Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt

The Thirteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty XIII) was a series of rulers from approximately 1803 BC until approximately 1649 BC, i.e. for 154 years. It is often classified as the final dynasty of the Middle Kingdom (which includes Dynasties XI, XII and XIV), but some historians instead group it in the Second Intermediate Period (with Dynasties XIV through XVII).

Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt
1803 BC–1649 BC
Granite statue of Pharaoh Imyremeshaw in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo
Capital	Itjtawy (c. 1803 BC – c. 1677 BC) Thebes (c. 1677 BC – c. 1648 BC)
Common languages	Egyptian language
Religion	ancient Egyptian religion
Government	Absolute monarchy
Historical era	Second Intermediate Period of Egypt
• Established	1803 BC
• Disestablished	1649 BC
Preceded by Succeeded by Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt Fourteenth Dynasty of Egypt Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt Sixteenth Dynasty of Egypt Abydos Dynasty

Dynasty XIII initially ruled from the Nile Delta to the second cataract of the Nile. However, the dynasty marked a period of decline and instability, with Dynasty XIV rising concurrently and the Hyksos Dynasty XV taking control shortly after.

Sekhemre Khutawy Sobekhotep is usually considered Dynasty XIII's first pharaoh, and Merneferre Ay, while not the final pharaoh, was the last to occupy the Middle Kingdom capital of Itjtawy, and the last of the dynasty with a significant recorded reign.

Chronology and rulers

Ryholt (1997:190) argues that the 13th Dynasty lasted from 1803-1649 BC, lasting some 154 years.

According to Ryholt, the 13th Dynasty had some continuity with the preceding 12th Dynasty. With the first pharaoh, Sobekhotep I, being the son of a certain Amenemhat, Ryholt proposes Amenemhat IV as a possible father. This is unlikely as Amenemhat IV was succeeded by his sister Sobekneferu and not directly by Sobekhotep I, suggesting that Amenemhat IV didn't have any children.

Ryholt also proposes that the demarcation between the two dynasties reflects the rise of the independent 14th Dynasty in the eastern Delta, an event which, he proposes, occurred during Sobekneferu's reign. As direct heirs to the kings of the 12th Dynasty, pharaohs of the 13th Dynasty reigned from Memphis over Middle and Upper Egypt, all the way to the second cataract to the south. The power of the 13th Dynasty waned progressively over its 150 years of existence and it finally came to an end with the conquest of Memphis by the Hyksos rulers of the 15th Dynasty, c. 1650 BC.

In later texts, this dynasty is usually described as an era of chaos and disorder. However, the period may have been more peaceful than was once thought since the central government in Itj-tawy near the Faiyum was sustained during most of the dynasty and the country remained relatively stable. The period was undoubtedly characterized by decline, with a large number of kings with short reigns and only a few attestations. The true chronology of this dynasty is difficult to determine as there are few monuments dating from the period. Many of the kings' names are only known from odd fragmentary inscriptions or from scarabs. The names and order in the table are based on Dodson and Hilton and Ryholt.

