See Amenemhat, for other individuals with this name. Amenemhat I (Ancient Egyptian: Ỉmn-m-hꜣt meaning 'Amun is at the forefront'), also known as Amenemhet I, was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the first king of the Twelfth Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom. Amenemhat I was probably the same as the vizier named Amenemhat who led an expedition to Wadi Hammamat under his predecessor Mentuhotep IV, and possibly overthrew him from power. Scholars differ as to whether Mentuhotep IV was killed by Amenemhat I, but there is no independent evidence to suggest this and there may even have been a period of co-regency between their reigns. Amenemhat I was not of royal lineage, born to Senusret and Nefert who were possibly related to the nomarchial family of Elephantine. 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 the 6th dynasty rulers are often considered to have been attempts at legitimizing his rule. Texts from the period mention his mother being from the Upper Egyptian nome Ta-Seti. Many scholars in recent years have argued that Amenemhat I's mother was of Nubian origin. Amenemhat I moved the capital from Thebes to Itjtawy and was buried in el-Lisht. He may have been assassinated. Sources Amenemhat I's praenomen occupies the first entry of the third row of the Karnak King List from the Festival Hall of Thutmose III (c. 1479–1425 BC). In the Abydos king list from the temple of Seti I (c. 1290–1279 BC) in Abydos, Amenemhat I's praenomen Sehetep-ib-re occupies the fifty-ninth entry. It must also have occupied the same position in the king list at the temple of Ramesses II (c. 1279–1213 BC) though it has been lost in a lacuna. In the Saqqara Tablet from the tomb of the chief lector priest and chief of works Tjuneroy, Amenemhat I's praenomen occupies the fifteenth entry. The Turin Canon partially preserves Amenemhat I's praenomen in the twentieth entry of the sixth column and accords him a reign of 29 years. The line immediately above mentions the 'kings of the residence of Iti-tawy'. Amenemhat I is also mentioned in Manetho's Aegyptiaca, originally composed circa the 3rd century BC, tentatively dated to the reign of Ptolemy II. The original work is no longer extant, but has persisted through the writings of Josephus, Africanus, Eusebius, and George Syncellus. He is accorded