Amenemhat IV

Who was Amenemhat IV?

Amenemhat IV, or Amenemhet IV was Pharaoh of Egypt, likely ruling between ca. 1815 BC and ca. 1806 BC. He served first as the junior coregent of Amenemhat III and completed the latter's temple at Medinet Maadi, which is "the only intact temple still existing from the Middle Kingdom" according to Zahi Hawass, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. The temple's foundations, administrative buildings, granaries and residences were recently uncovered by an Egyptian archaeological expedition in early 2006. Amenemhat IV likely also built a temple in the northeastern Fayum at Qasr el-Sagha.

The Turin Canon papyrus records a reign of 9 Years 3 months and 27 days for Amenemhat IV. He served the first year of his reign as the junior co-regent to his powerful predecessor, Amenemhat III, according to a rock graffito in Nubia. His short reign was relatively peaceful and uneventful; several dated expeditions were recorded at the Serabit el-Khadim mines in the Sinai. It was after his death that the gradual decline of the Middle Kingdom is thought to have begun.

Amenemhat died without a male heir, though it is possible that the two first rulers of the next dynasty, Sobekhotep I and Sonbef were his sons. He was succeeded by his half-sister Sobeknefru, who became the first woman in about 1500 years to rule Egypt. He may have been Sobeknefru's spouse but no historical evidence currently substantiates this theory.