Senusret III#Tomb at Abydos

{{see also|Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt family tree}}

File:Pectoral of Senusret III.jpg at Dashur.]]

Senusret III was the son of Senusret II and Khenemetneferhedjet I, also called Khenemetneferhedjet I Weret (the elder). Three wives of Senusret III are known for certain. These are Itakayt, Khenemetneferhedjet II and Neferthenut, all three mainly known from their burials next to the pyramid of the king at Dahshur.{{Cite book |last=Arnold |first=Dieter |title=The pyramid complex of Senwosret III at Dahshur: architectural studies |date=2002 |publisher=Yale university press |isbn=978-0-87099-956-7 |series=Publications of the Metropolitan Museum of art Egyptian expedition |location=New York (N.Y.) |pages=56}} Several daughters are known, although they also are attested only by the burials around the king's pyramid and their exact relation to the king is disputable. These include Sithathor, Menet, Senetsenebtysy, and Meret. Amenemhat III was most likely a son of the king. Other sons are not known.Pierre Tallet: Sesostris III et la fin de la XIIe dynastie, Paris 2005, {{ISBN|2-85704-851-3}}, p. 14–30

The tomb of Mereret was found partly robbed but a pectoral of Senusret III, her father, was missed by the tomb robbers.

Senusret III cleared a navigable canal through the first cataract of the Nile River,J. H. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, Part One, Chicago 1906, §§642–648 (this was different from the Canal of the Pharaohs, which apparently, Senusret III also tried to build). He also relentlessly pushed his kingdom's expansion into Nubia (from 1866 to 1863 BC) where he erected massive river forts including Buhen, Semna, Shalfak and Toshka at Uronarti.

He carried out at least four major campaigns into Nubia in his Years 8, 10, 16, and 19.J. H. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, Part One, Chicago 1906, §§640–673 His Year 8 stela at Semna documents his victories against the Nubians, through which he is thought to have made safe the southern frontier, preventing further incursions into Egypt.J.H. Breasted, §652 Another great stela from Semna dated to the third month of Year 16 of his reign mentions his military activities against both Nubia and Canaan. In it, he admonished his future successors to maintain the new border that he had created:

{{cquote|Year 16, third month of winter: the king made his southern boundary at Heh. I have made my boundary further south than my fathers. I have added to what was bequeathed me. (...) As for any son (i.e., successor) of mine who shall maintain this border which my Majesty has made, he is my son born to my Majesty. The true son is he who champions his father, who guards the border of his begetter. But he [who] abandons it, who fails to fight for it, he is not my son, he was not born to me. Now my majesty has had an image made of my majesty, at this border which my majesty has made, in order that you maintain it, in order that you fight for it.Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian literature: a Book of Readings, Berkeley CA, University of California Press, 1973. pp.119–120}}

The Sebek-khu Stele, dated to the reign of Senusret III (reign: 1878 – 1839 BC), records the earliest known Egyptian military campaign in the Levant.{{Cite book |last=Van de Mieroop |first=Marc |title=A history of ancient Egypt |date=2011 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=978-1-4051-6070-4 |edition=1. publ |series=Blackwell history of the ancient world |location=Chichester |pages=131}} The text reads "His Majesty proceeded northward to overthrow the Asiatics. His Majesty reached a foreign country of which the name was Sekmem (...) Then Sekmem fell, together with the wretched Retenu", where Sekmem (s-k-m-m) is thought to be Shechem and "Retenu" or "Retjenu" are associated with ancient Syria.{{cite book |last1=Pritchard |first1=James B. |title=Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament with Supplement |date=2016 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-8276-2 |page=230 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UEWWCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA230 |language=en}}

His final campaign, which was in his Year 19, was less successful because the king's forces were caught due to the Nile being lower than normal. They had to retreat and abandon their campaign in order to avoid being trapped in the hostile Nubian territory.Ian Shaw, The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, Oxford University Press 2003, p. 155

Such was his forceful nature and immense influence that Senusret III was worshipped as a deity in Semna by later generations.Peter Clayton, Chronicle of the Pharaohs, Thames & Hudson Ltd, (1994), p.86 Jacques Morgan, in 1894, found rock inscriptions near Sehel Island documenting his digging of a canal. Senusret III erected a temple and town in Abydos, and another temple in Medamud.{{cite web|url=http://www.petrie.ucl.ac.uk/digital_egypt/chronology/senusretIII.html |title=Senusret (III) Khakhaure |publisher=Petrie.ucl.ac.uk |access-date=2013-12-03}}

