Horemhotep III
Horemhotep III1, god's father, High Priest of Letopolis2; son of Heriu, here identified as Heriu I3, maternity unknown, possibly Tanetamun4, chronology unknown5, no known wife or children6.
[1] PP IX 5355. Gr: Harimouthes. E. A. Otto, ZÄS 81 (1956) 109, 110 and 119, read the name as Imhotep. An Imhotep, High Priest of Letopolis, is otherwise known on Louvre sarcophagus D12. This Imhotep is hard to place in the genealogy, and it is tempting to identify him with this Horemhotep. However, the reading of the name on Louvre C 316 as "Horemhotep" was confirmed by J. Quaegebeur, JNES 30 (1972) 239, 266 (2). D. Devauchelle (pers. comm. 2002) has reconfirmed this reading and also confirmed that the name of the owner of Louvre D12 is to be read as "Imhotep". Ý
[2] Louvre C 316. Ý
[3] Louvre C 316. The stele shows him behind Ahmes High Priest of Letopolis, and the latter's son Heriu II, who is only given minor titles, not including the position of HPL. E. A. Otto, ZÄS 81 (1956) 109, inferred that he was the grandson of Ahmes and son of Heriu II. J. Quaegebeur, JNES 30 (1972) 239, 266 (2), while accepting the reconstruction, was clearly uncomfortable with it, noting that his mother is not given.
J. Quaegebeur & A. Rammant-Peeters, GM 148 (1995) 71, 85f., note that "Horemhotep son of Heriu" could be a brother or a grandson of Ahmes. Noting that Horemhotep is entitled HPL, like Ahmes, while Heriu II is not, they opt for brotherhood. I concur. Nevertheless, the unique occurrence of two brothers being named together as HPL needs to be explained. Quaegebeur & A. Rammant-Peeters tentatively suggest that the title of HPL could be held simultaneously by two living individuals. But there is no other evidence of such a practice. The alternative is that Horemhotep is not living on this stele, and I suspect that this is the correct interpretation.
Quaegebeur notes that all the participants in Louvre C316 are likely to be relatives of Ahmes, the principal officiant. Behind Horemhotep is shown Wennefer, son of Nesnunuer, who Quaegebuer reasonably argues (J. Quaegebeur, JNES 30 (1972) 239, 266 (3)) is Ahmes' great nephew. This reconstruction suggests Ahmes is being shown as the head of his family, together with the representatives of each descendant line. Under this hypothesis, Horemhotep is Ahmes' predecessor, being represented posthumously as present in spirit since he had no descendants of his own. The stele then shows the had of the line, with his eldest son and heir, accompanied by the leading descendant of each of his brothers, who in the case of Horemhotep was himself. Ý
[4] If his father is correctly identified as Heriu I, then his mother was most likely the latter's only known wife. On the remote possiblity that his mother was Sekhmet-neferet, see discussion under Horemhotep III. Ý
[5] If he was the predecessor of Ahmes, as suggested here, then he lived late in the third and possibly early in the second century.
[6] See discussion above. Ý
Update Notes:
12 November 2002: Created page
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