Nefer's Inscription: On the Death Date of Queen Ahmose-Nefertary and the Deed Found

Pleasing to the King

Author(s): Louise Bradbury
Source: Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, Vol. 22 (1985), pp. 73-95
Published by: American Research Center in Egypt
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 Nefer's Inscription:
On the Death Date of Queen Ahmose-Nefertary
and the Deed Found Pleasing to the King*

Louise Bradbury

When I.E.S. Edwardsbrought to the attention scholars3concurreduntil Gitton's studyof docu-

of scholars the lower portion of a New King- ments pertaining to the Queen's lifetime and
dom stela belonging to the Wcb-priestNefer, he posthumous cult clearly demonstrated that
assumed it had been carvedduring the reign of Ahmose-Nefertarysurvived into the reign of
Amenhotep I.1His reasoning for attributing the Thutmose I.4 Even so, the brief inscription
stela to this rulerstemmedfrom a passagewhich published by Edwardshas not been reexamined
stated that the fatherof the ancient author "was for the considerablelight it sheds on the obscure
the one with whom his (i.e., the king's) ka was periodinauguratingthe house of the Thutmosids
pleased when the divine consort Ahmose- (fig- 1).
Nefertary,justifiedwith the greatgod lord of the Gitton submitted three pieces of evidence5as
West, flew to heaven." Linking the death of the proof that Queen Ahmose-Nefertarylived into
famous Queen-Mother to the reign of her son the reign of Thutmose I: 1) the king's twin
was a natural connection2 with which other
Meniset at Thebes," Serapis 6 (1980) 183ff.; and (3) the
* The writer would like to express thanks to Dr. Eugene original belief that mother and son were buried together,
Cruz-Uribeof Brown Universityfor reading and criticizing Carter,op. cit., 152.
earlier drafts of this study, for permission to include his 3 William C. Hayes, The Scepterof Egypt, Part II, 1959
translation,and for hand-drawingthe hieroglyphs.The gen- (reprintedin 1978), 45; T. G. H. James, "Egypt from the
erous contributionsof various pieces of evidenceby I. E. S. Expulsion of the Hyksos to Amenophis I," CAW II.1, 308;
Edwards, Donald B. Redford, and Elizabeth Thomas are ClaudeVandersleyen,Les Guerresd'Amosis.fondateurde la
gratefullyacknowledgedbelow. XVIIIedynastie.Monogr.Reine ElizabethI (1971)211;Eliza-
1 I. E. S. Edwards,"LordDufferin'sExcavationsat Deir beth Thomas, The Royal Necropoleis of Thebes, (1966)70,
El-Bahri and the ClandeboyeCollection," JEA 51 (1965) 173, 182;Sir FlindersPetrie,A History of Egypt,3 vols., 1896
25-26 with note j and pl. XI, 2, reproducedin fig. 1 with the with additions in 1924,XXIV; Donald B. Redford,"A Gate
kind permissionof ProfessorEdwardsto whom the authoris InscriptionfromKarnakand EgyptianInvolvementin West-
greatlyindebted. ern Asia During the Early18thDynasty,"JAOS49 (1979)275
2 This conclusion was primarily based on three factors: and note 89; John Romer, "Royal Tombs of the Early
( 1) that he madehergreatsarcophagus,H. E. Winlock,"The EighteenthDynasty,"MDAIK32 (1976)202.
Tombs of the Kings of the SeventeenthDynastyat Thebes," 4 Michel Gitton., L'epouse du dieu Ahmes Nefertary:
JEA 10 (1924)275, note 4; ElizabethThomas, "The Tomb of documentssur sa vie et son culteposthume,(1975)esp. 20-21.
Queen Ahmose(?)Merytamen,Theban Tomb 320,"Serapis6 He, however, neglected to take note of this stela. So too
(1980) 175;but see C. Blankenberg,"Additionalremarkson Claude Vandersleyen,review of L'epouse du dieu Ahmes
Queen Ahhotep, consort of SenakhtenreTao I," GM 49 Nefertary:documents sur sa vie et son culte posthume by
( 1981) 17; (2) and theircombinedmortuarychapels,Marquis Michel Gitton, JEA 64 (1978)162-65;and EdwardF. Wente,
of Northampton, Wilhelm Spiegelberg, and Percy E. reviewof L'epousedu dieu Ahmes Nefertary:documentssur
Newberry, Report on Some Excavations in the Theban sa vie et son culte posthume by Michel Gitton, JNES 38
Necropolis During the Winterof 1898-99 (1908)6ff.;PM 1.2, (1979)70-72.
693;M. HowardCarter,"Reporton the Tomb of Zeser-ka-ra 5 Gitton, L'epousedu dieu Ahmes Nefertary,20 and note
AmenhotepI, Discoveredby the Earlof Carnarvonin 1914," 161;21 with note 166;30 with note 234;and 20-21 with note
JEA 3 (1916)153-54;CharlesVan Siclen III, "The Temple of 163.

73

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74 JARCE XXII (1985)

Fig. 1. Stela of Nefer

coronation inscriptions carved in Nubia by double cartouchesof Thutmose I and Ahmose-

Viceroy Thure whereon the ascending king and Nefertary with f ?• below the Queen's name;
Queen Ahmose II were followed by the Dowager 3) and her large statue in situ today at Karnak
Queen; 2) a diorite vase fragment found in the among Thutmose Fs Osirian statuesin his Jubi-
sepulchral chamberin KV 20 inscribedwith the lee Hall between Pylons IV and V, an edifice