His court included the viziers Nebit, and Khnumhotep.{{Cite book |title=Ancient Egypt transformed: the Middle Kingdom |date=2015 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |isbn=978-1-58839-564-1 |editor-last=Metropolitan museum of art |location=New York}}{{Cite book |last=Quirke |first=Stephen |title=Middle Kingdom studies |date=1991 |publisher=SIA publ |isbn=978-1-872561-02-8 |location=New Malden (GB) |pages=51–67}} Ikhernofret worked as treasurer for the king at Abydos.{{Cite book |last=Grajetzki |first=Wolfram |title=Court officials of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom |date=2009 |publisher=Duckworth |isbn=978-0-7156-3745-6 |series=Duckworth egyptology |location=London}} Sobekemhat was treasurer too and buried at Dahshur.{{Cite journal |last=Simpson |first=William K. |date=December 1957 |title="Sobkemḥēt, a Vizier of Sesostris III." |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/3855275 |journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology |volume=43 |pages=26–29|doi=10.2307/3855275 |jstor=3855275 |url-access=subscription }} Senankh cleared the canal at Sehel for the king.{{Cite book |last=Grajetzki |first=Wolfram |title=Court officials of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom |date=2009 |publisher=Duckworth |isbn=978-0-7156-3745-6 |series=Duckworth egyptology |location=London |pages=57–58}} Horkherty was king's acquaintance.{{Cite book |last1=Jiménez Serrano |first1=Alejandro |title=Middle Kingdom palace culture and its echoes in the provinces: regional perspectives and realities |last2=Morales |first2=Antonio J. |date=2021 |publisher=Brill |others=Universidad de Jaén |isbn=978-90-04-44281-8 |series=Harvard Egyptological studies |location=Leiden |pages=363–387}}

File:Senusret III British Museum.JPG

A double-dated papyrus in the Berlin Museum shows Year 20 of his reign next to Year 1 of his son, Amenemhat III; generally, this is presumed to be a proof for a coregency with his son, which should have been started in this year. According to Josef W. Wegner, a Year 39 hieratic control note was recovered on a white limestone block from:

{{cquote|...a securely defined deposit of construction debris produced from the building of the Senwosret III mortuary temple. The fragment itself is part of the remnants of the temple construction. This deposit provides evidence for the date of construction of the mortuary temple of Senwosret III at Abydos.Josef Wegner, The Nature and Chronology of the Senwosret III–Amenemhat III Regnal Succession: Some Considerations based on new evidence from the Mortuary Temple of Senwosret III at Abydos, JNES 55, Vol.4, (1996), p. 251}}

Wegner stresses that it is unlikely that Amenemhat III, Senusret's son and successor, would still be working on his father's temple nearly two decades into his own reign.{{Cite journal |last=Wegner |first=Josef W. |date=1996 |title=The Nature and Chronology of the Senwosret III-Amenemhat III Regnal Succession: Some Considerations Based on New Evidence from the Mortuary Temple of Senwosret III at Abydos |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/546190 |journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies |volume=55 |issue=4 |pages=249–279 |doi=10.1086/373863 |jstor=546190 |issn=0022-2968|url-access=subscription }} He notes that the only possible explanation for the block's existence at the project is that Senusret III had a 39-year reign, with the final 20 years in coregency with his son Amenemhat III. Since the project was associated with a project of Senusret III, his Regnal Year was presumably used to date the block, rather than Year 20 of Amenemhat III. Wegner interprets this as an implication that Senusret was still alive in the first two decades of his son's reign.

Wegner's hypothesis is rejected by some scholars, such as Pierre Tallet and Harco Willems; according to them, it is more likely that such a coregency never occurred, and that the Year 39 control note still refers to Amenemhat III, who may have ordered some additions to Senusret's monuments.{{cite book|last=Tallet|first=Pierre|title=Sésostris III et la fin de la XIIe Dynastie|year=2005|location=Paris|pages=28–29}}{{cite book|last=Willems|first=Harco|chapter=The First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom|title=A companion to Ancient Egypt, volume 1|editor-first=Alan B.|editor-last=Lloyd|year=2010|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|page=93}}

Image:Ancient egyptian border marker (around 1860BC).jpg), Berlin]]

The region known as Semna was located in Nubia. It was established as a fortified area in the reign of Senusret I. One of the three forts of Semna, known as Semna-West was where pharaoh Senusret III formed the stela known as the Semna Boundary Stela of Senusret III.

