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| Last updated : April 28th, 2008 |
Amenemhat lived during the first half of the 18th Dynasty and prepared his tomb under the reign of Thutmosis III, in the Theban necropolis, on the hill currently occupied by the village of Sheikh Abd el-Qurna.
Judging initially by his main functions, "steward of the vizier" and "scribe accountant of grain in the granary for the divine offering of Amon", he appears to have been a simple scribe within an immense institution which amounted to hundreds.
However, Amenemhat was a rich and educated dignitary.
Indeed, he dug a large sized tomb, catalogued today as TT 82, and whose decoration seems have been finished.
This includes the texts and the necessary images for his survival in the beyond according to the different models of rebirth available in Egyptian thought.
In it, Amenemhat follows the tradition of his social class.
But TT 82 includes a certain number of characteristics which make it all the more interesting.
Thus, Amenemhat has re-employed the great funerary maxims of the Old Kingdom, the Pyramid Texts, like a few other rich characters of his time.
Moreover, the tomb is especially rich in information about the Egyptian concept of death and rebirth, about divine beliefs in general.
Therefore, even if it corresponds well enough to the norm for the contemporary Theban burial, by its architecture and its iconography, it also includes many originalities.
Each tomb is the reflection of the choices of its owner and the expense which he could devote to his burial, tomb 82 is quite unique within the creations of the 18th Dynasty.
Amenemhat had a very widespread name in the Theban onomastics, because Amon was the main divinity of Thebes. His name means "Amon is ahead".
His family
His family is well known to us because he was anxious to represent his parents and forebears as well as his brothers and sisters and his descendants, in his tomb and on the other monuments which mention him.
The paternal grandparents of Amenemhat called themselves Kemy (or Kay) and Antef.
Kemy was "director of the newly acquired fields" and "elder of the 'Hayt' ".
His maternal grandparents were Antef and Ahhotep.
Amenemhat didn't make mention the titles of his maternal grandfather Antef.
The two grandmothers simply carried the title "mistresses of house", reserved for the married women.
The father of Amenemhat called himself Djehutymes.
He bore the same titles as his father. He is also designated by the term "noble".
The mother of Amenemhat was called Antef. She was "mistress of the house".
 Because of the blur induced by the lack of Egyptian domestic terminology, it is often difficult to determine what ties of relationship sometimes bind two people.
Thus, the terms "brother" (sen) and "sister" (senet) were applied to the children not only born of the same parents, but also to the half brothers and half sisters, to the cousins, and to the spouses of first cousins.
Especially, senet is often a tender word to designate the wife.
This is the reason, in the iconography of his tomb, it is difficult to determine which are his true brothers and sisters, who are his parents by marriage and his more distant parents: for example, when a lady seated at her husband's side in a banquet scene is defined by the term senet, is she "beloved of her husband", or "sister of Amenemhat" ?
The most important brothers and sisters are all similarly identified with certainty: the main sister of Amenemhat is Ahmose, the mother of Baket-Amon, Amenmose, who was "scribe of the granary of the divine offering", as his brother.
He is well placed in the scenes of the domestic banquets and had indeed to be a brother. Amen-[...] (part missing) was "scribe of the vizier", and always follows Amenmose.
Amenemhat was married to Baket, who was also called Baket-Amon.
She is first designated as "the daughter of his sister".
She would therefore be his niece.
The definition of authorised and forbidden marriages in ancient Egypt is unknown.
We don't know anything about the Egyptian taboos on the subject, except that they are different from ours.
We know that the Egyptians married young, often during puberty, most of the time in the geographical neighbourhood, in the same social group, and sometimes the environment, to members of the family: there was geographical, social and domestic endogamy.
The marriage of Amenemhat and Baket would not have appeared shocking, and he was not exceptional.
Amenemhat had many children, who are represented on the walls of his tomb, providing him the funeral cult or merely being participants in the banquets.
Five sons are represented in the tomb.
Among them, the most important is called Amenemhat.
He makes an offering to his parents, three times, and must be the eldest.
On one wall appears the artists of the tomb and the first represented is his son, who directed the work, but his name is erased.
Amenhotep must be the youngest: in the third room and the burial chamber annexe, he makes an offering to his father on the wall opposite to that on which the son Amenemhat is found.
Only two daughters are named in the tomb. In the chapel, they are always represented together. They are called Sitamun and Amenemheb.
The choices of the first names in the family show a real attachment to Amon.