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 NEFER'S INSCRIPTION 75

attributed by Hayes to the king's second phase of before the death of Thutmose I. At the same time
building at Karnak.6Gitton's suspicion that this the passage in line 3 dictates that Nefer's inscrip-
monument of Ahmose-Nefertary was intended tion was composed after the renowned Queen
for positioning in the hall and that she died passed away. How many months or years inter-
shortly before the completion of the building was vened between the death of Ahmose-Nefertary
based on the three inscriptions found on her and the execution of the stela cannot be surmised;
statue. That her death happened late in the reign however, the whole reign of Thutmose I did not
of Thutmose I may, of course, be correct; but endure longer than eight8 or thirteen years,9
statues are movable objects, and like the Osirian hence no extensive length of time need be
monuments of Thutmose I once thought to have considered.
lined the columned enclosure of the Middle Helck interpreted the annual cult holiday
Kingdom temple only to be transferred to the dedicated to Ahmose-Nefertary observed at Deir
Jubilee Hall by Thutmose III,7 this monument el Medinah on II smw 14 as the date of her
of Ahmose-Nefertary might have been destined death.10Because there seems to be no other logical
elsewhere prior to placement between the pylons.
While the stone statue may be of doubtful value
8 Several scholars have calculated less than 8 years:
for precision dating of her death, the probability
William F. Edgerton,The Thutmosid Succession(1933)33
of Ahmose-Nefertary living into the reign of
(probably5 years);EdwardF. Wenteand CharlesVan Siclen
Thutmose I merits acceptance. III, "A Chronologyof the New Kingdom,"Studiesin Honor
The reassignment of Nefer's stela to the reign of GeorgeR. Hughes, SAOC39 (1977)218 and 225-26; and
of Thutmose I raises several interesting questions. EdwardF. Wente, "Age at Death of Pharaohsof the New
For example, who was the unnamed father and Kingdom, Determinedfrom Historical Sources,"An X-Ray
Atlas of the Royal Mummies,(1980)249-51, (to Year7).
prominent member of Thutmose I's inner circle 9 Manethogives 12 yearsand 9 months: W. G. Waddell,
who gave satisfaction to the king upon the Manetho.with an English Translation(The Loeb Classical
passing of Ahmose-Nefertary? What unique Library,1940)79; acceptedby Hayes, CAH II.1, 819; Wolf-
action so pleased the royal ka that, while not gang Helck, Die BeziehungenAgyptens zu Vorderasienim
3. und 2. Jahrtausendv. Chr.,AgyptologischeAbhandlungen
defined by Nefer, its very incorporation into the
5 (1962)99ff.; K. A. Kitchen,review of Studies in Honor of
biographical facts regarding his father narrates GeorgeR. Hughes, editedby Janet H. Johnson and Edward
its significance? Finally, if a practical historical F. Wente,Serapis4 (1977-78),76-77; Erik Hornung, Unter-
date for the erection of his stela materializes suchungen zur Chronologie und Geschichte des Neuen
within Thutmose I's reign, can a coherent scheme Retches,AgyptologischeAbhandlungen11 (1964)108;B. V.
of events for these chronologically empty years be Bothmer,"PrivateSculptureof DynastyXVIIIin Brooklyn,"
The BrooklynMuseumAnnual III (1966-67) 57; Donald B.
set forth? A careful analysis of the entire inscrip- Redford,"On Chronologyof EgyptianEighteenthDynasty,"
tion, especially the passage speaking of the death JNES 25 (1966) 114-17; and JAOS 49, p. 277; but in 1984,
of the Queen, helps to provide a key that resolves Akhenaten:The Heretic King, 13, he allowed only 11 1/2
various historical problems of the period. years.
10Wolfgang Helck, "Zur Chronologie Amenophis I,"
FestschriftFur Siegfried Schott zu Seinem 70. Geburtstag
I. Narrowing the Range of Dates for Nefer's (1968)72, numberedthe day as 15 citing (DeM 38; GC 25, 2;
Stela and Death of the Queen and Giornale 54, 6); and again Helck, "Feiertage und
Arbeitstagein Der Ramessidenzeit,"JESHO 7 (1964) 153.
Nefer referred to the royal ka as to a living However, the original source of the holiday for Nefertary,
(Botti and Peet, Giornale [1928], Taf. 54, 6) in Year 3 of
king, indicating the writing of his text took place RamessesX has II smw 14for the Queen'sholiday,as quoted
by Alan H. Gardiner,"Mesoreas the firstmonth of Egyptian
year,"IAS 43 (1906)138,citing the unpublishedPap. Chabas-
6 Hayes, The Scepter,75-76, and "Egypt:InternalAffairs Lieblein in Turin (p. 137, note 3), which listed the day of
from Tuthmosis I to the Death of Amenophis III," CAHS, idleness for Nefertaryfollowing a passage recording the
II.I, 391; see too J. Vandier,Manuel d'ArcheologieEgyp- annual coronation feast day of Ramesses III. Previously,
tienne U l\9bb) 868ft. SiegfriedSchott, AltdgyptischeFestdaten,AMAW 10 (1950)
7 C. F. Nims, Thebesof the Pharaohs(1965) 101,believed 988 (108), enteredit as a workers'celebrationfor Nefertary
that Thutmose III remodeledThutmose I's august hall in (14, X). See also Gitton, L'epouse du dieu AhmesNefertary,
Year42. 65 and 79, with notes 124-25.

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76 JARCE XXII (1985)

explanation for the celebration and the excursion mose I as to how closely the Rush victory was
of her bark, the Queen must have expired in the followed by his expedition into Naharin. An
third month of an unknown regnal year of inscription left at the Sphinx in Year 4 by Prince
Thutmose I. Is an overlap of a mere two months Amenmesses, the king's eldest son and com-
and twenty-one days sufficient time to account mander of the army, indicated to Redford that
for the Queen's appearance in the stone versions the court was residing in Memphis and Thut-
of Thutmose I's royal proclamation announce- mose I was most likely "contemplating activity
ments, no doubt carved months after his corona- in Asia," H even though the extant portion of his
tion, and for the manufacturing of at least one text in no way signals the king was present.
vase decorated with their joint cartouches? Her Because the months within the regnal year that
death early in Regnal Year 1 would appear Thutmose I remained away from Rarnak during
extremely dubious at best and may probably be this war may have bearing upon understanding
ruled out. the activity concerning the Queen's death, a short
Locating her demise in Year 2, II smw 14, digression seems advised. Traditionally, the Egyp-
places the event early in the time of the king's tian army left the frontier town, Tharu,15 and
absence from Thebes when, soon after his first marched along the route of wells called the Ways
coronation anniversary, Thutmose I left for a of Horus into Palestine during IV prt or I smw
year- long campaign in Rush.11 Were Ahmose- (April-May)16 to take advantage of the harvest
Nefertary to have succumbed as the king sailed and dry season and to return to Egypt by Sep-
southward, one might envision that Nefer's tember or early October. There is, however, evi-
father assumed responsibility for the entire burial dence17 that Thutmose I was the first king to set
proceedings, perhaps above and beyond his sail with his troops, disembarking at Byblos to
official capacity, and that the results so satisfied traverse the Lebanon mountains, cross the Oron-
Thutmose I that when he returned to Thebes he tes River, and travel through Aleppo into the
heaped praise and reward upon the Mayor. A territory of Carchemish. In either case Thutmose
somewhat different situation would occur if I would have departed from Egypt prior to the
Ahmose-Nefertary departed from life in Year 3, II mid-June death date of the Queen.
smw 14; for the reappearance of the victorious
Thutmose I in the Elephantine-Aswan area on
the 22nd day of the preceding month12 suggests 14 URK IV, 91; Redford, JAOS 49, 277;
Wolfgang Helck,
the king was in Thebes, if not on the fateful day, Der Einfluss der Militdrjiihrer in der 18. dgyptischen Dyna-
at least in time for the majority of her funeral stie, UGAA 14 (1939; repr. 1964) 31, thought this text similar
to Thutmose IV's dream stela.
preparations. Under this set of circumstances 15 G. Bjorkman, "Neby, the Mayor of Tjaru in the Reign of
Thutmose I would be in direct communication Tuthmosis IV," JARCE 11 (1974) 48-49. T. Save-Soderbergh
with Nefer's father, dictating the final arrange- (The Navy in the Eighteenth Egyptian Dynasty [1947] 38-39
ments for her burial which, presumably, were and note 4) cited reasons for assigning Memphis the position
of chief port and frontier base from where troops set off for
successfully discharged by his dignitary.
campaigns in Palestine and Syria during the 18th Dynasty.
The happenings and the king's whereabouts 16 Thutmose III left Tharu in Year 22 on IV prt 25 (URK
after Year 3 are muddled by complexities arising IV, 647; ARE II, 410, 415); the campaign of Amenhotep II
from his undated invasion of Syria when his recorded that in Year 7 he was at the Orontes on I smw 25
powerful army swept to the Euphrates River and (URK IV, 1301) or day 26 (ARE II, 780, 784); while Ramesses
II marched out of Egypt in Year 5 on II smw 9 (ARE III, 307)
he erected Egypt's boundary stela in the region of
late in April due to the Sothis Cycle (ARE III, 173, note d).
Carchemish.13 Unfortunately, there is not even a Nims, Thebes, 34; ARE II, 178, note a.
vague hint among the contemporaries of Thut- 17 Bradbury, Serapis 8, 19-20. The Egyptian sailing season
began mid- April, Margaret S. Drower, "Syria c. 1550-1400
B.C.," CAW, II. 1, 507, as confirmed by the voyage of
11 Louise Bradbury, "The Tombos Wenamon around 1085 B.C.who sailed on IV smw 1 (ARE IV,
Inscription: A New
Interpretation," Serapis 8 (1984-85), passim. 565) about April 14-15 due to the Sothis Cycle. He set off for
12 URK IV, 88-90. Egypt in III prt (?) (ibid., 583) in late October and was,
13 For the only two eyewitness accounts, URK IV, 9 and 36. understandably, blown off course. N. K. Sandars, The Sea
See also Redford, JAOS 49, 275-76. Peoples: Warriors of the Ancient Mediterranean 1250-1150

