Amenemhat was the vizier of Mentuhotep IV, the last king of the 11th Dynasty. Upon the king's death, he assumed the crown as Amenemhat I and began the 12th Dynasty. It is generally assumed that he was involved in Mentuhotep's death and he immediately sailed some ships down the Nile to deal with his rivals. As Vizier, Amenemhat oversaw expeditions to mines and quarries, and an ambitious building program. As Pharaoh, he divided the vizierate into two to keep any one vizier from gaining too much power and overthrowing him, and also made his son Senwosret I co-regent, a practice followed by many of his successors. Despite all his precautions, he was assassinated in what appears to have been a harem plot, but was succeeded by Senwosret. A popular book called the Testimony of Amenemhat pretends to be his post-mortem instructions to his son. It is a pessimistic work stressing the loneliness of the king and the ingratitude of his household. A short selection follows.

The Testimony of Amenemhat Beginning of the instruction which the majesty of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Sehetep-ib-Ra, Son of Ra, Amenemhat, True of Voice, made, speaking in a message of truth to his son, the Lord of All : "You who have appeared as a god, hearken to what I say to you, that you may be king over the land, and ruler over all the riverbanks, and that you may do good even in excess of what is expected. "Be on your guard against subordinates, lest unforeseen terrors happen. Approach them not, for you are alone! Trust not a brother, know not a friend, make not for yourself intimates; in these things is no satisfaction. "When you lie down, guard your heart your very self, for on the day of adversity a man has no adherents. I gave to the poor and nourished the orphan; I caused him who was nothing to reach the goal, even him who was of no account. "It was he who ate my food who raised arms against me; it was he to whom I gave my hand who aroused fear therewith ... From The Wisdom of Ancient Egypt by Joseph Kaster