Upper And Lower Egypt Analysis

Upper and Lower Egypt” Egypt wasn’t actually unified during his rule. Being a 10th Dynasty king, this inscription was made in the first intermediate period, which affects some of the advice given. Firstly, the King advises on political matters such as the importance of dealing quickly with rebels, as they are possible of spoiling the masses. Which in a time of division of Upper and Lower Egypt it would be a real fear to have people rebel against you, as the King at this time did not have sole power, the King’s legitimacy was compromised due to the separate rulers of Upper and Lower Egypt. Yet, the King goes onto say, punish them mercifully, so that even in their punishment, they do not hate you. “A good temperament means serenity for a man/

The text illustrates Sesostris I, 2nd king of the 12th Dynasty, announcing that he is having a temple built to honor the god Horakhty who made him king. He elaborates on how he was appointed king before he was even born, “He fashioned me a palace dweller, an offspring not yet issued from the thighs.” And after birth, “He advanced me to Lord of the Two Parts, a child wearing swaddling clothes.” So still as an infant he was made king of all Egypt, because Horakhty wished it. And thus as the son of the god “I will construct a great house for my father Atum.” From this we see the king closely relating himself to the god in a different way than in the Old Kingdom. This is a different take on the importance of ancestry, seen in the Merikare piece where there was a strong connection between father and son, and how honoring the past kings, as well as being worth the honor of future kings, as family, is important. But instead of acknowledging his royal ancestral line, Sesostris adopts a biological relationship as son and father with the god Atum, he legitimise his kingship by not only being a godly incarnation, but the son of a god as well. He repeats this concept of being picked by Atum and being the son of Atum over and over to ensure that

Unlike Merikare who rules during the first intermediate period, Sesostris ruled post first intermediate period, and in an attempt to re-legitimize kingship, focused doing so religiously, as well as politically. Thus we see his adamant claims to being the son of Atum, and the heir to the throne because he was chosen by Horakhty. In this way, Sesostris’s inscriptions differ from Seti’s, as they are more directed towards the people seeing that Sesostris is a son of a god, where Seti is talking to Horus and focusing on acknowledging a god too long forgotten. The role of the royal companions in Sesostris’s inscriptions provide an example of him being seen as wise and authoritative, which the point would have been to get other people to see him similarly as the officials in his inscriptions did. This acts as a political tool of legitimization, exemplifying how your closest officials react to what you say, and how they believe you to be the son of Atum, makes it harder for other people to reject