Amenemhat III

Amenemhat (III) Nimaatre (1807/06-1798/97 BC)

King of the Twelfth Dynasty. He reigned about 45 years and is famous as builder of the the mortuary complex of the king at Hawara, at the entrance to the Fayum, probably the 'Labyrinth' that so impressed ancient Greek authors. There are several other buildings of the king in the Fayum (temple at Medinet Maadi, colossi at Biahmu) demonstrating the general interest of the king in that region of Egypt. His first pyramid was in Dahshur, but because of problems with the ground, another site (Hawara) was chosen for a second pyramid, towards the end of his reign. Especially in the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods the king was worshipped in the Fayum as a god. The sculpture of the king is remarkable for several unique statue types.

Horus name: Aabaw
Nebty name: Itjijautawy
Golden Falcon name: Wahankh
Prenomen: Nimaatre
Nomen: Amenemhat

Burial place: Pyramid in Hawara; a first pyramid at Dahshur was never used for the king

Attestations in the Petrie Museum

UC 11325	UC 14363	UC 14342
Faience plaque with prenomen Nimaatre	head of statue (click on the picture)	Stewart 1979: 16, no. 69, pl. 13.8 (click on the picture)

Lahun papyrus fragment with year dating '46': UC 32153

Further Attestations:

A small well preserved temple/chapel was excavated at Medinet Maadi (Vogliano 1937)
Relief fragment found at Lisht (Gautier/Jéquier1902: 106)
Building activity in Shedyt (Medinet el-Fayum) (Habachi 1937)
Colossi statues at Biahmu (Habachi 1940)
The king is mentioned in rock inscriptions near Aswan (de Morgan 1894: 12. 53; 20.127)
Inscription found at the temple of Koptos (Petrie 1896: pl. XI.1)
A bead with his name was found at Byblos (Dunand 1939: 185)

Bibliography:

Arnold 1987 (on the pyramid of the king in Dahshur)
Callender 2000: 167-170 (an introduction to his reign)
Leprohon 2001 (useful summary of his reign)
Matzker 1986: 14-17, 29-38, 52-65 (collection of the monuments of his reign)