One of Senusret I's major achievements was the conquest of Lower Nubia, which was later consolidated by Senusret III. In general in ancient Egypt, boundary stela served the purpose of demarcating territorial lines, acting as a notice that the demarcation was to be enforced.{{cite web | title=Stelae: Ancient Egypt's Versatile Monumental Form | website=ARCE | date=2023-02-11 | url=https://arce.org/resource/stelae-ancient-egypts-versatile-monumental-form/ | access-date=2025-05-15}} When Senusret III built various fortresses along the Second Nile Cataract as a militant frontier guard against the Kerma kingdom, he also constructed two monumental stela at the forts of Semna and Uronarti. The stela reiterated Egyptian dominance over Nubia and called for future authorities to preserve the boundary.{{cite web | title=Semna Boundary Stela of Senwosret III | website=Egypt Museum | date=2025-02-15 | url=https://egypt-museum.com/semna-boundary-stela/ | access-date=2025-05-15}}

The stela was discovered in 1845 by German Egyptologist Karl Richard Lepsius.{{cite web | title=Semna Boundary Stela of Senwosret III | website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art | url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/591230 | access-date=2025-05-15}}

An English translation of the central text of the Semna Boundary Stela of Senusret III is below:{{cite web | title= | url=https://mjn.host.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/egyptian/texts/corpus/pdf/SecondSemnehSesostrisIII.pdf | access-date=2025-05-15}}

His Majesty established the southern border at Heh.

I established my border further south than my forefathers.

I added to what was bequeathed to me. I am a king who speaks and acts.

I make happen what I conceive, eager to seize, hasty to succeed, in whose heart a matter doesn’t slumber, anticipating inferiors, suppressing mercy, merciless to the enemy who attacks him, who attacks one who would attack, who is silent when one is silent, who replies to a matter as befits it.
For to be idle after an attack is to strengthen the heart of the enemy.

Aggression is valour and retreat is cowardice.

Who is driven from his border is truly a coward.

For the Nubian listens to the word of mouth. Answering him is making him retreat.

If one acts aggressively towards him, he turns his back.

Retreat, and he will take occasion to act aggressively.

For they are not respectable people. They are wretches with broken spirits.

My Majesty has seen them; it is no lie. I captured their women, I carried off their underlings, went to their wells, drove off their bulls, tore out their barley, set fire to it. As my father lives for me, I speak truthfully, there is no boast that comes from my mouth.

As for any son of mine who shall maintain this border that My Majesty established, he is my son, born to My Majesty. It befits a son that he be the champion of his father, and maintains the border of his begetter. As to him who shall lose it, who shall not fight for it, he is not my son, he was not born to me.

Now, My Majesty had a statue of My Majesty made at this border that My Majesty established, so that you may be persistent at it and that you may fight for it.

The text clearly reinforces Senusret III's expansionist policies.{{cite web |url=https://honors.libraries.psu.edu/files/final_submissions/6699 |title=International Relationship Between Egypt and Nubia Evidenced by the Semna Boundary Stela and Border Fortresses |author= Lovejoy, Kaitlin Marie |date=2020 |format= |accessdate=}}

The stela was replaced during the 18th Dynasty to be incorporated into shrines for mortuary cult worship.{{cite book | last1=Bar | first1=S. | last2=Kahn | first2=D. | last3=Shirley | first3=J.J. | title=Egypt, Canaan and Israel: History, Imperialism, Ideology and Literature | publisher=BRILL | publication-place=Leiden Boston | date=2011-06-09 | isbn=978-90-04-21069-1 | page=}}