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 NEFER'S INSCRIPTION 77

If the occasion indeed fell during the Syrian campaign and the army's embarkment from
campaign, the king's leisurely elephant hunt18 Egypt, not an unreasonable amount of time for
after he conquered Mitanni is called into ques- south-to-north troop movement. In this scenario
tion. Would Thutmose I so delay his triumphant the death of Ahmose-Nefertary presumably took
return to Thebes if Queen Ahmose-Nefertary had place afterwards in Year 5 or later but surely
passed away in the second or third month of the following the king's return from the Euphrates.
Syrian war or would he hurry home once he On the other hand, if the king's Asian expedition
secured victory?19It is quite believable that had commenced in Year 5, 1 smw , then nearly twenty-
Thutmose I received news of the death of the last two months intervened between his two great
member of the Ahmoside family,20 he would have wars. Whether the Queen expired amid the
immediately headed for Egypt to consolidate his peaceful interim (Year 4, II smw 14) or survived
power and protect his interests, even attempting until the culmination of the Syrian campaign,
to reach Thebes in time to officiate at her entomb- thus into Year 6 or Year 7, depends on the
ment perhaps some 70 days hence, certainly no admissibility of the next pieces of evidence.
later than IV smw 24, rather than dally at Niy to Given that Thutmose I was the first New
hunt elephants. The logic of the situation implies Kingdom pharaoh to mount an expedition to the
that in all likelihood Ahmose-Nefertary did not Euphrates River,21 the vase fragment (fig. 2a)
die while Thutmose I was in Syria. found in the large Dra abu'1-Naga tomb of
Now if Year 4, I smw , witnessed Thutmose I's Queen Ahmose-Nefertary22 on which there re-
invasion of Naharin, approximately eleven mains an inscribed band with Kdm shmh ib
months passed between the end of the Kush plus an almost totally obliterated royal cartouche,
if not intrusive, must have been part of the
B.C. (1978),21, noting that sailing in Byzantinetimes occur- Queen's burial furnishings. The evidence cited
red from May5 to October25. below makes the case that the vase was in fact
18 URKIV, 104,where"Niy"and "elephant"areextantin
contemporary with her burial: 1) The allusion
a very destroyed inscription. The fragmented text was
to amusement in Kdm &-!-~g^v contains the
acceptedas historicalby Redford,JAOS49, 276,with note 97.
19Thutmose I was a commoner, Hayes, CAH3II.1, 315; place-name spelled exactly the way it was spelled
Donald B. Redford,History and Chronology of the Eigh- on Thutmose I's Karnak Gate (fig. 2b),23whereas
teenth Dynasty in Egypt:Seven Studies (1967)51; and con- Thutmose III spelled it Kdn:J^**n
firmedby the pyramidioninscriptionof Teta which also has 2) The
exercise recorded is reminiscent of the recreational
only "King'sMotherSenisonb,"PercyE. Newberry,Ancient
EgyptianScarabs(1905;repr.1974)102.Both BettinaSchmitz, hunting enjoyed by Thutmose I on his way home
"Untersuchungenzu zwei Koniginnender friihen 18. Dyna- from the war zone in Upper Retenu. 3) The^^
stie," CdE 53 (1978) 215-22, and Gay Robins, "A critical
examination of the theory that the right to the throne of -sign that Carter believed he saw in the bottom of
ancient Egypt passed through the female line in the 18th
dynasty," GM 62 (1983)68-69, have demonstratedthat his
chief queen, Ahmose,was his full or half sister,henceshe too 21Bradbury,Serapis8, Iff., but esp. 18.
was a commoner.Thutmose I appears to have been placed 22Carter,JEA3, 152,note 2 and PI. XXI, #4;Vandersleyen,
upon the thronewith the blessing of the Queen, if not by her Les Guerresd'Amosis,124,note 6.
directintervention,as seemsevidentfrom her appearanceon 23 Redford,JAOS 49, 271 and PI. 1. The present writer
his twin coronation stelae and her cartouchealongside his wishes to thank ProfessorRedfordfor kindly allowing this
found on a vase fragment in KV 20. That the non-royal fragment and a second gate fragment to be reproducedin
courtintriguewhich couldjeopardizehis throneis not in the fig. 2.
least surprising.One only has to recall the MiddleKingdom 24 For Thutmose III: 7th Pylon, URK IV, 188.15;ARE II,
incidentpreservedby Sinuhewhereinthe king'sson, Sesostris 598; and Annals, URK IV, 696.16, restoredby Sethe. Proof
I, upon hearing of the death of his father, AmenemhetI, that Kdmand Kdn I Ktn are the sameregion comes from the
secretlysped to Memphis under cover of darknesswithout storyof Sinuhe who escapedinto this territoryon his way to
even informing his army, ARE I, 492; John A. Wilson, Byblos. Two versions of the tale incorporatevariant spel-
AncientNear EasternTexts(1969)18. lings: G. Lefebvre,Romans et contes egyptiens de Vepoguephara-
20 If ThutmoseI and QueenAhmosewerecommoners(see onigue, (1949) 19, has Kdmin its copy while J. W. B. Barns,
note 19),then it mustbe presumedthat both male and female The Ashmolean Ostraconof Sinuhe (1952),23-24, has Kdn,
members of the Ahmoside family were either deceasedor as discussedby Vandersleyen,Les Guerresd'Amosis,112-13,
disqualifiedby extremeadvancedage. with notes 3 and 1 respectively.

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78 JARCE XXII (1985)

a. Vase Fragmentfrom Dra abu'1-Nagatomb (After

Carter,1917,PL XXI, #4)

b. KarnakGate (AfterRedford,1979),PL 1)

d. Diorite Vase from KV20 (AfterDavies, Naville and

c. KarnakGate (AfterRedford,1979,PL 2) Carter,1906,Fig. 1)

Fig. 2 FragmentaryEvidencefrom the Reign of ThutmoseI

1
3fif|
the left oval might actually be the kl -sign, IGI and hunted in Niy, he had long since dropped
the final sign in the prenomen of Thutmose I. the t/-sign from his titulary.25
Although the same sign is found in Amen- A gatewaybuilt at Karnakby Thutmose I was
hotep Fs throne name, there is no evidence that inscribed on the right and left door jambs with
this king ever reached Kdm. It should be fur-
ther noted that neither the f -sign nor \J -sign 25The uncommon Menkheperkarefound predominantly
appearsin the royal names of Ahmose I; and that at Deir el-Bahri takes precedence over Menkheperre in
by Year 33, when Thutmose III warredin Syria unalteredcartouches,and is the only form adopted in the

