Sheshi

About Sheshi in brief

Maaibre Sheshi was a ruler of areas of Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period. The dynasty, chronological position, duration and extent of his reign are uncertain and subject to ongoing debate. Hundreds of scaraboid seals bearing his name have been found throughout Canaan, Egypt, Nubia, and as far away as Carthage, where some were still in use 1,500 years after his death. Three competing hypotheses have been put forth for the dynasty to which Shesi belonged. The number of scarabs attributed to ShesHI is paralleled in number only by those bearing the prenomen Maaibre, meaning “The righteous one is the heart of Ra”. Based on the close stylistic similarities between both groups of scarabi, the consensus among Egyptologists is that MaAibre was the preNomen of Shesci. Over 80 percent of the seals attributed to him are of unknown provenance, but the remaining 20 percent have were found throughout Egypt,Nubia and Canaan, indicating widespread trade and diplomatic contacts during his reign. The best-attested king of the period spanning the end of the Middle Kingdom and the Second. Intermediate period; roughly from c. 1800 BC until 1550 BC. He is the best attested ruler in terms of the number of artefacts attributed. to him, with 396 seals and two seal impressions showing his nomen or prenonym.

This figure is three times higher than the next best attestation king of. the period, Yakbim Sekhaenre, who has 123 seals to his name. He could be a Hyksos king, a line of kings of Canaanite descent ruling over of the Eastern Nile Delta immediately before the arrival of the HyksOS. He may also have been a vassal of the hyksos, ruling over some part of Egypt or Canaan. The very existence of such vassals is debated. A total of twenty seals are known from Egypt, in Upper and Lower Egypt, and the wider Nubian Delta region. Three seals have been unearthed in Tel Amman, Tel el-Mman and Tell el-ashkuta and a further eight are from the wider Nile Delta region and five from the Middle Egyptian fortresses of Abir el-Melek, Kom el-Ahmar and Ghurab, otherwise otherwise known as the Umm El-Kerma. He was the father of Nehesy Aasehre, whose name means ‘The Nubsian’, whom he believes succeeded Shesh to the throne as the pharaoh Nehesi AaseHre. He died around 1745 BC and is believed to have ruled between 1720 BC and 1650 BC, according to some sources. He had a son named Nehesh, who may have been the son of Tati, the daughter of the Kushite princess Tati. He also may have had a daughter called Tati and ruled between Khyan and Apophis, reigning between 1745 and 1740 BC.