Senakhtenre Ahmose

From a reference in the Abbott Papyrus (Column III, 1.10) it was for a long time believed that Senakhtenre's nomen was Tao ("The Elder"). Indeed, the papyrus mentions two kings with the name Tao. The second king Tao was identified with Senakhtenre because the first mention of a Tao refers to Seqenenre Tao for which the complete name is written. Consequently, the hypothesis that Senakhtenre's nomen was Tao was dominant in egyptology until 2012 and was shared for example by Darrell Baker,[4] although it also remained controversial. For example, the Egyptologist Claude Vandersleyen rejected this view as early as 1983.[11] Furthermore, in his 1997 study of the second intermediate period, the egyptologist Kim Ryholt proposed that Senakhtenre's nomen may have been Siamun rather than Tao:[12]

This nomen is inscribed on one of two stamp-seals found together in a tomb at Dra Abu el-Naga, the other being inscribed with the prenomen Seqenenre [whose nomen was Tao]. It has been suggested that Siamun here was used as an epithet. In that case, it would stand in the place of a nomen since it follows immediately upon the title 'Son of Re.' However, apart from the fact that Kamose sometimes replaced his with the epithet 'the mighty ruler'...for political reasons during the war with Apophis, the title 'Son of Re' is always followed by a proper nomen during the Second Intermediate Period. Since Siamun was a popular name during this period and the New Kingdom, it seems more likely that we are dealing with a name than an epithet. The fact that the two seals were found together and are virtually identical in workmanship suggests that they were produced at about the same time and given to the official from whose tomb they come. Siamun must therefore be more or less contemporary with Seqenenre, and since it is not possible to identify Siamun with his successor (this being Kamose), it may be suggested that Siamun was the nomen of his predecessor Senakhtenre.

The situation completely changed in March 2012 when French egyptologist Sébastien Biston-Moulin of the CFEETK (Centre Franco-Égyptien d'Étude des Temples de Karnak) published hieroglyphic inscriptions discovered on a large 17th dynasty limestone doorjamb built for a granary of a temple of Amun at Karnak. The doorjamb bears Senakhtenre's full royal name and reveals his nomen to have been Ahmose. This is the same name as that of his grandson, Nebpehtyre Ahmose I, who founded the 18th Dynasty by defeating the Hyksos and ousting them from Egypt.[2] Inscriptions on the door indicate that it was built following the orders of Senakhtenre himself. The door was subsequently re-used and discovered in the foundations of a later building adjoining the temple of Ptah at Karnak. Senakhtenre's royal titulary as revealed by the door is "Hr mry-mAa.t nswt bjty snxt-n-ra sA ra jaH-ms", which translates as "The Horus Merymaat, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt Senakhtenre, the Son of Re Ahmes."[2] The inscription on the reused door proceeds to state that Senakhtenre "made a monument for his father Amun-Re (i.e., the door itself)...from the beautiful white stone of Anu."[2] Anu is the modern Tura, located near Cairo, which could mean that Senakhtenre imported the limestone from the then Hyksos controlled area of Tura in Lower Egypt.[2] However, Biston-Moulin cautions that "beautiful white stone of Anu" was sometimes used as a generic term for stones which were actually taken from local quarries.[13] Meanwhile, a fragmentary lintel uncovered by the same team of French scholars bore this inscription which mentioned Senakhtenre's nomen:

Behdety, the great god

• [Long live the god] made [by] Senakht-en-Re given life like Re forever!
• [Cheers] the son of Re Ahmes given life like Re forever![2]

These two separate inscriptions on the granary door and fragmentary lintel found in January–February 2012 at Karnak demonstrate that king Senakhtenre's nomen or birth name was 'Ahmose' ('Ahmes' in Ancient Egyptian) and not 'Tao' as previously thought. Biston-Moulin writes in the summary of his article:[2]

Publication of two elements of a granary door bearing the name of king Senakhtenre Ahmose recently discovered near the temple of Ptah at Karnak. The inscriptions allow this king of the seventeenth dynasty, previously only known through the coronation name in later king-lists, to be identified more precisely. They also finally resolve uncertainties about his birth name: Ahmose. The designations of Senakhtenre Tao I or Senakhtenre Siamun for this king must be abandoned. Suggestions for identifying the king’s tomb in the Ramesside report of investigations in the Theban necropolis recorded in Papyrus Abbott must also be rejected. Only one king bears the birth name Tao: Seqenenre. That Ahmose is the son of Re name of Senakhtenre leads to the conclusion that this king must be a member of the Ahmoside royal family of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth dynasties, of which he is to date the oldest known representative. Finally, documents that bear only the son of Re name “Ahmose” can now be attributed to either Senakhtenre Ahmose or Nebpehtyre Ahmose.