Amenemhat I, also Amenemhet I, is the first ruler of the Twelfth Dynasty (the dynasty considered to be the beginning of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt).

He ruled from 1991 BCE to 1962 BCE.

Amenemhat I is a vizier of his predecessor Mentuhotep IV, overthrowing him from power.

Scholars vary as to whether Mentuhotep IV was killed by Amenemhat I, but there is no independent evidence to support this and there may even have been a period of co-regency between their reigns.

Amenemhet I was not of royal lineage, and the composition of some literary works (the Prophecy of Neferti, the Instructions of Amenemhat) and, in architecture, the reversion to the pyramid-style complexes of the 6th dynasty rulers are often considered to have been attempts at legitimizing his rule.

Amenemhat I moves the capital from Thebes to Itjtawy and is buried in el-Lisht.

His son Senusret I follows in his footsteps, building his pyramid–-a closer reflection of the 6th dynasty pyramids than that of Amenemhat I–-at Lisht as well, but his grandson, Amenemhat II, breaks with this tradition.