{{See also | List of pharaohs deified during lifetime}}

The "Cycle of Songs in Honor of Senwosret III" is a series of 6 songs as part of the archive of papyri from Illahun. It is suggested by Adolf Erman that they were written and composed for the king in a town south of Memphis. The songs outline the responsibilities of the king and embody kingship ideology in the Middle Kingdom.{{Cite book |title=The literature of ancient Egypt: an anthology of stories, instructions, stelae, autobiographies, and poetry |date=2003 |publisher=Yale Univ. Pr |isbn=978-0-300-09920-1 |editor-last=Simpson |editor-first=William Kelly |edition=3. |location=New Haven, Conn. London |editor-last2=Ritner |editor-first2=Robert Kriech}} This ideology includes protecting the unity of the two kingdoms, extending the borders of Egypt, striking fear in Egyptian enemies, and ensuring the success of his subjects. Though there is not a strong difference of hymns to living kings or dead kings, there is indication that these hymns were to be sung by the king's subjects while he was alive. A hymn reads "may he live for ever and eternity."{{Cite web |title=Hymns to king Senusret III |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/lahun/kinghymns.html |access-date=2024-02-24 |website=www.ucl.ac.uk}} He was often compared to Sekhmet in the hymns because of his iron fist and conquering of enemies. The hymn excerpts of the "Cycle of Songs in Honor of Senwosret III" that associate Senusret III with Sekhmet are:

He who fires an arrow as Sekhmet does,

he fells thousands of those unaware of his power

The tongue of his Person is the restraint on the Bow-land

and his commands are what set the nomads to flight

...

How great is the lord for his city! indeed he is Sekhmet against the enemies who tread on his border

Clearly, the identities of the Sekhmet and Senusret III are repeatedly juxtaposed. The cult of the king after his passing lasted for roughly 3 centuries at South Abydos.

{{Main|Pyramid of Senusret III}}

File:Sesostris3-plan-complexe.jpg]]

Senusret's pyramid complex was built north-east of the Red Pyramid of Dashur.Katheryn A. Bard, Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, Routledge 1999, p. 107 It far surpassed those from the early twelfth dynasty in size, grandeur, and underlying religious conceptions.

The complex of pyramids was constructed in 2 phases. Originally, it was designed to follow Old Kingdom pyramids which included the structure itself, an eastern pyramid temple, and a stone wall encircling the complex.{{Cite web |last=Arnold |first=Authors: Dieter |title=The Pyramid Complex of Senwosret III, Dahshur {{!}} Essay {{!}} The Metropolitan Museum of Art {{!}} Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dapc/hd_dapc.htm |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History |date=October 2004 |language=en}} The second phase included an outer brick wall which was surrounded by 6 smaller pyramids for the royal queens. There is also an underground gallery with further burials for royal women. Here were found the treasures of Sithathor and queen Mereret. The final, seventh, pyramid served as the king's ka pyramid with a statue of himself inside for worship. There was also a southern temple, however this has since been destroyed.Lehner, Mark The Complete Pyramids, London: Thames and Hudson (1997)p.177–9 {{ISBN|0-500-05084-8}}.

File:Pyramid of Senusret III 04.jpg]]

Senusret's pyramid is 105 meters square and 78 meters high. The total volume was approximately 288,000 cubic meters.{{Cite book |last=Arnold |first=Dieter |title=The pyramid complex of Senwosret III at Dahshur: architectural studies |date=2002 |publisher=Yale university press |isbn=978-0-87099-956-7 |series=Publications of the Metropolitan Museum of art Egyptian expedition |location=New York (N.Y.) |pages=25–27}} The pyramid was built of a core of mud bricks. They were not made a consistent size implying that standardized moulds were not used. The burial chamber was lined with granite. Above the vaulted burial chamber was a second relieving chamber that was roofed with five pairs of limestone beams each weighing 30 tons. Above this was a third mudbrick vault.{{Cite book |last=Arnold |first=Dieter |title=The pyramid complex of Senwosret III at Dahshur: architectural studies |date=2002 |publisher=Yale university press |isbn=978-0-87099-956-7 |series=Publications of the Metropolitan Museum of art Egyptian expedition |location=New York (N.Y.) |pages=34–36}}

File:Tomb of Senusret III, Abydos 06.jpg

There has been speculation that Senusret was not necessarily buried at his pyramid, but rather in his sophisticated funerary complex in Abydos. Under this interpretation, his pyramid would be a cenotaph.

