Senuseret I (Part I): The Tale of Sinuhe.
Egypt is in disarray. King Amenemhat I has been murdered in his bed, slain by his own guards. Hearing the news, a royal soldier and attendant named Sinuhe panics – his livelihood has disappeared and his connection to royal society severed.
Sinuhe flees to Byblos, in modern Lebanon. Venturing inland, he meets a local chieftain and is taken into his service. He prospers, and builds a new life. But Sinuhe has not escaped trouble, and must face a local warlord in single combat, and then deal with the fallout when the King of Egypt discovers his whereabouts…
Update 2016: A new reading! Barbara Ewing (actress) and Richard M. Parkinson (Professor of Egyptology, Oxford) have produced a new version of Sinuhe’s tale.
The Tale of Sinuhe
- Hieroglyphs and translation by M.-J. Nederhof.
- Translation at ancientegyptonline.co.uk.
- 19th Dynasty copy, Met Museum.
Senuseret I
- Overview of reign and records at SLU.edu.
- Overview of records at UCL.
- Detailed summary of reign at Wikipedia.
- Misc monuments, objects, and art at Wikimedia.
Names / Titles
- Horus: Ankhmesut
- Two Ladies: Ankhmesut
- Golden Horus: Ankhmesut
- Throne name/Prenomen: Kheper-ka-Re
- Personal name/Nomen: Senusret
Wives
- Neferu III
Monuments
- Pyramid complex at al-Lisht, Wikimedia.
- The White Chapel at Karnak, photos by Kairoinfo4u, Flickr.
- Obelisk in the Temple of Ra at Iunu (Heliopolis), Wikimedia.
The Twelfth Dynasty
- Summary at Wikipedia.
- Summary at ancient-egypt.org.
- List of Kings (Dynasties 11 and 12) at UCL.
- History: The Twelfth Dynasty’s rise to power in Lisa K. Sabbahy, Kingship, Power, and Legitimacy in Ancient Egypt, 2020. Cambridge University Press.
- History: Late Middle Kingdom at UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology.
- Family tree at Wikipedia, based on Dodson and Hilton, Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, 2004.
The Egyptian (1954): with Portuguese sub-titles (not Italian; my mistake!).
Bibliography
- Miriam Lichtheimm Ancient Egyptian Literature, 2006.
- W.K. Simpson (editor), The Literature of Ancient Egypt, 2003.
- Reshafim.org – The Tale of Sinuhe.
- Scott Morschauser, “What made Sinuhe run?” Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 37 (2000).
- Hans Goedicke, “Sinuhe’s Duel.” JARCE 21 (1984): 197-201.
- Anthony Spalinger, “Orientations on Sinuhe,” Studien zur Altägypischen Kultur 25 (1998).
