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Titulary
Neferusobek (or Sobeknefru, depending on how you read the hieroglyphs) was one of the few queens to rule Egypt. She is less well known than the other queens -- Cleopatra, Hatshepsut -- because she built very little and left few monuments to her reign. She was a daughter of Amenemhet III and was probably married to her brother (or nephew) Amenemhet IV. SHe took the throne after her husband died, and they had not produced a male heir to take the throne. She is attested to in the king lists of Karnak, Saqqara, and Abydos. They all give her about four years on the throne. Being listed on the king lists is an important clue to her role -- she was not considered as a mere regent or as an usurper to the throne. SHe was recognized as "king" in her own right. She is the first woman to take on the whole titulary of pharaoh, even if the traditional wording has been changed to be feminine. In fact, she combines the traditional male representations of the pharaoh with definite signs that she was, indeed, a woman. Statues show the formal nemes headdress on a statue that is wearing a traditional women's dress. Neferusobek is credited with the creation of a religious center in Fayoum called Shedet, praising the crocodile god Sobek. It is possible that he priests of Sobek were responsible for supporting her ascension to the throne. Surprisingly, she seems to have moved the center of government away from Fayoum and to the traditional centers of Memphis and Heliopolis, which may have been another way to legitimize her claims. Her tomb has not been found, although most agree that she was buried in Mazguna in a partially built pyramid near that of her husband, Amenemhet IV.
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pharaohsAmenemhet I monumentsNorth Pyramid, Mazguna |
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