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 NEFER'S INSCRIPTION 79

locations in Northern Syria: Kdm, Tunip, and an Ahmose-Nefertary's certainly could, as it actually
unidentified site, Dlwny, but one carrying to did on the diorite vase fragment (fig. 2d) found in
court goods from Upper Retenu,26 all presum- KV 20.30Thus the female figure with the vulture
ably part of a topographical list of conquered headdress, a favorite crown of the Queen -Mother,
or traversed cities or regions. "At least three identifies Ahmose-Nefertary's missing cartouche
meters in height,"27 the Karnak Gate commemo- while the appearance of her name upon the door
rated Thutmose I's successful campaign to the jamb of a gateway erected subsequent to the great
Euphrates and is feasibly the portal of which Syrian expedition of Thutmose I and carved
Ineni wrote: "I inspected the erection of the without the incorporation of ^ or tc* [ on the
great doorway: 'Amon-Mighty-in-Wealth': its panel attests she was still alive.
huge door was of Asiatic copper whereon was the If the vase fragment mentioning Kdm found in
Divine Shadow, inlaid with gold."28 Only a the sepulcher of Ahmose-Nefertary and the
single block exists from the right door jamb, but Karnak Gate block are acknowledged as valid
its three columns of text are of major significance historical testimony, it means that her tomb was
(fig. 2c). The first column beginning the vertical not closed until a reasonable time had elapsed
text has the determinative of a seated queen after Thutmose I's return from Syria for the
wearing the vulture headdress with tall plumes, manufacture of the vase and that she did not die
which Redford surmised was preceded by the until after the memorial gateway was decorated.
name of a queen carved on the block above.29The In other words, any regnal year earlier than Year
middle column holds the epithet of the king 5, II smw 14, for the death of Ahmose-Nefertary
whose name must have appeared on the upper can be eliminated from further deliberation.
block also while the third and wider column Another clue pointing to the same period of
contains the personification of the city or district time comes from Nefer's useful report that he
of Djiuny. The name of Queen Ahmose, wife of was "a valiant warrior" and that a goodly plot of
Thutmose I, would normally not have taken land "was assigned to me in recognition for my
precedence over the king's; however, Queen valiant service,"31 which Edwards recognized as
allusions to military reward. Since Nefer failed
Sed-festivalreliefs in the middle colonnade (URK IV, 355; to distinguish whatsoever between his benefactor
Naville, The Temple of Deir el Bahan III, Pis. 65-66) and in and the king whom his father attended when
the Chapelof Hathor(ibid., IV, Pis. 92, 95 and 100,severalin Ahmose-Nefertary died, it is highly probable that
the context of what E. P. Uphill, "A Joint Sed-Festivalof the jyc6-priest and dextrous physician was a
Thutmose III and QueenHatshepsut,"JNES 20 [1961]248ff.,
battle compatriot of Thutmose I. Consequently,
consideredrelatedto a jubilee). The only datableinstanceis
the representationof the king in the Punt scenedatedYear9 the fashioning of Nefer's stela could not have
(URK IV, 340;Naville, op. cit., Ill, PL 82). Menkheperkare is happened earlier than the return of the Egyptian
attested3 timesoutsideof Deirel-Bahri:on a steladatedYear troops from Kush, and quite conceivably, after
13 from Sinai, Alan H. Gardiner,T. E. Peet, and J. Cerny, the defeat of Mitanni.
The Inscriptions of Sinai (1952) PI. 61, no. 180; at Gebel
Hammam, undated (URK IV, 394); and at Wadi Maghara
dated Year 16 (URK IV, 393). Naville (op. cit., Ill, 9; IV, 3; II. The Father of Nefer
and V, 6) suggested Menkheperkarewas used to show the
king's dependencyon Hatshepsutby incorporatingpart of The impressive career profiled by Nefer goes
her throne name; if so, it was a sign he would have hardly far towards discerning his father among the
tolerated in his cartouche on a commemorativevase in
Year33. ranking partisans in Thutmose I's court. As
26 Redford,JAOS49, 272 and PI 2.
27 Ibid., 270. AmenhotepI's gatewaywas 20 cubits high.
28 URK IV, 56;ARE II, 104;at the main axis accordingto 30The directionof the writing indicatesshe came first,for
G. Bjorkman,Kings at Karnak:A Study of the Treatmentof it cannot be assumed that the names were part of a con-
the Monuments of Royal Predecessorsin the Early New tinuous repetitionbecauseof the border.
Kingdom,(1971)63. 31 Edwards,JEA 51, 25, line 10; ibid., line 6, and p. 26,
29 Redford,JAOS49, 270,275, PI. 2; 282, note 37 believedit notes n and t; see Alan R. Schulman, MilitaryRank. Title,
was Ahmose-Nefertary'swhen he assigned the gateway to and Organizationin the EgyptianNew Kingdom (1964)67,
AmenhotepI. 90 and 94, citing URKIV, 892, 894, and 1820.

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80 JARCE XXII (1985)

friend and confidant of the king, the father was scenes of his large family. Here he named a
Mayor of Thebes, Dignitary, Overseer of the daughter, Ahmose, and five brothers, among
Double Granaries of Amon, and ''energetic in them the Steward and High Priest of Amon,
going forth to the fields of festival food," pre- Pahery, and the High Priest of Mut, Ken, but not
sumably for the divine offerings to Amon. "And a single son.
he spent (or spends) . . . (his) . . . old age in the Helck36 developed a family tree for Ineni and
favour of the king," concluded Nefer in typical his wife, Ahhotep called Thuiu, based on recog-
phraseology, indicating the bountiful association nizing a later High Priest of Mut, Ken, the owner
his father claimed with the king. of Tomb 59,37 as an unnamed son. The family
Taking into account Nefer' s career description connection seems undeniable since Ken inscribed
as placed in the reign of Thutmose I, only two on a wall in Tomb 59 that his father was the
candidates qualify as the unidentified father: "Overseer of the Double Granary . . . n," and
1) Seni, who was appointed Mayor and Granary that his mother was "the Royal Ornament,
Supervisor by Amenhotep I,32and who held the Thuiu," the nickname borne by Ineni's wife;
assignments until Thutmose I promoted him to thus Ken was apparently named for his paternal
Viceroy of Rush when Thure was retired on an uncle whom he followed into the office of High
unknown day succeeding Year 3, II smw 22;33 Priest of Mut. Now among the several brothers
and 2) Ineni, who was named by Thutmose I to listed in Ken's tomb, the name Nefer has not
fill the vacated offices and who occupied the been found; but neither has the name of his
influential posts until his retirement. Since both sister, Ahmose. Of the brothers Ken represented,
men survived into the reign of Thutmose III, there was Scribe of the Double Granary, Wsi,
they could have been little more than in middle doubtlessly part of the work force in Ineni's
age when elevated by Thutmose I. office, a brother named for another paternal uncle,
Unfortunately, Scribe Nefer appears nowhere Thutmose, and finally one called Kenamon. This
among the offspring of either Seni or Ineni. latter brother may be the Kenamon, owner of
Seni's tomb has yet to be identified with certainty; Tomb 162, who succeeded Ineni as Mayor and
thus his family remains in doubt.34Ineni's Tomb Overseer of the Double Granary in the reign of
81 in Western Thebes, decorated in Year 1 or Thutmose II38 before Senenmut acquired the
Year 2 of Thutmose III before the coronation of post in the early days of Hatshepsut's regency.39
Hatshepsut,35 is still adorned in places with