Dynasty XIII pharaohs

Name of pharaoh	Image	Dates	Burial	Consort(s)	Comments
Sekhemre Khutawy Sobekhotep I		1803–1800 BC			The dominant hypothesis is that Sekhemre Khutawy Sobekhotep was the founder of the dynasty, in older studies Wegaf
Sonbef		1800–1796 BC			Perhaps a son of Amenemhat IV and brother of Sekhemre Khutawy Sobekhotep.
Nerikare		1796 BC
Sekhemkare Amenemhat V		1796–1793 BC
Ameny Qemau		1795–1792 BC	Pyramid of Ameny Qemau
Hotepibre Qemau Siharnedjheritef		1792–1790 BC			Perhaps identical with King Sehotepibre in the Turin Canon
Iufni		1790–1788 BC			Known only from the Turin canon
Seankhibre Ameny-Intef-Amenemhat VI		1788–1785 BC
Semenkare Nebnuni		1785–1783 BC or 1739 BC
Sehetepibre Sewesekhtawy		1783–1781 BC
Sewadjkare I		1781 BCE			Known only from the Turin canon
Nedjemibre		7 months, 1780 BC or 1736 BC			Known only from the Turin canon
Khaankhre Sobekhotep II		1780–1777 BC
Renseneb Amenemhat		1777 BC
Awybre Hor		1777–1775 BC	Buried in Dahshur near the pyramid of Amenemhet III	Nubhetepti (?)
Sekhemrekhutawy Khabaw		1775–1772 BC			Possibly a son of Hor Awybre.
Djedkheperew		1772–1770 BC			Possibly a brother of Sekhemrekhutawy Khabaw.
Sebkay					Possibly two kings, Seb and his son Kay
Sedjefakare Kay-Amenemhat VII		5 to 7 years or 3 years, 1769–1766 BC
Khutawyre Wegaf		Around 1767 BC
Userkare Khendjer		Minimum 4 years and 3 months c. 1765 BC	Pyramid of Khendjer, South Saqqara	Seneb[henas?]	May also have borne the name Nimaatre.
Smenkhkare Imyremeshaw		Reigned less than 10 years, starting 1759 BC or 1711 BC.		Aya (Iy)?
Sehetepkare Intef		Less than 10 years		Aya (Iy)?
Seth Meribre		Reign ended 1749 BCE
Sekhemresewadjtawy Sobekhotep III		1755–1751 BC		Senebhenas Neni
Khasekhemre Neferhotep I		1751–1740 BC	Perhaps buried at Abydos: S 9	Senebsen
Menwadjre Sihathor		1739 BC			Ephemeral coregent with his brother Neferhotep I
Khaneferre Sobekhotep IV		1740–1730 BC	Perhaps buried at Abydos: S 10	Tjan	Brother of Neferhotep I and Sihathor
Merhotepre Sobekhotep V		c. 1730 BC		Nubkhaes ?
Khahotepre Sobekhotep VI		Around 1725 BC
Wahibre Ibiau		1725–1714 BC or 1712–1701 BC
Merneferre Ay		23 years, 8 months and 18 days, 1701–1677 BC or 1714–1691 BC	Built a pyramid whose location is unknown, maybe near Memphis.	Inni ?	Reigned 23 years, the longest reign of the dynasty. Last king to be attested in both Lower and Upper Egypt.

Following these kings, the remaining rulers of the 13th Dynasty are only attested by finds from Upper Egypt. This may indicate the abandonment of the old capital Itjtawy in favor of Thebes. Daphna Ben Tor believes that this event was triggered by the invasion of the eastern Delta and the Memphite region by Canaanite rulers. For some authors, this marks the end of the Middle Kingdom and the beginning of the Second Intermediate Period. This analysis is rejected by Ryholt and Baker however, who note that the stele of Seheqenre Sankhptahi, reigning toward the end of the dynasty, strongly suggests that he reigned over Memphis. The stele is of unknown provenance.

Dynasty XIII pharaohs continued

Image	Pharaoh	Comments
	Merhotepre Ini	Also known as Ini I
	Sankhenre Sewadjtu
	Mersekhemre Ined	Possibly the same as Neferhotep II
	Sewadjkare Hori	Also known as Hori II
	Merkawre Sobekhotep VII
	Eight kings, names lost
	Merkheperre
	Merkare	Known only from the Turin canon
	One lost king
	Sewadjare Mentuhotep V
	[...]mosre
	Ibi [...]maatre
	Hor [...] [...]webenre
	Se[...]kare
	Seheqenre Sankhptahi	Represented on a stele offering to Ptah
	[...]re
	Se[...]enre	Possibly the Turin canon’s preservation of the prenomen Sewahenre.