We also notice that the same first name passes from one generation to the other, and even within the same generation.
Finally, the eldest Amenemhat, in his family or the one of his wife, carry identical titles to his.
His career
The titles of Amenemhat reflect his functions in Egyptian society.
In Egypt, there is no separation between the state and religion, Amenemhat is a good example of this.
Like all the literate, he bears the title of scribe above all, but rarely only.
His first function was probably the one of "scribe-accountant of the grain in the granary for the divine offering of Amon".
It indicates that he was responsible for the entry, the accounting for and the exit of the grain preserved in a special granary of the temple and reserved for the preparation of breads and cakes served to the table of offering of the god.
After the one of accountant of the grain of Amon, his most important title was the one of "steward of the vizier".
The vizier was the second most important character of the Egyptian state after the Pharaoh, and, even though there were two viziers at this time, one for the Upper Egypt and one for Lower Egypt, the steward had a lot to do: the size of the vizier's household, for which he was responsible, had to be to the scale of his function.
It is by far the most important position of Amenemhat.
He had to take care of the various sources of income of his master and had to keep a strict accounting of the serfs, the fields, the grain, and of the precious metals belonging to the vizier's domain.
In addition to this, he was accustomed to being seen entrusted, as his biographic text not only relates, with the varied constructions and the similar works, in the name of the vizier, but also in the name of the king.
According to all the evidence, Amenemhat was steward of vizier User.
Maybe he also managed the house of the father of User, the vizier Ahmose, since he pays him homage in the first room of his tomb.
Besides his main titles, Amenemhat carried three other minor ones.
He is regularly described as "Head of the weavers of Amon".
The weavers attached to the temple of Amon had to create cloth for the ministerial dress-wear.
They belonged therefore to this immense group who made life within the temple function. Amenemhat was responsible for the linen production directly for the priests.
He also carries the title of "director of the newly acquired fields", which appears occasionally in the 18th Dynasty. We do not know if Amenemhat carried out this function for the temple of Amon or for the civil administration?
Finally, his most mysterious title is the one of "elder of the Hayt (portal)". This very ancient function remains enigmatic.
His titles are not very numerous, but Amenemhat had important responsibilities.
Neither his tomb, nor the other mentions which are made of him on other monuments, permit us to retrace his career with certainty and in detail, amongst other things the information which we collect from TT 82 are mainly concerned with his function as steward.
Of course, he first became scribe, and carried this title, the sign of his indispensable intellectual expertise to enter into royal or religious administration.
He inherited four of his five titles from his parents: his father and, his paternal grandfather, the father and the grandfather of his wife.
Therefore, only the title of "accountant of the grain in the granary for the divine offering of Amon" wasn't passed down to him.
But for himself, it seems that only his role relating to the viziers counted.
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TOMB TT 82 - LOCATION AND ORIENTATION
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The tomb of Amenemhat is on the west bank of the Nile, at Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, one of the hills which edge the cliffs of the western desert at Thebes.
It was here, during the first half of the 18th Dynasty, that the greatest number of private tombs had been dug (see map, based on Kampp's).
Amenemhat was buried close to the two viziers which he represented in his tomb, Ahmose (TT83) and User (TT61), to three first prophets of Amon, and to four characters possessing the highest positions in the royal administration and in that of the temple of Karnak.
The tomb of Amenemhat is therefore among those of the administrative and religious elite of his time, who reserved the top of the hill for important characters of the temple of Amon which it ran along side.
For a panoramic view outside the tomb, see here at Nigel Strudwick's TT99 site.
In Egyptian thought, the sun "died" every evening in the West, to be born again the following day in the East.
So, being buried in the west, the deceased hoped to follow the star in its nocturnal course and to be born again with it in the morning. More simply, they tried to identify with it.
In Thebes, some topographic particularities accentuate the funeral character of the west bank: with this, one associates a solar symbol
- the Summit, the top most peak forming a natural pyramid
- as a Hathoric symbol: in the Theban funerary beliefs, the mountain is the Hathor cow, incarnation of the auspicious west to the deceased but as the celestial cow who swallows the sun every evening to give him rebirth in the morning.
Thus, in Thebes, the deceased, already buried in the goddess's stomach, appropriates a solar destiny.
Traditionally, a tomb is oriented according to a symbolic / theoretical east-west axis.
Thus, the most distant wall from the entry is closest to the kingdom of the dead, to the west.
This wall was occupied by a false-door stela, a means of communication between the living and the deceased, by the means of a statue of the deceased.
