by
Damien F. Mackey
“I am a man without equal …. I am the front of people and the
back of people because (my) like will not exist; he will not exist.
(My) like could not have been born; he was not born”.
Autobiography of Ankhtifi
Senenmut (Senmut) was merely “the greatest of the great in the land [of Egypt]”.
Ankhtifi, on the other hand, claimed an honour that would later be accorded by Jesus to John the Baptist, ‘greatest ever born’ (Matthew 11:11).
What we would term today, the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time).
We know precisely when Senenmut lived, during the reign of the female Pharaoh, Hatshepsut, of Egypt’s Eighteenth Dynasty:
https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/senenmut/
Senenmut
Senenmut (literally “mother’s brother”, sometimes transliterated as Senemut or Senmut) was one of the most powerful and famous (or infamous) officials of ancient Egypt. At the height of his power he was the Chief Steward of Amun, Tutor to the Princess Neferure and confidant (and possibly lover) of the Pharaoh Hatshepsut. However, both his early career and the circumstances surrounding his death and burial are obscure. ….
And we can know his era even more precisely thanks to Dr. Immanuel Velikovsky’s revision, as set out in his book Ages in Chaos (I, 1952), according to which Hatshepsut was King Solomon’s exotic visitor from the south, the Queen of Sheba.
And I am hopeful that we are able to precisify the situation even further again by recognising “the greatest of the great in the land”, Senenmut, as the sage King Solomon of Israel himself:
Solomon and Sheba
(5) Solomon and Sheba | Damien Mackey - Academia.edu
Senenmut informs us:
"I was the greatest of the great in the whole land;
one who heard the hearing alone in the privy council, steward of [Amon],
Senemut, triumphant."
"I was the real favorite of the king, acting as one praised of his lord
every day, the overseer of the cattle of Amon, Senemut."
"I was … of truth, not showing partiality; with whose injunctions
the Lord of the Two Lands was satisfied; attached to Nekhen, prophet
of Mat, Senemut."
"I was one who entered in [love], and came forth in favor, making
glad the heart of the king every day, the companion, and master of the
palace, Senemut."
"I commanded … the storehouse of divine offerings of Amon
every tenth day; the overseer of the storehouse of Amon, Senemut."
"I conducted … of the gods every day, for the sake of the life,
prosperity, and health of the king; overseer of the … of Amon, Senemut ."
"I was a foreman of foremen, superior of the great … [overseer] of
all [works] of the house of silver, conductor of every handicraft, chief of
the prophets of Montu in Hermonthis, Senemut."
"I was one to whom the affairs of the Two Lands were [reported;
that which South and North contributed was on my seal, the labor of
all countries … was [under] my charge."
"I was one, whose steps were known in the palace; a real confidant
of the king, his beloved: overseer of the gardens of Amon, Senemut."
Senenmut held impressive titles such as: 'Overseer of the Gardens of Amun', 'Steward of Amun', 'Overseer of all Royal Works' and 'Tutor to the Royal Heiress Neferure'.
Despite all of this greatness, though, Senenmut - sometimes even referred to as ‘the real power behind the throne’ - admitted, according to good protocol, to have been under the command of the [female] king: According to one of his statues: ‘I was in this land under [her] command since the occurrence of the death of [her] predecessor ...' [Baikie, J., A History of Egypt, A. & C. Black Ltd., London, 1929, Vol. 11, p. 80. 21].
Ankhtifi apparently had, as we shall find, no such scruples as to right protocol.
[It needs to be noted, when we talk about the Autobiography of a particular Egyptian official, that rigid Egyptian rubric had to be observed, overlaying what may have been the true thoughts and sentiments of the official under consideration. Thus Ankhtifi’s, Senenmut’s seemingly shameless boasting may have been, to some extent, just the standard practice of the Egyptian scribes].
In the case of Ankhtifi, unlike Senenmut, Egyptologists do not know for sure when he lived, or who was his Pharaoh: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankhtifi
The precise pharaoh under whom Ankhtifi served is anything but certain; the sequence and number of kings in the 9th and 10th dynasties is a matter of widely varying conjecture. Only a few of the many names on the much later king-lists have had their reigns or existence corroborated through scattered archaeological finds. ….
