MERENRE

also spelled Mernere, also called Merenre Antyemsaf, fourth king of the 6th dynasty (c. 2325c. 2150 BC) in Egypt who extended the authority of one official over all Upper (southern) Egypt and encouraged intensive exploration and trade in Nubia. Merenre may have served briefly as coregent with Pepi I (his father) before succeeding to the kingship. In the first year of his independent reign, he visited the southern boundary of Egypt at Elephantine (modern Aswan) and received there the homage of the chiefs of Nubia. He shared his father's interest in the southern regions. He appointed a resident of Elephantine governor of the extreme south and led exploration and trade missions deep into Nubia. Merenre elevated his father's trusted minister, Uni, to the post of governor of Upper Egypt, an unprecedented honour that placed all Upper Egypt under a single official. The king also expanded the authority of the son of his father's vizier over two nomes (administrative districts). These appointments undid a process of diffusion of government authority that had begun in the 5th dynasty (c. 2465c. 2325 BC). In the process of conducting two major expeditions to Aswan to procure stone for his pyramid, Merenre cut five canals through the cataract rocks and recruited Nubian chieftains to cut timber and to build transport vessels for him. As suggested by a monument found in the Nile Delta, he possibly made his young half brother, Pepi II, his coregent, hoping to guarantee a smooth succession. Merenre ruled only four years alone and probably died at an early age.