HEQAIB

(fl. 2240 BC)

Military official and probable governor of Elephantine at the end of the Old Kingdom. His full name was Pepinakht, also known as Heqaib, and he was buried at Qubbet elHawa (tomb number 35) on the west bank of the Nile opposite the island of Elephantine. He appears to have played a leading role in Egyptian military activity in Nubia and was deified after his death. Ashrine was built in his honor by Sarenput I, governor of Elephantine, at the beginning of Dynasty 12. It was excavated in 1932 and 1946 by Egyptian archaeologists and yielded a large number of statues, stelae, and offering tables of kings and officials of Dynasty 12and Dynasty 13. The shrine was abandoned during the Second Intermediate Period.