Nebmaatre

For other people named Nebmaatre, see Nebmaatre (disambiguation).

Nebmaatre is the prenomen of a poorly attested ruler of the late Second Intermediate Period of Ancient Egypt. Nebmaatre may have been a member of the early 17th Dynasty and as such would have reigned over the Theban region.^[3] Alternatively, Jürgen von Beckerath believes that Nebmaatre was a ruler of the late 16th Dynasty.^[4][5]

Nebmaatre I
Base of the lion amulet of Nebmaatre, now in the Petrie Museum (UC 11587).[1]
Pharaoh
Reign	unknown duration
Predecessor	Rahotep?
Successor	Sobekemsaf I?
Royal titulary Praenomen Netjer Nefer Nebmaatre Nṯr-nfr-nb-m3ˁt-Rˁ The good god, the lord of truth is Ra Nomen possibly Mentuhotep[2] Mn-ṯw-ḥtp
Dynasty	uncertain dynasty, possibly early 17th dynasty or late 16th dynasty

Attestations

Axe with the inscription of Nebmaatre

The prenomen Nebmaatre is attested on a bronze axe-head discovered in a tomb at Mostagedda in Middle Egypt and now in the British Museum under the catalog number BM EA 63224. The same prenomen is inscribed on a black steatite amulet representing a lion of unknown provenance and now in the Petrie Museum under the catalog number 11587.^[1] A degree of uncertainty affects the ownership of these artifacts since Amenhotep III's prenomen was Nebmaatre as well. However, the axe-head can be dated to the late Second Intermediate Period based on stylistic grounds and provenance while according to Flinders Petrie the amulet is of too rough a workmanship to be attributable to Amenhotep III.^[6][7] Instead, Petrie suggested that the amulet be attributable to Ibi, an obscure ruler of the late 13th Dynasty whose prenomen is partially preserved in the Turin canon as "[...]maatre". However, Kim Ryholt's recent study of the Turin canon precludes this identification as a vertical stroke in the lacuna just prior to "maatre" rules out the hieroglyph for "neb".^[6]

Chronological position

The chronological position of Nebmaatre in the Second Intermediate Period is highly uncertain. The Egyptologist Jürgen von Beckerath proposes that Nebmaatre was a ruler of a compounded 15th–16th Dynasty, which he sees as an entirely Hyksos line of kings.^[8] Alternatively, Kim Ryholt put forth the hypothesis that Nebmaatre was a king of the 17th Dynasty, although he left his position in the dynasty unspecified. ^[9] Ryholt's datation is based on the observation that the axe-head bearing Nebmaatre's name was found in a tomb belonging to the Pan-Grave culture.^[10][6] Egyptologist Darrell Baker points out that the Theban rulers of the period might indeed have provided such weapons to their mercenaries.^[6]