Moses as Twelfth Dynasty general Nysumontu

by Damien F. Mackey “On the Sinai front, General Nysumontu reported a victory over the Bedouins in the 24th year of Amenemhat’s reign – this would have safeguarded the turquoise mining operations at El-Kadim in Sinai”. Egyptopia The historical Moses, I have by now multi-identified across supposedly three dynasties of the Old Kingdom and one of the so-called ‘Middle’ Kingdom. Thus Moses is no longer lacking in historical identification. Strangely, though, almost none of these alter egos has a name that one could construe as being Moses-like. I would be expecting something along the lines of a Sinuhe combination of the elements Si/Sa (son) and Mu/Nu (water). On this, see my article: The Sinuhe connection (3) The Sinuhe Connection It needs to be noted, though, that “Moses” was something of a secret name. Amongst the Egyptians only Pharaoh’s daughter, Meresankh (“Merris”), knew who Moses really was. Pharaoh presumed that he was a royal child. Thus the scribes, not being cognizant of the secret, and who had difficulty with unusual and foreign names, would not have been able to form the name into properly etymological hieroglyphs. They would simply have had to represent the name phonetically. Apart from Sinuhe, who is semi-mythical anyway, we do find our hopeful combination in the name of the revered (divinised) Fifth Dynasty pharaoh, Niuserre (Nyuserre) Ini (or Iny), one of my more recent historical identifications of Moses: Moses in Egypt’s Fifth Dynasty (3) Moses in Egypt’s Fifth Dynasty And there is a double bonus here because that pharaoh’s presumably hypocoristic other name, given variously as Ini and Iny, works in perfectly well with that set of Moses like names related to his Sixth Dynasty alter ego, Weni (Uni). On this, see my article: Ini, Weni, Iny, Moses (3) Ini, Weni, Iny, Moses Finally, we may find this combination again (Ny/Nu, Su/Sa), apparently, in the name of the genius Twelfth Dynasty general, perfectly contemporaneous with Moses: NYSUMONTU. There may be a double bonus here as well, in that this name also connects with the Montu element in the name of Mentuhotep, who was, like Moses (like Weni), a Vizier and Chief Judge over Egypt (cf. Exodus 2:14). Unfortunately, like much in ancient history, there is not yet a lot that can be told about general Nysumontu. I did glean at least this for him in my Sinuhe article (above): …. A likely further Twelfth Dynasty link is general Nysumontu, described, like Weni, as a “genius”, and perhaps combining Sinuhe elements, Ni-su, or Su-ni, with Mentuhotep (through Montu). Margaret Bunson mentions Nysumontu in connection with pharaoh Amenemes (Amenemhet) I in Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt (p. 26): Amenemhet) I proved an efficient administrator and militarily astute ruler. He established his new capital between the boundaries of Upper and Lower Egypt in order to have increased control of the DELTA. He also erected the WALL OF THE PRINCE, a series of forts that safeguarded Egypt’s eastern and western borders. He founded SEMNA fort in Nubia and routed the Bedouins on the SINAI peninsula, using the genius of General Nysumontu. We know that Weni had battled a Bedouin people known as the “Sand-dwellers” at least five times. And Dr. Breasted mentioned in relation to the inscriptions of Sesostris I, who was Sinuhe’s pharaoh, a “General Mentuhotep”. http://egyptopia.com/the-twelfth-dynasty/ “On the Sinai front, General Nysumontu reported a victory over the Bedouins in the 24th year of Amenemhat’s reign – this would have safeguarded the turquoise mining operations at El-Kadim in Sinai. At the same time, diplomatic relations were resumed with Byblos and the Aegean world”.