Ameny Qemau

Ameny Qemau was a pharaoh of the early Thirteenth Dynasty who ruled Egypt from the capital at Itjtawy. Succeeding Wegaf and preceding Hor, he governed for approximately two years, from about 1793 to 1791 BC, with dates uncertain by about twenty-five years.

Despite the fragmented political landscape of the Second Intermediate Period, royal administration still commanded enough resources to attempt pyramid building in the traditional royal cemeteries. Ameny Qemau represents one of the few monarchs of this dynasty who continued this Middle Kingdom architectural tradition.

Scholars know this king almost entirely through his funerary monument, a ruined mud-brick pyramid situated at southern Dahshur. The burial chamber within the pyramid retained stone canopic jars bearing his name, which established his identity and confirmed that royal tombs of this scale were still being constructed in the Memphite necropolis.

Monuments

• Pyramid at Southern Dahshur

Explore further

Try the name on the Cartouche Desk, or see where the reign falls on the timeline.