Mehu

Mehu in hieroglyphics
Mḥw

Mehu was an ancient Egyptian vizier who lived and officiated at the end of the 5th and the beginning of the 6th Dynasty (around 2350 BC).

Mehu had a number of important titles. Among other things, he was “vizier, head of all the king's work” and “head of business operations”. Mehu was married to Nebet and to the "natural king's daughter" Neferkaus / Iku. His parents are unknown. His son Hetepka I , his son Hetepka II and his brother Iynefert / Sanef also held the office of vizier. Mehu was the founder or at least a member of a family that had been the highest statesmen for several generations.

Mehu is best known for its large mastaba tomb in Saqqara . This complex consists of a large inner courtyard with two columns and a few other rooms. This building is particularly remarkable because of its reliefs, which are also well preserved in color . They show the usual agricultural scenes, workshops, mehu in the papyrus thicket and numerous offerers in front of the grave owner. The underground burial chamber was painted.

There is no biography in the mastaba that would allow Mehu to be precisely dated. His tomb is near the Pyramid of Unas , and it is believed that he began his tenure under this ruler. King Teti II is also mentioned in the grave , under whom he presumably still officiated. Finally, Pepi I is even mentioned, but this name was probably only placed in the grave after the death of Mehu. However, if this royal name was still applied by Mehu during his lifetime, he was certainly a vizier under this ruler.

literature

• Michel Baud : Famille royale et pouvoir sous l'Ancien Empire égyptien. Tome 2 (= Bibliothèque d'Étude. Volume 126/2). Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, Cairo 1999, ISBN 2-7247-0250-6 , pp. 471–472 ( PDF; 16.7 MB ).
• Hartwig Altenmüller : The wall representations in the grave of Mehu in Saqqara (= archaeological publications. Vol. 42). von Zabern, Mainz 1998, ISBN 3-8053-0504-4 .

Web links

• The Tomb of Mehu