Intef

(Inyotef) Rulers of the Eleventh Dynasty 2133-1991 BC.

    Intef or Inyotef was the family name of those Theban nobles who established the Eleventh Dynasty and restored some order after the troubled events and civil wars of the First Intermediate Period; they laid the foundations for the establishment of the Middle Kingdom which was introduced by the Twelfth Dynasty. Although there is some confusion about the exact identity and order of the succession of some of these rulers, it appears that the founder of the Intef line was a local governor, later known as Intef the Great, who bore the title of 'Hereditary Prince'.

    The Intefs fought against the rulers of the Tenth Dynasty who were based at Heracleopolis, and overthrew them, thus laying the foundation for unity and order to return to Egypt. They were buried at Thebes in a series of unusual 'saff' or 'row' tombs which have been excavated in the necropolis below the slopes of Dira Abu'n Naga.

    The greatest rulers of this line were *Mentuhotep II (Nebhepetre) and *Mentuhotep III (S'ankhkare) who were powerful and effective kings.

BIBL. Winlock, H.E. The rise and fall of the Middle Kingdom in Thebes. New York: 1947; Newberry, P.E. On the parentage of the Intef kings of the Eleventh Dynasty. ZAS 72 (1936) pp. 118-20.

Biographical Dictionary of Ancient Egypt by Rosalie and Antony E. David

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(fl. 2150 BC)

   Governor of Thebes during the First Intermediate Period. Son of the lady Ikuy. He was worshipped as the ancestor of the later rulers of Dynasty 11 and so was probably the father or ancestor of Mentuhotep I.

Historical Dictionary Of Ancient Egypt by Morris L. Bierbrier