As with Senenmut, later, Ankhtifi bore some astounding titles:
https://www.osirisnet.net/tombes/moalla/ankhtifi/e_ankhtifi_01.htm
The titles carried by Ankhtifi are very high in the hierarchy; the first of these is that of "great chief of the nome of…", indicating his dignity of nomarch, to which is attached "the count" and the priestly title of "leader of the prophets", an essential title at this time to confirm his status. He also carries the titles of "hereditary prince", "chancellor of king of Lower Egypt", "general", "leader of the mountainous regions", "leader of the interpreters", and "sole companion". ….
Dr. Doaa M. Elkashef has written of the singularity of Ankhtifi, in “Self-Presentation in the Autobiography of Ankhtifi of Moalla between Tradition and Innovation” (2023. My emphasis in bold):
https://ijtah.journals.ekb.eg/article_310487_7a8edbc44025d034d58e79abe4b91e05.pdf
…. Ankhtifi’s statement that he surpassed his ancestors through his achievements and that even his successors could not equal him is one of the innovations in his autobiography. He also claims repeatedly that he has not “found” something to have been achieved by other predecessors before …. This claim 4 is attested twice in the Old Kingdom, in the Autobiography of Qar of Edfu (n gmt.n(.i) is pw m-a Hry-tp wn m spAt tn tp-aw(y),
“This is something that I have not found in the hand of a chief who was in this nome before”) and the Autobiography of Harkhuf of Aswan (5 n sp gmy(.i) ir
(i)n smr imy-r iaAw nb pr r IAm tp-aw(y), “I have never found this done by any Companion and Overseer of Foreign Mercenaries who went to Iam before”) dating to the Sixth Dynasty. The formula is employed in these texts 6 in slightly varied form.
It should be noted, however, that the king is absent from Ankhtifi’s autobiography,
while the Sixth Dynasty high provincial officials stressed their service to the
king and competence in office.
In contrast, the Sixth Dynasty official Weni the Elder boasts in his autobiography, encompassing different stages in his career starting in the reign of Teti and culminating in his promotion to the office of Overseer of Upper Egypt under
Merenre, that “the like had never been done for any servant” (n sp pA.t(w) irt mitt n bAk nb), when referring to the receipt of royal favour‒ being provided with tomb equipment by Pepy I. This traditional phrase was employed 7 by late Old Kingdom high officials to stress that they received a special favour from the king which was unique and had never before been granted to other officials.3 ….
Just who was this incredible character like no other, the mysterious Ankhtifi?
Who, indeed, was Ankhtifi, a high official of Egypt, seemingly a quasi-Pharaoh (see “ruled like a pharaoh” below), who, in his Autobiography, did not even bother to observe standard Egyptian protocol by mentioning the current Pharaoh?
Which means that Egyptologists cannot be exactly sure when Ankhtifi lived.
Bearing a host of impressive titles, Anhktifi - or whoever wrote his Autobiography - boasted of his having been like no other man ever born:
“I am a man without equal …. I am the front of people and the
back of people because (my) like will not exist; he will not exist.
(My) like could not have been born; he was not born”.
Could Ankhtifi have been the renowned Joseph, who likewise was front and centre involved in a terrible Famine? Certainly Ankhtifi’s claim to have been the greatest ever to have been born seems to be echoed in Sirach’s short praise of Joseph (Sirach 49:15):
“Nor was anyone ever born like Joseph …”.
Ankhtifi’s Famine
This was no ordinary famine. It was of long duration, driving Egyptians to resort to cannibalism.
Here I am following Dr. Doaa M. Elkashef’s account of it in “Self-Presentation in the Autobiography of Ankhtifi of Moalla between Tradition and Innovation” (2023):
https://ijtah.journals.ekb.eg/article_310487_7a8edbc44025d034d58e79abe4b91e05.pdf
“I gave bread to the hungry and clothes to the naked. I anointed the unanointed.
I shod the one who had no shoes.
