| Pepinakht | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nomarch of the1stnome of Upper Egypt | ||||||||||||||||||
| Egyptian name |
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| Dynasty | 6th dynasty | |||||||||||||||||
| Pharaoh | Pepi II | |||||||||||||||||
| Burial | Aswan,Egypt | |||||||||||||||||
| Children | Sabni | |||||||||||||||||
Pepinakht, nicknamedHeqaib, alsoHekaib orHekayeb (fl. c. 2250 BC), was anancient Egyptiannomarch of the 1stNome ofUpper Egypt ("Land of the Bow") under kingPepi II, towards the end of the6th Dynasty. He was also an officer in charge of military expeditions inNubia.
Heqaib was posthumouslydeified for his military prowess.[3]
BornPepinakht (ppjj-nḫt - "[King] Pepi is strong"[1]), he led at least three expeditions, which are all recorded on the façade of his tomb atQubbet el-Hawa (nearAswan), after a long list of his titles.
In the first expedition, Pepinakht led a surprise attack in the lands ofWawat andIrthet, slaying many warriors and taking many prisoners to the court of theking. Then, he was sent back to the same places (second expedition) where he captured some chieftains, and also brought back booty. For his third expedition, Pepinakht was instructed to bring back the corpse of Enenkhet; he was an expedition leader in charge to build a ship to reach theLand of Punt, but he was attacked and killed along with his escort by the "sand dwellers". Pepinakht'sautobiography abruptly ends while he was attacking the sand dwellers. However, it's very likely that he was able to accomplish even this mission.[4]
His capabilities andcharisma earned him the nicknameHeqaib (ḥqꜣ-jb - "He who controls his heart") and then, after his death, a quickapotheosis.[5] This fact may be representative of the great power achieved by local authorities in this period, which is a prelude tothe forthcoming collapse of the Egyptian state.[6] His son, named Sabni, apparently succeeded him in his charges.[5] In a room in an official building on Elephantine were found several wooden boxes with names of local officials. One box bears the name of Heqaib.[7] These boxes were most likely used in rituals around the funerary cult of the people mentioned on them.
Shortly after Heqaib's death and divinization, a great number of people started to worship this "local saint" initially in front of his tomb at Qubbet el-Hawa, and later in a purpose-built sanctuary. From the various documents left by those devotees it is known that many of them were named "Heqaib" in his honour, and even some pharaohs are known to having left dedications in the sanctuary: among the royal statues found here can be mentioned those ofMentuhotep I (although posthumous),Intef II,Senusret III,Sekhemkare Amenemhat V,Neferhotep I, andSekhemre-Wadjkhaw Sobekemsaf I, while it is known thatIntef III ordered a restoration of the sanctuary during the early11th Dynasty.[5]
Heqaib's distant successors during theMiddle Kingdom such asSarenput I,Sarenput II andHeqaib III, expanded the sanctuary by building shrines dedicated to him and to themselves. However, with the advent of the troubledSecond Intermediate Period the sanctuary was progressively abandoned and filled with debris, until its rediscovery byEdouard Ghazouli in 1932 and the subsequent excavations by himself andLabib Habachi.[5]