214-15, has shown that the moon-sign in his tomb is the

32 URK IV, 40; ARE II, 64; see Wolfgang Helck, Zur unique 1/3-sign usedonly in the briefregencyperiod.
Verwaltungdes mittleren und neuen Reichs (1958) 419-20 36 Helck,Zur Verwaltung,524-25.
and 523. 37 PM I.I, 120-21; A. E. P. Weigall, A Guide to the
33 URK IV, 88-90. Antiquities of Upper Egypt: From Abydos to the Sudan
34The tomb of Mayor and Viceroy Seni &"^ Helck Frontier(1910),156.
cautiously equated with Tomb 317 at^Gurna,built early in 38 PM 1.1, 275-76;Helck,ZurVerwaltung,422,pointedout
(he 18th Dynastyby MayorSeni-re | *&) ^^ : Helck, Zur that Tomb 162of MayorKenamonwas decoratedin similar
Verwaltung,419-20 and 523, or his son, PM I.I, 390; Labib fashion to that of the Steward and Nurse, Senamon, the
Habachi,SixteenStudiesof LowerNubia (1981),157.Signifi- brother,of Senenmutand nurse of Princess Nefrure.Conse-
cantly, neitherthe unknownstewardshipawardedby Ahmose quently, MayorKenamonprobably hewed his tomb in the
I nor Seni's building responsibilityat Karnakwas imparted reign of Thutmose II or very early in the rule of Thutmose
by Nefer when enumeratinghis father'sachievements.This III, no doubt coinciding in time with his tenureas Overseer
neglect was not due to the lack of space;so it must havebeen of the Double Granary since Senenmut advanced to the
that on the day Nefercomposedhis text, his unnamedfather position immediatelyupon the ascent of Thutmose III. See
could not be so characterized.As a result,a father-sonkinship below note 39. In Tomb 162thereis a relief showing Syrians
between Nefer and Seni seems denied by Seni's careertitles carryingproductsand vesselssimilar to Minoan objects,PM
inscribedon the temple wall at the close of Thutmose II's I.I, 275-76, which may be the earliest referenceto imports
rule {URKIV, 39-41; ARE II, 62-66). from Cretein the 18th Dynasty.However,Save-Soderbergh,
35 URK IV, 53-74; ARE II, 341, noting that Hatshepsut Navy, 54; and N. Davies and R. O. Faulkner, "A Syrian
"settled the affairs of the two lands." Not only does Ineni Trading Ventureto Egypt,"JEA 33 (1947)40ff., identify the
referto the Queenas regentand fail to mentionThutmose III ownerof Tomb 162as an officialof AmenhotepIII.
by name or Hatshepsut's accession as king (Helck, Zur 39 Helck, Zur Verwaltung,358-59, called it his most con-
Verwaltung,422); but Vandersleyen,Les Guerresd'Amosis, spicuousand earliesttitle, then on pp. 474-76, accorded3 and

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 NEFER'SINSCRIPTION 81

It is rathersurprisingthat Ineni harkenedback A and B).41Of the two renditions,StelaA alludes

to his own distinguished brotherswhen decorat- to the regnancy of Hatshepsut and thus was
ing his tomb shortlybefore his death in spite of written a decade or more after Nefer's text. In
the prominence his sons had reached by that this document Ineni recountshis working years,
time. If the maturesons of Ineni who had enjoyed which commencedunderAmenhotepI, when he
a measureof successwerenot shown in Tomb 81, was a foreman charged with inspecting the
one has no way of knowing for certain if Scribe construction of the king's 20-cubit gateway at
and Wcb-priestNefer's absence (perhapsdue to Karnakand the great southern doors made for
his early death) has meaning; consequently, the the royal Jubilee, both works apparentlyunder
neglect cannot be offered as evidence against a the supervision of Seni, who was at the time
father-sonrelationship.While Ineni's omissions Directorof Worksat Karnak.42
are puzzling since many tomb owners displayed Treating the death of Amenhotep I with usual
sons performingritualsand partakingin festival terminology,Ineni introducedthe arisingof King
scenes, it is less strangethan Nefer spending two Thutmose I with lines unfortunately lost as his
lines in his inscription to detail information reminiscencescontinued: "the Good God, who
about his esteemed father and then failing to smites the Nubians, lord of might, who over-
name him even though therewas spaceat the end throws the Asiatics. He made his boundaryas far
of line 4 which would have allowed for the as the Horns of the Earth, and the marshes in
inclusion ol4$)/pz4M}. Kebeh..." Then the king "filledhis heart with
But the lack of inscriptional materialdoes not me, I was brought to be a Dignitary."43
hamper identifying Ineni as the unknown father Vital historical knowledge from the order of
since Nefer's well-definedpictorial has sketched these memories needs emphasizing, for Ineni
this bona fide personality so skillfully that his categorically stated that his elevation to Mayor
wordsconstitutesolid proof of theirrelationship. and Supervisorof Amon's Granariestook place
Compare, for example, Nefer's poetic descrip- after the Naharin campaign and not upon the
tion, "energetic in going forth to the fields of king's returnfrom Kush, as is commonly held.44
festival-food,"as mirroredin the numerousreliefs This repetition of the two conquestsby the king
in Tomb 81 and inscriptions reporting on this in his text is of no small chronological con-
matterrepresentingIneni's industriouspreoccu- sequence, for Ineni's sequence of events is the
pation with this labor.40 sole surviving indicatoras to when Seni replaced
Ineni's autobiographywas twice inscribed in Viceroy Thure.45The net effect of Ineni's short
his tomb on opposite walls in his portico (Stelae chronicle is to date Seni's appointment to the
middle of Year4 at the earliest or during Year5
perhaps4 inscriptionswhich predatedHatshepsut'scorona- or even as late as Year 6, depending on which
tion wherein Senenmut is titled "Overseerof the Double
year the Naharin war was waged and on how
Granaryof Amon" at Silsile, and on his statues,Cairo42116 soon after the king arrivedhome he reorganized
and 42117(?)and BritishMuseum1513.It is, of course,within
the realmof possibilitythat the officewas given to Senenmut his staff.
late in the reign of Thutmose II. He apparentlydid not hold In light of Ineni's careersequence, the execu-
it very long, since Minmose was GranarySupervisorin a tion date for Nefer's stela has to be shifted
relief at Deir el-Bahri depicting the transportationof the
Queen'sfirstpair of obelisks(E. Naville, The Templeof Deir
el Bahan VI [1908]PI. 154),until at least Year 10, I smw 20 41 URK IV, 53-66; ARE II, 45ff., PM I.I, 159ff.,for Tomb
(WilliamC. Hayes,"ASelectionof TuthmosideOstracafrom 81. StelaA is on wall 2 and Stela B on wall 7.
Der El-Bahri,"JEA 46 [1960]31 and note 2); and VizierUser 42 URK IV, 54; ARE II, 45. For Seni's role, URK IV, 40;
claimedthe title (URKIV, 1030,line 12)presumablyawarded ARE II, 64.
prior to his appointmentas Vizierin Year5 (URK IV, 1384, 43 URKW, 55;AREU, 101-2.
line 2). These men were followed during Hatshepsut's 44 Helck, Zur Verwaltung,419-20; Hayes, The Scepter,78;
kingship by Nebamon,Tomb 65 (PM I.I, 129;the Marquisof G. A. Reisner, "The Viceroysof Ethiopia,"JEA 6 (1920)29;
Northampton,Spiegelberg,and Newberry,Report on Some but see Henri Gauthier, "Les 'fils royaux de Kouch' et le
Excavations,Plate XXIII,#9), and Years3 1-34 by Minnacht, personneladministratifde l'Ethiopie,"Recueil de travaux39
Tomb 87 (PM I.I, 178-79; Helck, Der Einfluss der Militar- (1921)186.
45 His text was also the basis for Edgerton'sreconstruction
fuhrerb9, note 12;URKIV, 1178-1179).
40 PM I.I, 159-63. Importantly,Seni does not mention of the Thutmosid line, The Thutmosid Succession (1933),
feastsor festivalduties. passim.

