General Notes

Great Chief (Pharoah) of Upper Egypt (XI Dynasty)

Antef III (Nakhtnebtepnefer) was the third king of the 11th Dynasty. He ruled from Thebes about eight years and though he is not present by name in the Royal Canon of Turin there is a row with an eight year-figure that fits his position in the line of kings. He kept all the regions that his predecessors left for him to rule and defended the Asyut region in middle Egypt from assaults from the northern rulers in Herkleopolis.
His name has been found inscribed in the mountains of Silsileh. One of his consorts was named Aoh (or Iah) and was the mother to his heir and oldest(?) son, the future Montuhotep I, who married one of his half sisters - Neferu. His name Antef is shown in hieroglyphs left (the four signs at the bottom). The duck and the sun disc is the title "Son of Re".

Antef III was the third king of the 11th Dynasty and very little is known about what happened in the country during his short reign of eight years.
His long Horus name Nakht-neb-tep-nefer (shown within a serek at picture right) has the humble meaning: "Beautiful and Strong Champion".
The Royal canon of Turin gives him a reign of at least eight years, though his name is lacking but fragment of a title is visible at the row.
He was the father of Mentuhotep I, who would reunite Egypt. It seems that during his reign a sort of status quo was at hand in the country, because he didn't expand nor lose any territory to his northern enemies in the civil war, the kings of the 9-10 dynasties from Herakleopolis. He was probably buried in a narrow rock-tomb at Western Thebes next to Antef II, 2 km east of Deir el-Bahri, the site where his successor (son or nephew?) built himself a famous mortuary complex (see below). No proof have been found at the site to identify the tomb as his and the only real archaeological evidence from him, is a door jamb with his name within a royal cartouche found at Abydos.