Amenemhat I

Amenemhat (I) Sehetepibre (1976-1947 BC)

First king of the Twelfth Dynasty (during his reign the king changed some of his names; the older name is put in brackets). He founded a new administrative centre for the country on the border of Upper and Lower Egypt, with the name Itjtawyamenemhat 'Amenemhat is seizer of the two lands' (usually shortened to Itjtawy, and probably located near the Nile in the area of modern Lisht, where the king had his pyramid complex built).

Horus name: Wehemmesut (Seheteptawy)
Nebty name: Wehemmesut (Seheteptawy)
Golden Falcon name: Wehemmesut (Zema)
Prenomen: Sehetepibre
Nomen: Amenemhat

Burial place: Pyramid in Lisht (Gautier/Jéquier 1902: 87-97)

Attestation in the Petrie Museum:

The king is mentioned in three Middle Kingdom literary compositions (date of composition within the Middle Kingdom uncertain):

Tale of Sanehet (Sinuhe)
Teaching of Amenemhat
Lament of Neferty ('king Ameny' generally taken to be a short form of Amenemhat, and to refer to Amenemhat I)

Block from Koptos

Further Attestations:

Block with the name of the king found at Bubastis (Habachi 1957: 39)
Blocks from a doorway found near Qantir (Habachi 1952: 46-56, pl. II-III)
Rock inscription on Elephantine (de Morgan 1894: 115.1)
Rock inscription at Ayn Soukhna (Abd el-Raziq/Castel/Tallet/Ghica 2002: 42-42, no. 5)

Bibliography:

Arnold 1991 (on the reign of the king)
Callender 2000: 158-160 (an introduction to his reign)
Franke 2001a (summary of his reign)