I gave a wife to the one who had no wife. ….
Ankhtifi used the traditional cliché theme of local patronage to introduce the Famine Inscription on Pillar IV. He employed this common theme in a new context in relation to a real event (i.e. the famine):
iw ^maw r-Dr.f m(w)t n Hqr s nb Hr wnm Xrdw.f n sp di(.i) xpr m(w)t n Hq
m spAt tn iw di.n(.i) TAbt n Sma [Sma] di.n(.i) mHt
“All of Upper Egypt died because of hunger, every man eating his (own) children; but I never let death happen because of hunger in this nome.
I gave a loan of Upper Egyptian barley
….
Ankhtifi stresses that he fed Elephantine and Iat-Negen in the first and second Upper Egyptian nomes respectively, after satisfying Moalla and Hormer in the third Upper Egyptian nome. The formula sanx.n.i “I made … live” (in the sense of “fed”) is recurrent in the First Intermediate Period texts referring to famine. ….
The theme of famine also figures in the documents of Heqanakht, a kA-priest
(Hm-kA) and farmer during the Middle Kingdom.
Heqanakht refers to famine in 4 Letter II as follows:
mk Tn tA r-Dr.f m(w)t n Hqr.[Tn]
“Look, the whole land is dead and [you] have not hungered.”7 5 mk Tn Dd.tw Hqr r Hqr mk Tn SAaw wnm rmT aA
“Look, one should say hunger (only) about (real) hunger. Look, they’ve started to eat people here.”7
Heqanakht boasts of his ability to feed his family while the rest of the country suffers from famine. One might argue that the theme of human cannibalism appearing in the texts of Ankhtifi and Heqanakht is evidence of such terrible famine in their times, so terrible that people were forced to eat their own children. Nevertheless, both Ankhtifi and Heqanakht might be expressing in a rhetorical way how serious the famine events were in their times. The rhetorical device would be hyperbole, an overstatement to impress the audience (contemporaries and posterity) or the addressee.
Reference to famine appears again in the Autobiography of Ankhtifi on Pillar V:
iw grt sanx.n(.i) Nxn WTs-@r Abw Nbyt Hsi w(i) @r Nxn anx n(.i) @mn iw pH.n it-^ma(.i) Iwnt ^Abt m-xt sanx spAt tn m ……s
“Now, I made Hierakonpolis, Edfu, Elephantine and Kom Ombo live so that Horus of Hierakonpolis would favour me and Hemen would live for me. My Upper Egyptian barley reached Dendera and ^Abt after making this nome live with …...”
Ankhtifi stresses that he fed the third and second Upper Egyptian nomes of Hierakonpolis and Edfu and the towns of Elephantine and Kom Ombo in the first
Upper Egyptian nome for the sake of his local gods, Horus and Hemen.7 He also
stresses that he fed the towns of Dendera and ^Abt in the sixth Upper Egyptian
nome after supplying his own nome.8
[End of quotes]
We read along similar lines at:
https://popular-archaeology.com/article/ancient-egypts-great-hunger/#:~:text=People%20were%20so%20hungry%20that,the%20nome's%20inhabitants%20to%20leave.
Ankhtifi and Khety the nomarchs
Ankhtifi from his tomb at el-Mo’alla. ….
Fortunately during these trying times, some nomarchs were competent administrators. They boasted of their achievements on their tomb walls ….
Ankhtifi of Hierakonpolis and Edfu, two of the southernmost nomes of Upper Egypt, had such a high opinion of his military abilities and of himself that he called himself the “great chieftain.” He became nomarch just as low floods became commonplace. “All of Upper Egypt was dying of hunger,” his tomb inscriptions tell us. There were reports of cannibalism, of people eating their children; his province becoming like “a starved grasshopper.” As so often happened in famines everywhere, hungry villagers wandered aimlessly in search of food and people fought over water. People were so hungry that they were said to be eating their children. “I managed that no one died of hunger in this nome,” he claimed, as tomb-robbers plundered the dead. Ankhtifi’s grandiloquent inscriptions boasted of loaning precious grain to people upstream, of forbidding the nome’s inhabitants to leave. The nomarch ruled like a pharaoh. “I am the beginning and the end of humankind, for my equal has not and will not come into being.” Fortunately, he controlled food supplies, imposed rationing, and erected temporary dams to impound water. These short-term measures worked and saved many lives, for his leadership was decisive and based on hard-earned local knowledge. ….
