Temple lintel of King Amenemhat III

Royal temple lintel of Amenemhat III: a rectangular limestone raised relief from a temple door lintel. The text is arranged symmetrically, with the central cartouche placed over the axis of the doorway. The text cannot be deciphered into a single sentence, since the elements are arranged according to heraldic rather than linguistic principles.

In the centre, the right-facing cartouche of Amenemhat III rests on the sign for gold; this is flanked by the name of the god ‘Horus who is in Shedet’, which is written similarly to the Horus name of the king, with a falcon (‘Horus’) perched on a enclosure including a sacred building associated with Shedet.

Flanking this are the royal epithets, facing vertical lines of text which originally ran down the sides of the doorway (now lost), and contained the titles of Amenemhat III, and facing the epithets, the name of the god ‘Sobek the Shedetite’.

The names of the gods face that of the king, forming a graphic version of scenes where the king worships, or is embraced by, the gods who give him life and power (between the gods’ names). The right end is restored.

Middle Kingdom, 12th Dynasty, reign of Amenemhat III, ca. 1860-1814 BC. Limestone. Dimensions: height: 88 centimetres, length: 234.50 centimetres, depth: 11 centimetres. From Temple of Amenemhat III, Hawara, Faiyum. Now in the British Museum. EA1072