It is by the false-door that the deceased returns to participate in the funerary meal in the form of his ka (his vital energy).
Tomb TT 82 is actually aligned on a geographical nearly south to north axis, so that the most sacred space, at the back of the tomb, is north and not west.
This true for many of the Theban tombs in the hills at the foot of the western cliff, because of the geographical realities.
Craftsmen and owners didn't worry too much, and considered that the tomb was oriented, in spite of all this, according to an east-west axis, the symbolic axis of the tomb.
[ All orientations mentioned in the description of this tomb are geographical, unless stated otherwise. ]
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GENERAL LAYOUT OF THE TOMB
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The tomb complex follows the general plan of this period, consisting of a ground level cult area (still accessible to relatives and friends after the funeral) and a distinctly separate hypogeum (the underground burial complex, closed immediately after the burial).
Typically, the whole complex is preceded by a large rectangular courtyard, dug into the hillside, at the back (north side) of which is the entrance to the classic inverted "T" design layout of the cult chapel.
Plan view of TT82 |
Side view of TT82 |
Following an unusually long entrance passage (about 6 metres long, 1.6 metres wide and 2.6 metres high) and an inner doorway, the south to north axis is crossed by a transverse hall (room A) in the opposite wall of which is the entrance to the second long passageway (room B).
This gives access to the final area at this level, the shrine (room C), a nearly square room, with a ceiling height higher than the preceding areas.
At the back of this final room, and still in line with the axis, is a niche of considerable size, at the back of which originally stood statues of Amenemhat and his wife (now completely destroyed).
In the floor of the niche, and extending into the shrine, was dug an 8.5 metre deep shaft leading the hypogeum or underground burial complex.
At the bottom of the shaft is the first level of chambers, the first of which is a small low "room" to the south, probably of a later date.
In the opposite direction, the exit from the shaft (which was rebated to take a door) opens into a large rectangular room (D), longer in its transverse axis.
In its south-east corner is a short passage leading to another rectangular room (E) of similar size.
In the south west corner of room D is a second, much shallower, shaft leading to the second (lowest) level of the hypogeum.
A short passage, heading south, gives access to the actual burial chamber (room F).
This is oblong and out of square, the entry being towards its north-east corner.
In the north-west corner is another reasonably sized niche.
The tomb is decorated, in the cult area, from the transverse hall (room A) to the niche at the far end of the shrine (room C).
In the hypogeum, only the burial chamber and its niche are decorated.
None of the walls are incised, they are only painted, but although having suffered greatly, the artistry which remains is exceptional.
The bottom of all the decorated walls was left blank (white) to a height of about 55cm. (75cm. in the doorways), above which are two coloured bands (red on top, yellow below) bordered and separated by thin (now faded) black lines.
At the top of the walls is the usual kheker-frieze, just less than 20cm. in height, below this and bordering the ends of the walls is a border of coloured (red, green, yellow and blue) rectangles between green lines and separated by narrow white strips edged in black, again, mostly faded (view 8).
The very edge of the walls in the transverse hall, outside the band of coloured rectangles, is a rope pattern then a narrow blue stripe (view 15), the rope pattern is nearly invisible in most cases, because the black has faded.
The ceilings are beautifully decorated throughout, in a variety of designs typical of this period (view 40, an example taken of the ceiling in room B).
Each ceiling contains, in addition to the patterns, long yellow bands edged with blue and inscribed in blue hieroglyphic texts; the exceptions being the two doorways at either end of the second passageway, which do not have the yellow bands.
In addition to the blue edging lines, they are separated from the ceiling patterned areas and walls by a further, thicker white line, visible in view 40.
The bands run in the same direction as the axis of the tomb (south to north); except in the transverse hall, where they run the length of the ceiling towards the two ends, extending from one central band oriented along the central axis.
The exceptional character of this monument resides in the contrast between a surprisingly archaic artistic style for the period and a learnedly elaborate religious composition.
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Doorway from the entrance passage to room A
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Although an outer doorway originally existed in the courtyard facade, this is all but destroyed. It would have contained, on its lintel, the name and titles of Amenemhat.
If the entrance passageway originally contained any decoration, this has now completely disappeared.
On the outer (entry) side, blue hieroglyphs adorn what remains of the lintel and door posts; the three rows of text on the lintel bears the titulature of Thutmosis III, while the vertical columns on doorposts carry the usual invocations to several gods, "An offering which the king gives to ...".
