Another Obscure Pharaoh

Coffin of Sekhemre Wepmaat Intef

The Louvre has coffins used for the burial of two kings of the Second Intermediate Period. The first of these two kings was named Sekhemre Wepmaat Intef, who ruled for about three years.

His coffin is a cheap "rishi" (feathered) coffin, that bears an inscription stating that it was a gift from his successor, Sekhemre Herhermaat Intef.

Canopic box of Sekhemre Wepmaat Intef

The Louvre also has the canopic chest of this Pharaoh in it's collection. This canopic chest, which originally would have held the king's internal organs after their removal from the body by the embalmers, is small and cheaply made and painted. Stylistically, it is typical of this period in Egyptian history.

The location of the tomb of this Seventeenth Dynasty Pharaoh is unknown to archaeologists, but his burial was found by tomb robbers (at Dra Abu el-Naga most likely) in the 1800s.

Canopic box of Sekhemre Wepmaat Intef

Sekhemre Wepmaat Intef, is by my reconstruction of the period, the eleventh king of Dynasty Seventeen, a period of political chaos in Egypt which saw the northern half of the country being ruled by foreign kings called the "Hyksos". Dr. Ryholt places this king in the third spot and believes that Nebkheperre Intef is Sekhemre Wepmaat Intef's successor (I place Nebkheperre as the first king of the dynasty).