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82 JARCE XXII (1985)

Table 1. Plausible Reconstruction of Events

AlternativeA
Year4 or 5: I smw ± to I Iht ± II Iht or I prt \a
EuphratesCampaign Elevationsof Seni $cIneni
Year5 or 6: II smw 14
Death of Queen
Year6 or 7: Nefer'sStela
AlternativeB:
Year4 or 5: I smw ± to I Iht ±
EuphratesCampaign
Year5 or 6: II smw 14 I Iht or II Iht or I prt 1
Death of Queen Elevationsof Seni &Ineni
Year6 or 7: Nefer'sStela
"Kitchenciting Nebwenenef'scase claimed that new assignmentswere "often
madeat the time of the king'spresencefor the Opet-festival"(Serapis4, 69-70,
and review of Ancient Egyptian Coregenciesby William Murnane,JNES 39
[1980] 170),while User was appointedco-vizierby Thutmose III in Year5, I
Akhet 1 (URK IV, 1384;Wolfgang Helck, Untersuchungenzu Manetho und
den dgyptischenKonglisten,[1956]71), and Amenemhabwas madedeputyof
the armyby AmenhotepII during the Opet Feast(URK IV, 896-97; ARE II,
809); thus it is feasible that such an auspicious occasion was selectedby the
king to appoint Seni and Ineni to theirnew positions.

forwarduntil his fatherattainedhigh officein the neglected to cite even one of Ineni's many
months following the victoryover Mitanni. This building endeavors. Ineni himself proudly re-
perception coincides with the impression drawn ported that he inspected the great pylon at
from the vase fragment found in Ahmose- Karnak,excavatedthe 64-foot obelisks and con-
Nefertary'stomb with its allusion to the king's structedan enormous barge to float the shafts to
hunt in Niy and with the existence of her name Thebes, and discoveredthe use of mud plasterto
upon the door jamb of the commemorative decoratetombs while hewing the cliff-side tomb
KarnakGate. of Thutmose I.46Yet not one of these achieve-
Although a longer time may have been con- ments was related by Nefer although he men-
sumed than the years allowed in table 1, the tioned the gathering of festival food and the
various pieces of evidence thus far examined death of the Queen. Accordingly,Nefer'sinscrip-
combine to form two practicalseriesof events. tion may have been carved very near in time to
In both schemes, Nefer's stela falls around the day Ineni was appointed Director of all the
Year 6 or 7, and the death of the Queen settles Worksat Karnak.
into Year5 or 6. The question now to determine Second, there is a chronological implication
is which case morenearlyreflectshistory,whether for resolving the debatedlength of Thutmose I's
Ahmose-Nefertarydied afterIneni was appointed reign in the realization that Ineni was not
Mayor and Chief of the Works at Karnak,or if promoted until sometime after the Mitanni
she succumbedwhile he was a mereforeman. campaign. This fact endorses the 12 yearsand 9
Before interjecting new material that decides months' reign recordedby Manetho. A Regnal
the issue, it is necessary to point out three Year 13 for the king would accommodate the
fundamentaland interrelatedobservationswhich unusual Karnakblock on which Thutmose I was
help to refinethe situation. thrice named with "Year 8" and "Year 9" on
First, despite the fact Nefer had room in line 4
dedicated to his father's career highlights, he 46 URKIV, 55-58; ARE II, 103-6.

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 NEFER'S INSCRIPTION 83

each side along with what seems to be the isd was sent to Rush, and that Ineni was in charge of
tree, the whole block implying Jubilee rites.47If phase 2, commissioned primarily for the king's
this cornice fragment was part of the dedication Sed-festival. Table 2 is offered as a brief summary
text of his Jubilee - for none can deny that he of the building endeavor at Karnak and Ineni 's
celebrated a Sed-festival48 and did so like several role during the latter half of Thutmose I's reign.
other pharaohs before attaining a 30-year rule49-
then his ceremony appears to have taken place III. The Deed Found Pleasing to the King
over several months surrounding his regnal year
changeover in the season of Peret,50and a possible What was the deed found pleasing to the king
terminus ad quern is established for the comple- that took place when Queen Ahmose-Nefertary
tion of Pylon IV, the Jubilee Hall with its roof, died? Her death, narrowed now to a time after the
the fashioning of the king's statues in his Osirian Mitanni campaign but probably before Thut-
garb, and the extraction, if not the actual delivery, mose I's Sed-festival, as Gitton put forth - an
of the obelisks for the front of Pylon IV. Since event which apparently took place during Years
Ineni claimed responsibility for these projects, 8 and 9- indicates that Ahmose-Nefertary was
the years necessary for their construction, which nearing seventy when she passed away. After
Edgerton calculated as a minimum of four,51 mummification she was laid to rest in the gigan-
renders it highly unlikely that Ineni was tic sarcophagus provided years before, and en-
appointed later than the second half of Year 5 or tombed in a grave excavated especially for her
early in Year 6. coffin and equipment in Dra abu'1-Naga, not
Third, if Hayes52has correctly divided the vast earlier hewed for her son as formerly believed.53
building activity enlarging Karnak within the She may have, however, shared a mortuary temple
reign of Thutmose I into two distinct phases, with Amenhotep I, an edifice which Gitton con-
then it is entirely plausible that Seni was respon- tended was partially adorned by Thutmose I.54
sible for phase 1, nearing completion when he Did Ineni's deed have to do with Mni-sw.t in
Western Thebes, the Queen's cult chapel? Signifi-
47The block has beenacceptedas belonging to ThutmoseI cantly, when Nefer wrote the name of Ahmose-
by Hornung, Untersuchungen,32; and Redford,JNES 25, Nefertary in line 3, he inserted the } -sign in her
116; doubted by Wente and Van Siclen, SAOC 39, 225; cartouche, a sign which according to Gitton was
Kitchen,Serapis4, 69; PM II, 106. rarely attached before the end of the Ramesside
48 Nims, Thebes,99ff.;Hayes, The Scepter,76, and CAH,
period.55Nefer's stela, almost contemporary with
75-76; Edgerton, The Thutmosid Succession, 33, 41, and
note 3. Heinrich Brugsch, Thesaurus Inscriptionum
Aegyptiacarum:AltaegyptischeInschnften(1883;1891)1220, 53 Carter,JEA 3, 147ff.;JamesCAHII.1, 308-12. However,
for fragmentof his obelisk at Elephantine.See URK IV, 56; A. E. P. Weigall (A Report on the Antiquities of Lower
ARE II, 105;PM V, 244. Accordingto Breasted(AREII, 89), Nubia (The First Cataractto the Sudan Frontier)and their
this obelisk fragment was inscribed, "he made (it) as his Condition in 1906-7) [1907], 183 and 223-24) believed that
monument to his father, Khnum; making for him two Tomb 39 belonged to Amenhotep I; PM 1.2, 559. So too
obelisksof granite.Firstoccurrence...." Thomas, Royal Necropoleis, 70-71, although she thought
49 See ErikHornungand E. Staehelin,StudienzumSedjest perhaps Tomb B in the Wadi el-Habl might be likely
(1974); Dieter Kurth, review of Studien zum Sedjest by (p. 182).Thus farno tombhas unequivocallybeendetermined
E. Hornung and E. Staehelin,CdE51 (1976)107-9;Wolfgang to have been his (Vandersleyen,Les Guerresd'Amosis,203
Helck, "Nilhohe und Jubilaumsfest,"ZAS93 (1966),74-79; with note 1, but see below note 74).
Wenteand Van Siclen, SAOC39, 217ff.,and KitchenSerapis 54 Gitton, L'epouse du dieu Ahmes Nefertary,90; Van
4, 72ff. See William J. Murnane, United with Eternity.A Siclen, Serapis6, 185ff.,eitherThutmose I or II.
Concise Guide to the Monumentsof Medinet Habu (1980), 55 Gitton, L'epouse du dieu Ahmes Nefertary,67 and 91,
96, note 31; Wente,An X-RayAtlas, 212ff. note 5. Her cult does not appearin tombs until the reign of
50 Forexample,AmenhotepIll's ritestook place fromYear AmenhotepII, while her image was placed in templesfrom
29 to Year30;see CharlesVanSiclen III, "The AccessionDate the reign of Seti I on (p. 60). The earliest extant p-sign
of AmenhotepIII and the Jubilee,"JNES 32 (1973)290-300. following Nefer'sStelais possiblythe interiorcoffinlid of her
51 Edgerton,The ThutmosidSuccession,33. However,in nurse Rai (G. Daressy,Cercueilsdes cachettesroyales,CCG,
this time frame he included all the events in Thutmose I's nos. 61001-61044 [1909] 230-31; and Gitton, op. cit., 22),
reign, even the constructionof his cliffsidetomb. about the same time as Tomb 18 belonging to Baki, whose
52 See abovenote 6. father was a scribe of counting of the cattle of the Queen