The Mortuary Temple at Abydos is 30m below the surface and extends below for 180m.{{Cite magazine |title=Expedition Magazine {{!}} Beneath the Mountain-of-Anubis |url=https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/beneath-the-mountain-of-anubis/ |access-date=2024-03-14 |magazine=Expedition Magazine |language=en}} It is located on the base of high desert cliffs and is focused on a subterranean royal tomb. Near the site, there is a town that houses administrators and priests dedicated to the cult of the late king.{{Cite web |title=Mortuary Complex of Pharaoh Senwosret III at South Abydos |url=https://arce.org/project/mortuary-complex-pharaoh-senwosret-iii-south-abydos/ |access-date=2024-03-14 |website=ARCE |language=en}} The mountain where the tomb is located was known as "The Mountain of Anubis" and was used as a conceptual link of Senusret and the gods. The design of the tomb is likely symbolically representing the descent of the sun into the realm of Osiris.{{Cite book |title=Archaism and innovation: studies in the culture of Middle Kingdom Egypt |date=2009 |publisher=Dep. of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Yale Univ. [u.a.] |isbn=978-0-9802065-1-7 |editor-last=Silverman |editor-first=David P. |location=New Haven, Conn |editor-last2=Yale University}}

Senusret's tomb did not house any funerary goods and was robbed in ancient times, given that tomb robbers dug a tunnel to bypass the blocking system and ripped out the walls of the tomb to find the hidden sarcophagus.{{cite web | url=https://www.academia.edu/894390 | title=The Tomb of Senwosret III at Abydos: Considerations on the Origins and Development of the Royal Amduat Tomb | last1=Wegner | first1=Josef }} It would later develop into a center for funerary complexes and would include 11 kings whose rules date from the thirteenth century and the Second Intermediate Period.

The construction dates and inscriptions further suggest a coregency between Senusret III and Amenemhat III, according to Wegner and Dieter Arnold. It shows that the construction of the temple was likely finished during the reign of Amenemhet III rather than he ordered the construction.

File:StatueOfSesotrisIII-EA684-BritishMuseum-August19-08.jpg, showing the traits that are peculiar for this king]]

Senusret III is well known for his distinctive statues, which are almost immediately recognizable as his. On them, the king is depicted at different ages and, in particular, on the aged ones he sports a strikingly somber expression: the eyes are protruding from hollow eye sockets with pouches and lines under them, the mouth and lips have a grimace of bitterness, and the ears are enormous and protruding forward. In sharp contrast with the even-exaggerated realism of the head and, regardless of his age, the rest of the body is idealized as forever young and muscular, in the more classical pharaonic fashion.{{cite book|last=Robins|first=Gay|author-link=Gay Robins|title=The Art of Ancient Egypt|year=1997|publisher=British Museum Press|location=London|isbn=0714109886|page=113}}{{cite book|last=Freed|first=Rita E.|chapter=Sculpture of the Middle Kingdom|title=A companion to Ancient Egypt, volume 2|editor-first=Alan B.|editor-last=Lloyd|year=2010|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|isbn=9781405155984|pages=900–902}}

Scholars could only make assumptions about the reasons why Senusret III chose to have himself portrayed in such a unique way, and polarized on two diverging opinions. Some argue that Senusret wanted to be represented as a lonely and disenchanted ruler, human before divine, consumed by worries and by his responsibilities.{{cite book|last1=Bothmer|first1=Bernard|title=Brief Guide to the Department of Egyptian and Classical Art|date=1974|publisher=The Brooklyn Museum|location=Brooklyn, NY|page=39}}{{cite book |last=Morkot |first= Robert G. |author-link= Robert Morkot |date=2005 |title= The Egyptians: An Introduction |url=https://archive.org/details/egyptiansintrodu00mork |url-access=limited |publisher= Routledge |page=[https://archive.org/details/egyptiansintrodu00mork/page/n24 14]}}{{cite book |last=Cimmino |first= Franco |date=2003 |title= Dizionario delle dinastie faraoniche|language=it |location= Milano |publisher= Bompiani |page=158 |isbn= 88-452-5531-X}} At the opposite, other scholars suggested that the statues originally would convey the idea of a dreadful tyrant able to see and hear everything under his strict control.{{cite book |last= Wilkinson |first= Toby |author-link= Toby Wilkinson |date=2010 |title= The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt |url=https://archive.org/details/risefallanciente00wilk|url-access= limited |location=London |publisher= Bloomsbury |page=[https://archive.org/details/risefallanciente00wilk/page/n178 179] |isbn=9781408810026}}

More recently, it has been suggested that the purpose of such peculiar portraiture was not to represent realism, but rather, to reveal the perceived nature of royal power at the time of Senusret's reign.Laboury, Dimitri, Senwosret III and the Issue of Portraiture in Ancient Egyptian Art, in Andreu-Lanoë, Guillemette & Morfoisse, Fleur (eds.), Sésostris III et la fin du Moyen Empire. Actes du colloque des 12-13 décembre 2014, Louvre-Lens et Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille. CRIPEL 31 (2016-2017), pp. 71–84.

