Senakhtenre Ahmose

Senakhtenre Ahmose, also known as Ahmose the Elder (died 1560 BC) was a king of the 17th Dynasty of Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period. Ahmose reigned for a short period over the Theban region in Upper Egypt at a time when the Hyksos 15th Dynasty ruled Lower Egypt. Ahmose died around 1558 BC at the latest.

Family

He may have been the son of Intef VI, the most prominent of the Intef kings.

The Danish Egyptologist Kim Ryholt observes that "since Senaktenre was remembered as one of the Lords of the West alongside Seqenenre and Kamose, he is generally believed to have been a member of the family of Ahmose and as such identified with the otherwise unidentified spouse" of Queen Tetisheri, Ahmose's grandmother.

He was succeeded by his son, Tao. King Senakhtenre would also be the husband of Tetisheri who is called the "great king's wife" and "the mother of my mother" in a stela at Abydos by pharaoh Ahmose I. Senakhtenre was, therefore, the grandfather of Ahmose I.

Attestations Unlike his two successors, Tao and Kamose, Senakhtenre is a relatively obscure king and, until 2012, was not attested "by [any] contemporary sources (by his prenomen) but exclusively by sources dating from the New Kingdom: the Karnak king list [of Tuthmose III] and [in] two Theban tombs." Donald Redford's book mentions these 2 Theban tombs. The archaeological evidence prior to 2012 suggests that his reign was brief and lasted several months or 1 year at the most. However, in 2012, two important contemporary monuments of this king were uncovered at Karnak: a doorway found carved with his royal name as well as a fragmentary limestone lintel. The doorway or gate is carved with other hieroglyphic inscriptions which state that Senaktenre had this monument, which is carved from limestone blocks, transported from Tura (modern Helwan, south of Cairo), which was under Hyksos rule during his reign.

Senakhtenre's nomen

Pre-2012 hypotheses From a reference in the Abbott Papyrus (Column III, 1.10) it was for a long time believed that Senakhtenre's nomen was Tao, hence him being called "Tao The Elder" by some archaeologists. Indeed, the papyrus mentions two kings with the name Tao. The second king Tao was identified with Senakhtenre because the first mention of a Tao refers to Seqenenre Tao for which the complete name is written. Consequently, the hypothesis that Senakhtenre's nomen was Tao was dominant in egyptology until 2012 and was shared for example by Darrell Baker, Furthermore, in his 1997 study of the second intermediate period, the egyptologist Kim Ryholt proposed that Senakhtenre's nomen may have been Siamun rather than Tao:

Senakhtenre's nomen discovered

The situation completely changed in March 2012 when the French Egyptologist Sébastien Biston-Moulin of the CFEETK (Centre Franco-Égyptien d'Étude des Temples de Karnak) published hieroglyphic inscriptions discovered on a large 17th dynasty limestone doorjamb built for a granary of a temple of Amun at Karnak. The doorjamb bears Senakhtenre's full royal name and reveals his nomen to have been Ahmose. This is the same name as that of his grandson, Ahmose I, who founded the 18th Dynasty by defeating the Hyksos and ousting them from Egypt. Meanwhile, a fragmentary lintel uncovered by the same team of French scholars bore this inscription which mentioned Senakhtenre's nomen: Behdeti, the great god [Long live the god] made [by] Senakht-en-Re given life like Re forever! [Cheers] the son of Re Ahmes given life like Re forever!

Burial The Tomb of Ahmose has not been located, but is believed to be in the Dra' Abu el-Naga' necropolis in the west opposite Thebes.