Amenemhat III

See Amenemhat, for other individuals with this name.

Amenemhat III
Ammenemes III, Ameres, Lamares, Moeris
Statue of Amenemhat III in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow
Pharaoh
Reign	40 + x (Turin Canon) at least 45 years (attested) in the 19th and 18th centuries BC.[1][a]
Predecessor	Senusret III
Successor	Amenemhat IV
Royal titulary Horus name ꜥꜣ-bꜣw Aa-bau Great of might[11][12] Nebty name ỉṯ-ỉwꜥt-tꜣwy Ity-iwat-tawy The one who has seized the inheritance of the Two Lands[11][12] Golden Horus wꜣḥ-ꜥnḫ Wah-ankh Enduring of life[11][12] Prenomen  (Praenomen) nỉ-mꜣꜥt-rꜥ Ni-maat-re The one who belongs to the Maat of Re[11][12] Nomen ỉmn-m-hꜣt Imen-em-hat Amun is at the forefront[11][12]
Consort	Aat, Khenemetneferhedjet III, Hetepti (?)
Children	Neferuptah, Amenemhat IV (probably), Sobekneferu (probably), Hathorhotep (?), Nubhotep (?), Sithathor (?)
Father	Senusret III
Burial	Pyramid at Hawara
Monuments	Pyramid at Dahshur
Dynasty	Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt

Amenemhat III (Ancient Egyptian: Ỉmn-m-hꜣt meaning 'Amun is at the forefront'), also known as Amenemhet III, was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the sixth king of the Twelfth Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom. He was elevated to throne as co-regent by his father Senusret III, with whom he shared the throne as the active king for twenty years. During his reign, Egypt attained its cultural and economic zenith of the Middle Kingdom.

The aggressive military and domestic policies of Senusret III, which re-subjugated Nubia and wrested power from the nomarchs, allowed Amenemhat III to inherit a stable and peaceful Egypt. He directed his efforts towards an extensive building program with particular focus on Faiyum. Here he dedicated a temple to Sobek, a chapel to Renenutet, erected two colossal statues of himself in Biahmu, and contributed to excavation of Lake Moeris. He built for himself two pyramids at Dahshur and Hawara, becoming the first pharaoh since Sneferu in the Fourth Dynasty to build more than one. Near to his Hawara pyramid is a pyramid for his daughter Neferuptah. To acquire resources for the building program, Amenemhat III exploited the quarries of Egypt and the Sinai for turquoise and copper. Other exploited sites includes the schist quarries at Wadi Hammamat, amethyst from Wadi el-Hudi, fine limestone from Tura, alabaster from Hatnub, red granite from Aswan, and diorite from Nubia. A large corpus of inscriptions attest to the activities at these sites, particularly at Serabit el-Khadim. There is scant evidence of military expeditions during his reign, though a small one is attested at Kumma in his ninth regnal year. He also sent a handful of expeditions to Punt.

Amenemhat III reigned for at least 45 years, though a papyrus fragment from El-Lahun mentioning a 46th year probably dates to his reign as well. Toward the end of his reign he instituted a co-regency with Amenemhat IV, as recorded in a rock inscription from Semna in Nubia, which equates regnal year 1 of Amenemhat IV to regnal year 44 or 46–48 of Amenemhat III. Sobekneferu later succeeded Amenemhat IV as the last ruler of the Twelfth Dynasty.

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