The Children of Adam and Eve

Amenemhat I was the first pharaoh of Egypt in the 12th dynasty (1991-1803 BC), second of two dynasties in the Middle Kingdom Period (first dynasty of the Middle Kingdom period according to others).

Amenemhat I was a vizier of his predecessor Mentuhotep IV, overthrowing him from power, scholars vary if Mentuhotep IV was killed by Amenemhat I, but there is no independent evidence to support this and there may even have been a period ofco-regency between their reigns. Amenemhet I was not of royal lineage, and the composition of some literary Works (the Prophecy of Neferti, the Instructions of Amenemhat and, in architecture, the reversion to the pyramid-style complexes of the6th dynasty rulers are often considered to have been attempts at legitimizing his rule. Amenemhat I moved the capital from Thebes to Itjtawy and was buried in el-Lisht.

His son Senusret I followed in his footsteps, building his pyramid - a closer reflection of the 6th dynasty pyramids than that of Amenemhat I - at Lisht as well, but his grandson, Amenemhat II, broke with this tradition.