First Intermediate Period
Intef III (Nakhtnebtepnefer)
11th Dynasty (Theban, early) · 2125-2055 BCE
Open full-size illustration →Source: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Background
Intef III, Nakhtnebtepnefer, was the last of the early Theban Eleventh Dynasty rulers before Mentuhotep II. He continued the dynasty’s use of royal titles and its base in Upper Egypt, and he is generally regarded as the father of Mentuhotep II. His evidence, including the Theban burial tradition at el-Tarif, is less extensive than that for his famous successor. The reign belongs to a transitional moment: Thebes had become a powerful regional kingdom but had not yet reunited Egypt. Exact territorial gains and dates remain uncertain. Research: UCL Digital Egypt; First Intermediate Period studies.
Dates from: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Full profile
Holding the line
Intef III had a relatively brief reign of around eight years. Rather than launching massive new offensives, his primary achievement was maintaining and heavily defending the territorial gains made by his father, Intef II.
Defending Abydos
He successfully repelled a major counter-attack from the northern Herakleopolitan forces. By holding the line at Abydos, he secured the necessary strategic advantage that allowed his son to finally end the civil war and reunite Egypt.
Saff el-Barqa and a family established by inscription
Intef III was buried at el-Tarif in a saff tomb known as Saff el-Barqa, its courtyard measuring roughly 75 by 85 to 90 meters, among the largest of the rock-cut tombs built by the early Theban kings. His own name is lost in a damaged section of the Turin Canon, but the reign length recorded there, eight years, survives intact, and a stela belonging to Tjeti, a chief treasurer who served under both Intef II and Intef III, independently confirms the succession. His queen, Iah, possibly also his sister, carried the titles king's mother, king's daughter, and priestess of Hathor, and was the mother of his successor, Mentuhotep II.
A reign reconstructed from others' records
Unlike his father, Intef III left almost no inscriptions in his own voice. His place in the sequence rests instead on two blocks from the temple of Montu at Tod, carved later under Mentuhotep II, which list the Theban kings from Intef I through to Mentuhotep II in order, together with the Tjeti stela and the surviving reign-length entry in the Turin Canon. This layered, indirect kind of evidence is typical for the early Eleventh Dynasty: individual kings are known less through their own monuments than through the records later generations kept of them.
Sources for this profile
- Baker, D. D. (2008). The Encyclopedia of the Pharaohs: Volume 1. Stacey International.
- Shaw, I. (Ed.). (2000). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press.
- Ryholt, K. (2004). The Turin King-list. Ägypten und Levante, 14, 135–155.
- Dodson, A., & Hilton, D. (2004). The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson.
- University College London. Digital Egypt for Universities.
The complete, APA-formatted reference list is on the Academic Sources & Bibliography page.