Wahkare Akhtoy and Ankhtifi

Wahkare Akhtoy III was a long-reigning monarch, holding the throne for about fifty years.18 He was supported by one of the few great princes of the time, Ankhtifi, the nomarch of Edfu and Heliopolis. As a counterbalance to Ipuwer the autobiography of Ankhtifi is revealing.19 Ankhtifi was not inclined to underrate his own achievements, describing himself as ‘the beginning and the end of mankind, such a man as had never before been seen, whose equal would never again appear’. Despite this generous assessment of his own significance enough is known of his history to suggest that he did attempt to provide some aid to the people of his province, indicating both that their hardship was real and that some sort of relatively benign authority was not wholly lost. Ankhtifi’s tomb at Mo’alla is very prettily decorated and indicates that not all sense of quality and the ability to achieve it were lost at this time.

Ankhtifi was also a partisan of Neferkare, one of the more successful rulers of the Tenth Dynasty who managed to extend his control over much of the north of Egypt as well as parts of the south.20 Nubian mercenaries were recruited by the Heracleopolitans; one of these was Seni who lived and was buried at Gebelein.21 His stela shows him with his wife, his sons, servants and two alert, well behaved hounds, who sit obediently before him.

Several dynasties of local princes are known from this time. A succession of rulers with the name Djehuynakht maintained some state at Hermopolis (ancient Khmun); the family is known from the Eighth Dynasty.22 One of the Djehutynakhts skilfully allied himself with the victorious founder of the Eleventh Dynasty, King Nebhetepre Montuhotep II (2061—2010 BC); another was ruling until the Twelfth, during the reign of the great King Senwosret III (1878-1814bc), suggesting that the family had a notable ability to survive. Their rule embraced the Thirteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth nomes.