The doorway, on the room A side, was created using an imitation frame forming doorposts and lintel.
These were decorated with coloured hieroglyphs between blue lines, written symmetrically left and right from a central position.
Only the name of the deceased remains at the right end of the lintel, " ... Amenemhat, justified ".
Had the imagery on the thicknesses of this doorway survived, they would almost certainly have shown, on one side, Amenemhat worshipping the rising sun whilst on the other, the setting sun.
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Room A - the transverse hall
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This room, which extends either side of the central south to north axis, measures about 11 metres from end to end, just over 2 metres across, with a height of about 2.75 metres.
The north wall
The long wall opposite the entrance passage is divided by the entrance to the second passage (room B).
North wall, western half
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based on Davies, Amenemhet, various plates,
Room A, north wall, western half |
This western end of the wall is in a poor state of preservation, due to man-made damage as well as that due to natural forces, the lower part of the wall has suffered most.
The wall has been divided into two major scenes, the upper-most depicts the typical banquet, the lower is given over to scenes with animals.
• At far left of the top major portion, at the height of the three following registers, Amenemhat and his wife Baket, whose figures are virtually completely destroyed, sit in front of an offering table (view 8) laden mainly with round loaves, onions, poultry and fruit.
On either side of the top of the pile of offerings, appears the remains of beautifully painted hieroglyphs.
Further right, facing the couple, is the carefully chiselled out figure of Amenemhat's eldest son also named Amenemhat (view 7, right-hand side), dressed in a leopard skin
Behind him, the scene divides into three registers, and are occupied by the guests.
At the beginning of the top and middle registers, appear the damaged figures of musicians (view 10 and view 9).
In the top are three upright musicians, the first playing the double pipes, then one clapping her hands, finally a third woman dancing with castanets.
In the second row of musicians is a bald male harpist "the singer Ahmose half kneeling on the floor.
He is followed by a group of three women, again squatting side by side, marking time by clapping their hands.
They are identified as a singer and the two daughters (Baket and Amenhotpe).
Behind the musicians, on both registers, is a table laden with offerings of breads and vegetables.
Behind the tables are several guests, seated in pairs on low chairs on reed mats.
These are brothers, sisters, sons and daughters of Amenemhat.
The bottom register, which is very damaged, now only contains the remains of three people from a parade of several bringing offerings, led by "a son of Amenemhat".
• In the very damaged area, below the banqueting scenes, are the remains of two scenes, belonging to the uppermost of two registers.
On the left (view 12), a bull fight is represented: a white and grey bull is sent flying over the horns of an enormous red bull.
Next to this, a herdsman pulls a very large bull towards the deceased (view 11 and view 13).
The scene could have been taken straight from an Old Kingdom mastaba, if it had been sculpted rather than painted.
The caption to this scene is exceptionally well written in cursive hieroglyphs which are not painted, except for traces of blue. It says "He says the bull has grown very much; so says the Governor of the City and Vizier User". Below are the remains of the lower register, probably containing similar scenes, of this only a short piece of hieroglyphic text survives.
North wall, eastern half
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based on Davies, Amenemhet, plate I,
Room A, north wall, eastern half |
This wall is also badly preserved except for fragments of scenes, which are among the most famous paintings in the Theban necropolis.
top right, (view 15), can be seen the remains of a hippopotamus hunt, which takes its inspiration from the iconography of Old Kingdom tombs.
Where, in other places, the artist has worked with restraint, he gives full expression here to his talent: the well organised and delicate decoration of the painted plants (the silver plumes and the rigid fans) creates an ideal contrast to the red hippopotamus which turns back, screaming, furious under the piercing of the white spear - a very expressive portrait of the vanquished Seth.
Also, in what remains of this wall, at the top to the left of centre, are various birds and bugs (based on Davies, Amenemhet, frontispiece ) probably put to flight by being hunted using a throwing stick. Whilst at the bottom are the remains of a marsh farming scene, involving farmers pulling stalks of papyrus from stems twice their own height (view 16).
The west (end) wall
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based on Davies, Amenemhet, various plates,
Room A, west (end) wall |
The west end wall is divided into two major registers.
• In the upper register Amenemhat recites a prayer of offering to his predecessors, who are seated on two sub-registers as married couples behind a heavily laden offering table.
In the first row are (accompanied by their wives) his wife's father, his wife's paternal grandfather and his wife's uncle.
In the second row are (again accompanied by their wives) his father, his paternal grandfather and his maternal grandfather.
