (and therefore their exact link with the king is not always clear): Sithathor , Menet, Senetsenebtisi, Meret. His sucessor, pharaoh Amenemhat III was his son. No other children are known .
Reign[]
Military campaigns[]
He carried out an unrestrained expansion towards Nubia (between 1866 BC and 1863 BC), where he erected fortresses on the banks of the Nile: at Buhen, Western and Eastern Semna, Toshka, and Uronarti, which are the best examples of Egyptian military architecture. He led a total of eight major campaigns against Nubia, in his 15th, 17th, 23th, and 26th year of reign. A stele in Semna, dated to the 15th year of his reign (ca. 1870 BC), documents his victories against the Nubians, through which Sesotris is said to have made the southern borders of the country secure, warding off further foreign incursions. Another large stele, also in Semna, this time dating to the third month of the 23th year of his reign (ca. 1862 BC), commemorates his victories in Nubia and the Canaan region. In the inscription, Sesotris III warns his future successors to preserve the new borders he established:
"In the 23th year [of the reign of Sesotris III], third month of winter: the King established His southern border at Heh. I have set My border much further south than that of My father. I am a king who speaks and acts. [...] I have increased what was left to Me in inheritance. [...] Every son of Mine [successor] who maintains the borders that My Majesty has established, he shall be My son, born of My Majesty. A true son is he who carries on the work of his father, he who guards the border of his parent. But he [who] abandons it, who fails to fight for it, he is not My son, he is not born of Me. Now My Majesty has had an image of My Majesty, at this border that My Majesty has established, for you to maintain it, for you to fight for it."
(Semna Stele)
His last campaign, in his 26th year of reign (ca. 1859 BC), was less successful because the pharaoh's troops were captured near the Nile, having fewer units than usual at their disposal. Sesotris had to withdraw and abandon the enterprise to avoid being trapped with his men in hostile territory.
Also towards the east, in Canaan, military operations led to the capture of Sekmen (Shechem) on the Leonte river (Lebanon) with the aim of striking the nomads Mentiju and Setjetiu and strengthening relations with the small local dynasties, often "Egyptianized". For the first time in Egyptian history, the pharaoh went to Syria. The memory of this campaign remains on the walls of the tomb of a commander of Sesotris, Sobek-Khu, who proudly recounts accompanying the king in war, fighting valiantly in the capture of Sekmen by capturing a prisoner, and being rewarded by Sesotris III in person:
"His Majesty compensated me with a golden staff which he placed in my hands together with a bow and a dagger of gold work, and he also gave me the weapons of the prisoner."
(Tomb of Commander Sobek-Khu)
The strength and immense influence of Sesotris III had such an echo that the sovereign was worshipped as a god in Semna for many generations to come. Jacques de Morgan discovered, in 1894, inscriptions on the rock near the island of Sehel, near Aswan, documenting the excavation of a canal under Sesotris III. He also erected a temple and founded a city near Abydos, and another temple at Medamud dedicated to Montu, the god of war. He commissioned a canal through the first cataract of the Nile (different from the more famous Pharaohs' Canal, commissioned by Necho II in the 7th century BC and completed by Darius I a century later).
Political activity[]
The internal policy of Sesotris III was aimed at thwarting, through extensive reforms, the autonomous ambitions of the nomarchs (i.e., the heads of the administrative districts called nomes, into which the country was divided): their local and regional power, in fact, posed a threat to the central authority of the sovereign. Sesotris III's predecessors had already recognized this, and measures were prepared to limit their influence. Preserved documentation shows an increase in non-hereditary titles related to administration and the central bureaucracy. Strengthening the institutions of the Pharaonic court with non-transferable positions, dependent on the sovereign's will, allowed Sesotris III to reassert the power that previously belonged to regional governors. This also promoted the development of a middle class of officials closely tied to the pharaoh. It's noted how the tombs of the nomarchs were initially rich and sumptuous during Sesotris's reign but became modest and almost anonymous in the following years. Egypt was divided into three large administrative districts called "uaret": North, South, and South Head (the latter serving as a base for the conquest of Nubia). Of the 38 previous names, only two were preserved, the II and the...
Viziers Sobekemhat, Nebit, and Khnumhotep were part of his court. The king's treasurer at Abydos was Ikhernofret. Treasurer Senankh oversaw the work on the Sehel Island Canal on behalf of Sesotris.
Pyramid and burial complex[]
The pyramid complex of Sesotris III (classified as Lepsius XLVII) was constructed 1.5 kilometers northeast of the Red Pyramid at Dahshur and surpasses all other pyramids of the XII dynasty in both size and architectural expression of religious significance. Some speculate that Sesotris was not buried there but in a sophisticated funerary complex at Abydos, with the Dahshur pyramid serving as a cenotaph.
The pyramid complex included a small funerary temple for the pharaoh's posthumous cult and offerings, along with seven smaller pyramids for Sesotris's wives. An underground gallery was also built for the burial of other royal women, where the treasures of Princess Sithathor and Queen Mereret, daughters of Sesotris III, were discovered. There was also a southern temple in ancient times, which has since been destroyed.
A more recent excavation campaign was conducted by Dieter Arnold in the 1990s.
Peculiarities of the royal statuary of Sesostris III[]
Sesotris III is well known for his statues, all of which are highly distinctive and immediately recognizable as his own. In these statues, the pharaoh is depicted at different ages; in those where he appears older, in particular, he has an extremely sad or heavily embittered expression: his eyes bulge from sunken sockets surrounded by wrinkles and dark circles, his mouth and lips take on a decidedly melancholic fold, and his ears are huge and prominent. In stark contrast to the almost exaggerated realism and signs of age on the face and head, the rest of the body was sculpted as young, muscular, and idealized, following the traditional canons of Pharaonic statuary.
One can only theorize about the reasons that led Sesotris III to be portrayed in this entirely novel way; two hypotheses in particular are more widely accepted among scholars. Some believe that Sesotris desired to be represented as a solitary and disenchanted monarch, human before divine, oppressed and worn down by worries and responsibilities. According to the other hypothesis, the sculptures were intended to convey the image of a formidable despot capable of seeing and hearing everything that happened in Egypt (a hypothetical reason for the bulging eyes and large ears). In any case, the imitation of this style by subsequent kings and even private individuals may suggest that such a peculiar physiognomy evoked positive qualities that are difficult to interpret today.
Cycle of hymns to Sesostris III of Papyrus UC 32157[]
« Hymn I
Hail to You, Khakaura, our Horus "of Divine Forms" -
Who protects the earth, Who expands its borders,
Who crushes foreign lands with Your Crown ,
Who unites the Two Lands in Your embrace,
Who subdues the foreign lands with Your hands,
Who kills the Archers without brandishing the mace,
Who shoots the arrows without drawing the bowstring,
the fear of Whom strikes down the tribes in their lands,
the terror of Whom kills the Nine Bows
Whose massacre led to the death of thousands of Archers
who had come to attack his borders -
[ Sesostri ] Who shoots arrows like Sekhmet
when you strike down thousands who ignore Your power.
His Majesty's tongue limits Nubia,
her word scatters the Asiatics.
Unique and powerful god who fights for Your borders
without allowing Your subordinates to tire,
allowing the elite to rest until dawn.
His troops in their peaceful sleep: his heart protects them.
His commands have established his boundaries;
his words made the Two Banks collaborate!
[ Three more hymns follow ]»