Harkhuf was a governor of Upper Egypt in the 23rd century BC. He travelled extensively over time. His name is sometimes spelled Herkhuf or Hirkhuf. Map of Upper and Lower Egypt Ancient Egypt was divided into two kingdoms, known as Upper and Lower Egypt. ... // Ruins of the pyramid complex of Pepi II, the longest reigning monarch in recorded history 2334–2279 BC — (short chronology) Sargon of Akkads conquest of Mesopotamia. ...

All that is known of the life of Harkhuf can be learned from the inscriptions in his tomb at Qubbet el-Hawa on the west bank of the Nile at Aswan, near the First Cataract of the Nile. He was a native of Elephantine. He was appointed governor of the southern part of Upper Egypt and overseer of caravans under the pharaoh Merenre, third king of the 6th dynasty. His primary business, however, was trade with Nubia^[1], forging political bonds with local leaders ^[2], and preparing the ground for an Egyptian expansion into Nubia. He led at least four major expeditions in his life. On the last one he brought with him what his correspondence with the six year old Pepi II referred to as a dwarf, apparently a pigmy ^[3]. On the west side of the Nile, opposite Aswan is Qubbet el-Hawa, site of a group of rock cut tombs (known as the Princess Tomb). ... The Nile (Arabic: , transliteration: , Ancient Egyptian iteru, Coptic piaro or phiaro) is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. ... Egypt: Site of Aswan (bottom). ... There are six classical Cataracts of the Nile between Khartoum and Aswan, counted upstream. ... Elephantine Island, showing the nilometer (lower left) and the Aswan Museum. ... Merenre Antyemsaf I (2283 - 2278 BC) was the fourth king of the Sixth dynasty of Egypt. ... The Sixth Dynasty of Egypt is considered by many authorities as the last dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, although The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (ed. ... Nubia (not to be confused with Nuba a collective term used for the peoples who inhabit the Nuba Mountains, in Kordofan province, Sudan, Africa) is the region in the south of Egypt, along the Nile and in northern Sudan. ... nomen or birth name Pepi II was a ruler of the Sixth dynasty in Egypts Old Kingdom. ...

He travelled a considerable distance to a land called Iyam, which probably corresponds to the fertile plain that opens out south of the area of modern Khartoum, where the Blue Nile joins the White, Yoyotte ^[4] thought it was located further north in the Libyan desert. Nickname: Khartoums location in Sudan Coordinates: Government  - Governor Abdul Halim al Mutafi Population (2005)  - Urban Over 1 Million For other uses, see Khartoum (disambiguation). ... Map of the Blue Nile (in Spanish) The Blue Nile (Amharic: ዓባይ; transliterated: Ê¿Abbay, but pronounced Abbay; Arabic: النيل الأزرق; transliterated: an-NÄ«l al-Ä€zraq) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. ... The White Nile is a river of Africa, one of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the other being the Blue Nile. ...

The inscriptions reflect changes in the Egyptian world view occurring during the Late Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period, with the person of the king becoming more human and displaying emotions and interests ^[5], and a person leading a moral life by helping his neighbour: I gave bread to the hungry, clothing to the naked, I ferried him who had no boat. ^[6].

References

• James Henry Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, Part One, Chicago 1906, §§ 325ff.
• Jean Yoyotte: Pour une localisation du pays de Iam, BIFAO 52 (1953)
• M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature: A Book of Readings, Vol.1, Berkeley 1973, pp.23-27
• Pascal Vernus, Jean Yoyotte, The Book of the Pharaohs, Cornell University Press 2003
• G.W. Murray, Harkhuf's Third Journey, The Geographical Journal, Vol. 131, No. 1 (Mar., 1965), pp. 72-75
• Maulana Karenga, Maat, the Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt: A Study in Classical African Ethics, Routledge 2004

1. ^ Vernus, op.cit.,p.122
2. ^ ibidem
3. ^ Vernus, op.cit.,p.74
4. ^ Yoyotte, op.cit. p.173ff
5. ^ Karenga, op.cit., p.52
6. ^ Breasted, op.cit., §328

External Links

• Tomb inscriptions of Harkhuf