By bringing offerings to his forebears, Amenemhat fulfils his filial duty, and thus sets an example for his descendants to do likewise.
• In the bottom register, what at first looks like a similar scene for more relatives, is a banquet for the craftsmen responsible for his creating his tomb.
This unconventional scene, again with the participants on two sub-registers, is very damaged, but enough of the text remains to identify some of the participants.
Firstly, "His son, the director of the constructions of this tomb, the scribe Amenemhat, justified.", then "The outline draughtsman, Ahmose, justified." and "The sculptor who made the statues.".
This scene is unique in the Theban necropolis.
In ancient Egypt, the artists didn't have a status comparable to that of artists of more modern times, their creations remained anonymous most of the time.
It is therefore quite exceptional to be able to identify here the creators of a monument.
The east (end) wall
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based on Davies, Amenemhet, plate IX,
Room A, east (end) wall |
Having suffered badly, only the uppermost portions of this wall remain, from a scene of Amenemhat hunting in the desert.
It is, however, clear from what remains that Amenemhat was accompanied by his wife, both on foot.
He uses a bow, directed at the animals on the right, on several registers.
The hunting area has been closed off with netting fences.
Several animals have already been pierced by Anenemhat's arrows.
If analogies with with other tombs can be used, the lower registers would have shown attendants carrying home the spoils of the hunt.
The text to the left (view 60) is beautifully coloured, as are others examples within this tomb, it reads: "Travelling through the valleys, exploring the mountains, relaxing and shooting wild animals of the desert, by him, beloved of his lord, steward of the vizier, scribe accountant of the grain of [Amun, Amenemhat, justified.".
The south wall
This long wall is divided by the entrance from the long passage into the tomb.
These two south walls are the most damaged of the tomb, but thanks to what remains, and parallel scenes found in other tombs of the Theban necropolis, it is possible to reconstruct their content.
The walls, both displaying banquet scenes in honour of the two viziers of Upper Egypt, which he served, create a symmetry either side of the entrance and axis of the tomb. These scenes would have been identical in composition, but a mirror image of each other.
South wall, western half
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based on Davies, Amenemhet, plate III,
Room A, south wall, western half |
This being the only wall of the pair with any reasonable amount of detail, it is easier to describe, and to be used as the basis for the description of the northern counterpart.
In the upper part of this wall is seated, at the west end, the vizier User and his wife, Thuiu.
The text above them give their names and titles.
In front and facing them in two registers are their children, all named in the text above.
South wall, eastern half
Nothing now remains of this side of the wall, excepting a few scraps of inscription at the top of the wall.
However, these indicate that the content resembled closely that which was on the western side.
The wall is given over to the vizier Ahmose, his wife Tahmose and his family.
The ceiling
Divided into four rectangles (see left) by the yellow text bands, only one design (see left) is used throughout the transverse hall, in all of the four sections.
It can be found in a great many tombs of this period and is obviously a favourite.
The bands running east to west contain offering formulae in the usual form "An offering which the king gives ...", to various gods.
The central band, which runs in the direction of the axis, is inscribed: "... Oh my mother Nut, spread yourself over me, and place me among the indestructible stars which are within you, so that I shall never die.".
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Doorway from room A to room B
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The doorway, on the north wall of the transverse hall, projects slightly from the actual wall and was painted to represent pink granite.
It was inscribed with blue hieroglyphs, arranged symmetrically on the lintel and doorposts, three rows on the lintel and three columns on the two doorposts; the text on the lintel runs both left and right from the centre point.
None of the left side of the lintel or the left doorpost inscriptions have survived.
They all contain (or would have contained) the usual invocations to several gods, "An offering which the king gives to ...".
The short entrance is just less than 1 metre in length, just over 1 metre wide and about 2.25 metres high.
No trace of the paintings has survived on the inner thicknesses, but traces of the blue hieroglyphs remain on the upper portion of the right-hand side.
This incomplete text shows that the wall originally showed Amenemhat and his wife, Baket, walking towards the entrance of the tomb.
The other (left) side would almost certainly have shown their return.
The ceiling was decorated with a single, beautiful, unique design, a section of which is shown to the left.
The south wall of the second passageway (room B) creates the exit framing of the doorway from the transverse hall.
It consists of a single line of coloured hieroglyphs (now badly damaged) running symmetrically in both direction, from a central point on the lintel and down the doorposts.
The texts are the usual invocations to the gods.
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