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84 JARCE XXII (1985)

Table 2 The Reign of Thutmose I and His Karnak Building Sequence

Jan. Mid-March July 18th Aug.-Sept. Dec.

Ill prt 21 IIIsmw 14± 2 days
Accessionof Thutmose I Sothisa High Nile
Regnal Year 1
FirstPhaseof Karnakconstructionunderthe direction
to of Seni: the Girdle Wall aroundthe Middle Kingdom
Shrine, Pylon V and its 2 flagmasts./;
Regnal Year 4/5
Regnal Year 5/6
SecondPhaseof Karnakconstructionunderthe direc-
tion of Ineni: the largerPylon IV with its 4 flagmasts,
Regnal Year 6/7 the 14yardsbetweenthe2 pylons coveredwith wooden
roof supported by wooden columns, erection of 2
obelisks fronting Pylon IV.
Regnal Year 7/8 Arrival of obelisks
floated on High Niler
Jubilee Regnal Year 8/9 Jubilee rites
Regnal Year 9/10
Regnal Year 10/11
Regnal Year 11/12 Replacement of Wooden Column(s).rf
Regnal Year 12/13 Excavation of King's cliffside tomb.
Death of Thutmose I

flPetrie,A History of Egypt, 32, introduceda date, III smw 14, carvedon the southern(?)obelisk of
Thutmose I, which he readas the astronomicalNew Year(wp rnpt).If correct,it would be compelling
evidencethat the Sothis festivaloccurredon III smw 14 in the yearthe king began or endedhis Jubilee.
Such a Sothic dating calculates17-23 yearsinclusivefrom Year9 (IIIsmw 9) of AmenhotepI; therefore,
the quadrennium(Julian)must be placedfrom 1525B.C.to 1519B.C.Interestingly,accordingto Parker's
restoredcalendar,RichardA. Parker,The Calendarsof Ancient Egypt, SAOC26 (1950)25, a psdntyw
occurredexactlyon III smw 14in the year 1523b. c, which coincideswith the eighth New Year'sDay in
the reign of Thutmose I: 1504b.c. + 13 yearsfor the reign of Thutmose II = 1518B.C.+13 for Thut-
mose 1=1530 b.c. accessiondate. Regnal Year8 falls from mid-March1523to mid-March1522b.c. A
check of the Karnakobelisk, which is inscribedaccordingto Edgerton,The ThutmosidSuccession,41,
note 3, '(King Thutmose I) for whom the Lord of the Gods has gloriously recordedthe hb-sd (Sed-
festival) on the august wd-tree,"would either confirmor deny this conjecturedastronomicalanchor
point.
^Importantly,the flagstavesIneni ''erectedat the double facadeof the templeof new cedarof the bestof
the Terraces,their tops wereof electrum"were the four locatedin the frontof Pylon IV, as Helck, (Zur
Verwaltung,421)and Nims (Thebes,99) surmised,and not the set Hayes(Scepter,75, and CAH II.1 391)
believed fronted Pylon V. Ineni, therefore,was concernedonly with Pylon IV and not the earlier
structuredPylon V. This attributionremovesthe only building effortthought to belong to phase 1 from
Ineni's list of architecturalachievements.
rHatshepsutnoted it took 7 months to carveout her pair of monuments,from II prt 1 to IV smw 30, in
time to be floateddown the swift floodwaterto Thebes(URK IV, 367;ARE II, 318). No doubt Thutmose
I's excavation took that durationof time and quite likely longer but would have been finishedto take
advantage of the inundation, and thus his obelisks would have reachedThebes in the middle of
Septemberin Year8 or Year9: Adolf Erman,Life in AncientEgypt(1894;repr.1971)10;LabibHabachi,
Obelisksof Egypt (1977)20-27; Naville, The Templeof Deir el Bahan, 3.
^JamesH. Breasted,"A New Chapterin the Life of Thutmosis III," UntersuchungenzurGeschichteund
AltertumskundeAegyptensII (1902)30-31; ARE II, 600-601; URKIV, 839-41; Hayes CAH II.l, 391. At
least2 woodencolumns in the hall began to rot, necessitatingtheirreplacementwith stonebeforethe end
of Thutmose I's reign.