File:Senwosret III in Hieroglyphics.jpeg|Senwosret III's name in hieroglyphs

File:Head of Senusret III with youthful features. 12th Dynasty, c. 1870 BC. State Museum of Egyptian Art, Munich.jpg|Head of Senusret III with youthful features. 12th Dynasty, c. 1870 BC. State Museum of Egyptian Art, Munich

File:Head of King Senusret III in Gulbenkian Museum.JPG|Head of King Senusret III in the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, being one of the few statue heads with its nose intact

File:Face of a king, probably Senusret III, wearing the nemes royal headdress. Quartzite. 12th Dynasty. From Egypt. Presented by Guy Brunton. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.jpg|Face of a king, probably Senusret III, wearing the nemes royal headdress, Quartzite, Twelfth Dynasty, From Egypt, Presented by Guy Brunton, The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London

File:Egyptian Museum Cairo 2022 12.jpg|Egyptian Museum

File:Senusret III.jpg|British Museum

File:Sesostris III Sphinxkopf.jpg|Munich, Staatliche Sammlung für Ägyptische Kunst

File:ThreeStatuesOfSesotrisIII-FaceOn-BritishMuseum-August19-08.jpg|British Museum

File:Sebekhotep IV-A 17-img 2963.jpg|Louvre

File:Egyptian antiquities in the Louvre, room 636 (032007 30).jpg|Louvre

File:RedGraniteHeadOfSesostrisIII-BritishMuseum-August19-08.jpg|British Museum

File:Head of Pharaoh Senusret III wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt, from Thebes, Middle Kingdom, 1875-1840 BCE. Neues Museum.jpg|Berlin Museum

File:GD-EG-Louxor-116.JPG|Luxor Museum

File:Louvre 042007 11.jpg|Louvre

File:Egyptian - Sesostris III - Walters 22115.jpg|Walters Art Museum, One of the few intact statues of Senusret III

File:Sebek-khu Stele, Manchester Museum.jpg|Sebek-khu Stele, describing the campaign to Canaan

File:Senwosret III Statue at BM.jpg|British Museum

File:Senwosret III Statue's Belt at BM.jpg|British Museum Senwosret's name on belt from the three statues (far right).

File:Senusret III, MET Museum NYC.jpg|Senusret III, MET Museum NYC

{{trivia section|date=December 2023}}

Senusret is a major character in Christian Jacq's historical fiction series The Mysteries of Osiris.{{cite web|url=http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/j/christian-jacq/tree-of-life.htm |title=The Tree of Life (Mysteries of Osiris, book 1) by Christian Jacq |publisher=Fantasticfiction.co.uk |access-date=2013-12-03}}

Some biblical scholars consider Senusret the pharaoh mentioned in Genesis 39-47, who elevated Joseph to a high administrative post, answerable directly to him.Andrew E. Hill and John H. Walton, A Survey of the Old Testament (3rd edition), Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009, p. 187.

• List of pharaohs

{{Reflist}}

• W. Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt: History, Archaeology and Society, Duckworth, London 2006 {{ISBN|0-7156-3435-6}}, 51-58.
• Josef Wegner, The Nature and Chronology of the Senwosret III–Amenemhat III Regnal Succession: Some Considerations based on new evidence from the Mortuary Temple of Senwosret III at Abydos, JNES 55, Vol.4, (1996), p. 249–279.

{{Commons category}}

• [http://papyri.ru-egypt.com/show.php?t=4&txt=10 Stela of Senusret III from Deir el-Bahri (hieroglyphic text in russian web-site)]{{dead link|date=January 2014}}

Colchis

{{Pharaohs}}

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Category:19th-century BC deaths

Category:19th-century BC pharaohs

Category:Pharaohs of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt

Category:Year of birth unknown