[End of quote]
If Ankhtifi were Joseph, though, the last statement above would need modification: “Fortunately, he controlled food supplies, imposed rationing, and erected temporary dams to impound water. These short-term measures worked and saved many lives, for his leadership was decisive and based on hard-earned local knowledge”.
These “measures” were “short-term” in the sense that the dams would have to have been built hastily and may later have fallen into disuse. As I intend to show in later articles, there is abundant evidence for the erection of unadorned, briefly used, infrastructure, such as dams and massive grain storage facilities, in Third Dynasty Egypt, in which I would place Joseph - for one, this accords with the Sehel Famine Stela of king Netjerikhet, a very late document harkening back to Egypt’s Third Dynasty.
But I would also definitely expect a (so-called) ‘Middle’ Kingdom correlation with the Old Kingdom’s Third Dynasty, based on articles of mine (Dr. Courville inspired) such as e.g.:
Egypt’s Old and Middle Kingdoms far closer in time than conventionally thought
(6) Egypt's Old and Middle Kingdoms far closer in time than conventionally thought | Damien Mackey - Academia.edu
And this could bring Ankhtifi’s cannibalising famine right into synch with Heqanakht’s Middle Kingdom cannibalising Famine, as I think must necessarily have been the case.
But leadership at the time was not so much “based on hard-earned local knowledge” as upon Divine inspiration, on Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams, which the Pharaoh trusted to the extent of giving Joseph virtually free rein in the land (Genesis 41:41-44):
So Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt’. Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and people shouted before him, ‘Make way!’ Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt’.
Genesis 42:6:
“Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the person who sold grain to all its people”.
Ankhtifi:
I never let death happen because of hunger in this nome.
I gave a loan of Upper Egyptian barley ….
Joseph’s new name
Genesis 44:45:
“Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt”.
Can the name Ankhtifi be found in Joseph’s given Egyptian name, Zaphenath-Paneah?
This is a difficult matter since no two commentators seem to be able to reach a consensus on the meaning of Joseph’s new name.
Here I turn to professor A. S. Yahuda who has proven in the past to be a trustworthy guide in matters pertaining to Egyptian linguistics.
Abraham Yahuda suggested for Zapheath-paneah, ḏfꜣ n tꜣ pꜣ ꜥnḫ, "the living one is the sustenance of (the) land", or ḏfꜣ n tꜣ pw ꜥnḫ "the sustenance of the land is he, the living one." (Yahuda, A. S. (1930). Eine Erwiderung auf Wilhelm Spiegelbergs "Ägyptologische Bemerkungen" zu meinem Buche "Die Sprache des Pentateuch". Leipzig. p. 7., cited by Vergote, p. 144).
In professor Yahuda’s explanation of this Egyptian name I think that we can basically find, in hypocoristicon form, the three elements that constitute the name, Ankhtifi: viz., Ankh (ꜥnḫ); ti (tꜣ); fi (fꜣ).
I should mention that Eulalío Eguía Jr. has also made the identification of Joseph as Ankhtifi, whom he, however, connects with Egypt’s Ninth Dynasty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7oLeJannks
This video raises some interesting points not to be found in my present article.
Ankhtifi a polytheist?
Whilst Ankhtifi fails to refer to a king, and also makes little reference to the Egyptian gods, he does tell of his guidance by the god Horus, and also mentions Hemen.
Horus-Hemen can be reduced to the one compound deity.
Since Egypt would likely have had no name for – nor interest in – the God of the Hebrews, the best that the writer of Ankhtifi’s Autobiography might have been able to come up with may have been simply Horus, the god of kings.
The monotheistic pharaoh, Akhnaton, much later on, would have to grapple with the problem of how to represent the one true God to the polytheistic Egyptian people.
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