Sobekneferu

Sobekneferu or Neferusobek (Egyptian: Sbk-nfrw, lit. 'Beauty of Sobek') was the first confirmed queen regnant (or 'female king') of ancient Egypt and the last pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty and of the Middle Kingdom. Her reign was brief, lasting three years, 10 months, and 24 days according to the Turin Canon in the 18th century BC. She distinguished herself from any potential prior female rulers by adopting the full royal titulary which were often had modified to acknowledge her womanhood such as by the titles 'daughter of Re' and 'female Horus'. She was also the first ruler to be associated with the crocodile god Sobek in her nomen and to have associated herself with him through her praenomen.

Sobekneferu ascended to the throne following the death of Amenemhat IV, her presumed brother and husband, albeit the relationship is unsubstantiated. The reasons for her accession are debated. One possibility is that her predecessor had no male heir to bestow the throne to, thus leaving his sister to take the mantle of king. Yet, there are two candidate sons, Sobekhotep I and Sonbef, that are stated through their filiative nomen to be 'Amenemhat's son'. If Amenemhat IV is meant, then it may be that she usurped the throne from them, perhaps because she perceived them to be illegitimate. She also never associated herself with Amenemhat IV, instead asserting her legitimacy through their presumptive father, Amenemhat III. It appears though, that Sokebhotep I modelled his praenomen after Sobekneferu's Nebty name, indicating that he may have sought legitimacy from his predecessor and also demonstrating the esteem she was held in.

Contemporary evidence from her reign is scant. There are a few partial statues – one with her face, now lost – and a small corpus of seals and inscriptions that have been preserved. These mainly originate from Faiyum where she is credited with the completion of 'the Labyrinth' – the mortuary temple of Amenemhat III's pyramid at Hawara. One important inscription is a graffito recording the level of the Nile inundation at the fortress at Kumma in her third regnal year indicating that she maintained authority across Egypt. Her funerary monument remains unidentified, though a papyrus discovered in Harageh mentions a site called Sekhem Sobekneferu which may refer to it, and there is a storeroom administrator attested to on a stela providing evidence of an active funerary cult. Her rule is also attested to on several later king lists from the Thutmosid and Ramesside periods and in Manetho's Aegyptiaca.