Meketre

Ancient Egyptian official

Meketre

chancellor and high steward

Model of a paddling boat with a canopy and chair on it from the Tomb of Meketre

Dynasty| 11th Dynasty
Pharaoh| Mentuhotep II, Mentuhotep III, and Amenemhat I (possibly)
Burial| TT280

The ancient Egyptian official Meketre was chancellor and high steward during the reign of Mentuhotep II, Mentuhotep III and perhaps Amenemhat I, during the Middle Kingdom.

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Meketre
in hieroglyphs
Era: Middle Kingdom
(2055–1650 BC)

Meketre is first attested in a rock inscription in the Wadi Shatt el-Rigala, bearing the simple title sealer. The inscription is dated to year 41 of king Mentuhotep II. On reliefs from the mortuary temple of the same king in Deir el-Bahari Meketre bears the title of chancellor and was evidently promoted in the meantime, succeeding Kheti.[1] The same title was found on a statue in Meketre's tomb while on relief fragments in the tomb he held the main title of high steward. The tomb (TT280) is located in Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, part of the Theban Necropolis, and lies next to a large, unfinished royal tomb which was originally attributed to king Mentuhotep III and, after new research, to Amenemhat I. Therefore, Meketre most likely died under the latter king.[2]

Meketre's tomb TT280 contained several wooden replicas, representing the daily activities and life in Ancient Egypt, together with figurines of ships and cattle were, miniature buildings and gardens.[3] Selections of the replicas and other items from the tomb are on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.[4]

## Gallery

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* Procession of offerings

* Fishing models from the Nile River

## References

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1. ^ Wolfram Grajetzki: Die höchsten Beamten der ägyptischen Zentralverwaltung zur Zeit des Mittleren Reiches. Berlin 2000, 45
2. ^ James P. Allen: The high officials of the early Middle Kingdom, in: Nigel Strudwick, John H. Taylor (editors): The Theban Necropolis, Past, Present and Future, London 2003, ISBN 0714122475, p. 19
3. ^ [1] Archived 2018-02-16 at the Wayback Machine Amenemhat I
4. ^ https://maps.metmuseum.org/galleries/fifth-ave/1/105 [dead link‍]

## Bibliography

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Meketre.

* Dorothea Arnold: Amenemhet I and the Early Twelfth Dynasty at Thebes. In: Metropolitan Museum Journal. Vol. 26, 1991, ISSN 0077-8958, S. 5–48, online (PDF; 7,2 MB).
* H. E. Winlock: Models of Daily Life in Ancient Egypt. From the Tomb of Meket-Re at Thebes (= Publications of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Egyptian Expedition. Vol. 18, ZDB-ID 86343-9). Published for the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA 1955.