The chronological position of a number of attested rulers could not be conclusively determined due to a lack of evidence:

Dynasty XIII pharaohs, undetermined position

Image	Pharaoh	Comments
	Mershepsesre Ini II	According to von Beckerath, successor of Sewadjare Mentuhotep V and predecessor of Merkheperre
	Mersekhemre Neferhotep II	Possibly the same as Mersekhemre Ined
	Sewahenre Senebmiu	According to von Beckerath, successor of Se[...]kare
	Sekhanenre ...re
	Sobekhotep IX

Sobekhotep I and II

Ryholt posits a ruler named "Sobkhotep I Sekhemre Khutawy" as the first king of this dynasty. This is now the dominant hypothesis in Egyptology and Sobekhotep Sekhemre Khutawy is referred to as Sobekhotep I in this article. Ryholt thus credits Sekhemre Khutawy Sobkhotep I with a reign of 3 to 4 years c. 1800 BC and proposes that Khaankhre Sobekhotep II reigned c. 20 years later in 1780 BC. Dodson and Hilton similarly believe that Sekhemre Khutawy Sobekhotep predated Khaankhre Sobekhotep.

Successors

Statue of the royal sealer and high steward Gebu, 13th dynasty, c. 1700 BC from the temple of Amun in Karnak.

After allowing discipline at the southern forts to deteriorate, the government eventually withdrew its garrisons and, not long afterward, the forts were reoccupied by the rising Nubian state of Kush. In the north, Lower Egypt was overrun by the Hyksos, a Semitic people from across the Sinai. An independent line of kings created Dynasty XIV that arose in the western Delta during later Dynasty XIII. According to Manetho, into this unstable mix came invaders from the east called the Hyksos who seized Egypt "without striking a blow; and having overpowered the rulers of the land, they then burned our cities ruthlessly, razed to the ground the temples of gods..." Their regime, called Dynasty XV, was claimed to have replaced Dynasties XIII and XIV in most of the country.

However, recent archaeological finds at Edfu could indicate that the Hyksos 15th dynasty was already in existence at least by the mid-13th dynasty reign of king Sobekhotep IV. In a recently published paper in Egypt and the Levant, Nadine Moeller, Gregory Marouard and N. Ayers discuss the discovery of an important early 12th dynasty Middle Kingdom administrative building in the eastern Tell Edfu area of Upper Egypt which was in continual use into the early Second Intermediate Period until the 17th dynasty, when its remains were sealed up by a large silo court. Fieldwork by Egyptologists in 2010 and 2011 into the remains of the former 12th dynasty building which was also used in the 13th dynasty led to the discovery of a large adjoining hall which proved to contain 41 sealings showing the cartouche of the Hyksos ruler Khyan together with 9 sealings naming the 13th dynasty king Sobekhotep IV. The preserved contexts of these seals shows that Sobekhotep IV and Khyan were most likely contemporaries of one another. This could mean that the 13th dynasty did not control all of Egypt when Sobekhotep IV acceded to power, and that there was a significant overlap between the 13th and 15th dynasties since Sobekhotep IV was only a mid-13th dynasty ruler; although one of its most powerful kings. Therefore, Manetho's statement that the Hyksos 15th dynasty violently replaced the 13th dynasty could be a piece of later Egyptian propaganda. Rather, the 13th dynasty's authority must have been collapsing throughout Egypt in its final decades and the Hyksos state in the Delta region simply took over Memphis and ended the 13th dynasty's kingdom. However, this analysis and the conclusions drawn from it are rejected by Egyptologist Robert Porter, who argues that Khyan ruled much later than Sobekhotep IV (a gap of c. 100 years exists between the two in conventional chronologies) and that the seals of a pharaoh were used long after his death. Thus the seals of Sobekhotep IV might not indicate that he was a contemporary of Khyan.

Merneferre Ay was the last Egyptian ruler of the 13th Dynasty who is attested by objects in both Lower and Upper Egypt. Henceforth, his successors, from Merhotepre Ini on, are only attested in Upper Egypt.

References

• Clayton, Peter A. Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd., 2006. ISBN 0500286280.