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 NEFER'S INSCRIPTION 85

her death, is, therefore, the very first known usage known that these skilled workers and their
of the (I-sign in her cartouche and might mark families formed the cult of Ahmose-Nefertary
the inception of the veneration of the Queen. Did which peaked in the 19th and 20th Dynasties, it
Ineni oversee the building or the completion of seems far-fetched to identify a particular labor in
the Queen's chapel, Mni-sw.t} A defense for the village with Nefer's reference hinting at an
connecting him with the cult of Ahmose- act intimately concerned with the death of the
Nefertary is the preponderance of associations Queen.
subsequent Mayors and Granary Supervisors had Was Ineni the architect who designed and
with her mortuary temple and ritual, in some supervised the work on her large tomb, the
cases joined with worship of Amenhotep I,56 to prototype for all the royal tombs during the 18th
the exclusion of other high-ranking administra- Dynasty?60Surely so important an effort would
tors.57 And it is assured that Ineni was indeed have been mentioned in his extensive auto-
involved in some manner with her cult place, for biography; yet in the more completely preserved
within his tomb he listed the amount of incense portions of Stelae A and B, consisting of episodes
destined for Mni-sw.t. b%However, any of these in Ineni 's life after he became a Dignitary, no
activities could have been undertaken any time such recollection can be found. On the other
during his long tenure as Mayor of Thebes and hand, if the death of Ahmose-Nefertary acted as a
Overseer of the Double Granaries, and need not pivotal point in his career, if Ineni had been
relate to the death and burial of the Queen. commissioned when he was still a foreman and
Excavations in and around Deir el Medinah executed the plan with such desired results as to
brought to light evidence that Thutmose I, not warrant the king's acclamation and foster his
Amenhotep I, colonized the first village of work- subsequent rise to power, then Ineni would have
men and artisans responsible for excavating and entered his performance in the sections on both
decorating the royal tombs.59 While it is well stelae dedicated to his pre- titled days.
Sadly, the upper lines on the two stelae have
suffered severe damage. The passages on the
(PM I.I, 32). Gitton (op. cit., 80-81) omitted the f-sign in his
versionof her cartouche(seeAlfredHermann,Die Stelender better-surviving Stela A concentrate on the mas-
ThebanischenFelsgrdberDer 18. Dynastie[1940]18). sive southern gateway and doors he constructed
56 Gitton, L'epouse du dieu Ahmes Nefertary,80-82; Van for Amenhotep I, and on the two foreign wars of
Siclen, Serapis6, 193-94;so thought by Breasted,ARE II, 45, Thutmose I prior to his appointment to adminis-
and note b. Of the 18 mayorswho held officeafter Ineni, as trator. There is, however, an intriguing reference
compiled by Helck (ZurVerwaltung,525-31), sevenlack any to working in the necropolis among the frag-
identifying titles;and of thoseremaining,four wereaffiliated
with their cults. For example, Senenmutbore the title Over- mented lines on Stela B.61Even though the latter
seer of the Fields of Amon in Mni-sw.t.n^5>.T.VCc=SjJo: half of the sentence is lost, Helck opted to
StatueCairo42114(soonafterHatshepsut'saccession),Helck, synchronize Ineni's statement here with one he
Zur Verwaltung,359and 476;Van Siclen, Serapis6, 191.The made regarding the construction of Thutmose I's
well-known mayor,Sennefer,in the reign of AmenhotepII, cliff- tomb on the companion stela. In his attempt
was ^ir_L'i:£335r] and o\_(oT7u| (Helck, Zur Ver-
to unravel Ineni's early career, Helck conjectured
waltung,525-26).
57 A search of the officials studied by Helck, Zur Ver- that it was the excavation of KV 38 that brought
waltung, 433ff., and their numerous titles failed to turn up the architect into personal contact with the king
any other officials associated with the cult of Ahmose- and inspired Ineni's elevation to Overseer of
Nefertary or Amenhotep I except for the mayors listed.
However, (Ahmose) Humay, the father of Vizier Amenem-
opet, called Pairi (Tomb 29), was supervisorof hercattleand
granary:Helck,op. cit., 297,note 1, and 439;Gitton,L'epouse Thomas, Royal Necropoleis, 58, expressed doubts that
du dieu AhmesNefertary,81. Forprivateand priestlyinterest Thutmose I was the founder,but acceptedby JaroslavCerny,
in Mni-sw.tsee Van Siclen, Serapis6, 188-93. "Egypt from the Death of RamessesIII to the End of the
58 URK IV, 71, the earliest referenceto her temple; fully Twenty-firstDynasty,"CAW, II.2 (1975)624.
discussedby Van Siclen, Serapis6, 183-207,esp. 191. 60 Suggested by H. Kees, Ancient Egypt: A Cultural
59 PM 1.2, 702; CharlesBonnet and Dominique Valbelle, Topography (1977) 254; and Nims, Thebes, 140. Both
"Le Village de Deir El-Medinah,"BIFAO 75 (1975)435ff., believed,however,that the tomb belongedto AmenhotepI.
and "Le Village de Deir El-Medinah,"BIFAO76 (1976)338. 61 URK IV, 63.

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86 JARCE XXII (1985)

the Works at Karnak when the post was vacated decorated with haste and artists continued to
by Seni. adorn the walls after his mummy and sarcopha-
But on this endeavor, Ineni is explicit; he gus had been entombed.69 Romer went so far as
excavated the tomb for Thutmose I as the Director to surmise that the unusual cartouche-shaped
of the Works, a position he received only upon burial chamber may have been designed to
the departure of Seni.62 According to Ineni, the expedite the hewing of KV 38, 42, and 34, since
royal assignment came late in his service under Egyptians overwhelmingly preferred the sym-
Thutmose I. This historical fact is not only metrical arrangement. One might then suspect
implied by his official position and by the that the re-introduction of a rectangular burial
placement of his boast preceding the mention of chamber by Amenhotep II speaks not so much of
the king's death, but by the incomplete state of design development but of an evolving change in
KV 38 at the time of Thutmose I's burial. The attitude towards the preparation of the king's
rough and unpretentious condition of the grave final resting place as well as the significant
caused Romer to assert, "such a modest and growth of the community of workmen at Deir el-
poorly made tomb is rather unexpected,"63 when Medinah, who were inadvertently more perma-
he cited Carter's observation, "were it not for the nently employed.
system of plan one would hardly recognize it as a Neither archaeological remains nor textual
royal tomb, especially belonging to that great evidence attests that Thutmose I, at the onset of
period."64 Edgerton called it simply "not very his reign, was diverted from his military expedi-
impressive."65 However, it should be remembered tions abroad and building at Memphis to contem-
that of the early 18th Dynasty pit and bab-tombs plate a cliffside tomb. One could surmise that
of the royal family discovered so far, none were this engineering task was ordered in conjunction
finished.66 Apparently, the kings and queens of with phase 2 construction at Karnak; but it is
this era, like their 17th Dynasty predecessors,67 much more likely that it awaited the king's final
did not rush to prepare their graves, as was illness and death, since Ineni announced the
fashionable in the 19th and 20th Dynasties.68 A passing of Thutmose I immediately afterwards.
clear illustration that the excavation of the royal Because it is unrealistic to equate the necropolis
tomb was almost simultaneous with the death of activity imparted on Stela B with Ineni's opera-
its occupant came from Romer' s extensive exami- tion on KV 38, it is entirely conceivable that this
nation of the tomb of Thutmose III, which line originally contained his version of the
unexpectedly disclosed that even though this commendable "deed" recorded by his son. "(My)
king ruled 54 years, his tomb was excavated and sovereign repeated to me praises inasmuch as my
excellence is in his midst. He appointed me to
62 Nims proposedthat the passage"no one seeing, no one controller of work, overseer of the chief of (his?)
hearing" means "that he had the sole responsibilityfor the necropolis(P) . . . [50-60% of line missing] . . . He
constructionratherthan thatit was done in secrecy,"Thebes, knows me as a renowned one, content of heart,
105; and again in a personal communication to Thomas, reticent, one who is silent concerning the affairs
Royal Necropoleis,71 and note 34.
63John Romer, "Tuthmosis I and the Biban El-Moluk: of the estate of the king. I have been promoted to
Some Problemsof Attribution,"JEA 60 (1974)119. (the office of) Overseer of the Double Granaries,
64 Ibid., 119,with note 2, adducingCarter'sNotebooks. Mayor, Prince of the City, Overseer of the Works
65 Edgerton,The ThutmosidSuccession,33. in Ipt-swt [Karnak] . . . [40-50% missing]."70 It is
66 E.g., Queen Inhapy's DB 320, the Deir el Bahri Tomb
358 of (Ahmose?)Merytamon,Thutmose II's Tomb KV 42, possible that the promotions mentioned in lines
and AmenhotepII's KV35. 10 and 16 took place at different times of his
67 Even aftera reign of 4-plus yearsand afterwars in the career, hence the assignment as head of the
north and south, Kamosewas without a royal coffinwhen
interredin a pit tomb by his successor,Ahmose I (Thomas,
Royal Necropoleis, 40; earlier noted by Winlock, JEA 69 Romer,MDAIK31, 341-43.
10, 262). 70 URK IV, 63; Cruz-Uribe (personal communication,
68JaroslavCerny,A Communityof Workmenat Thebesin October,1981)translatedthe line and confirmedthe present
the Ramesside Period (1973), passim; John Romer, "The writer'ssuspicion that the firstpromotionprobablypredated
Tomb of Tuthmosis III,"MDAIK31 (1975),341. his elevationto GranarySupervisor.

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 NEFER'S INSCRIPTION 87

necropolis led to his promotion and transfer to Ineni, and perhaps on the same occasion retired
Karnak. Significantly, Ineni's duty in the terrain Vizier Imhotep.73
of the necropolis prior to his rise to power on the
East bank corresponds to the impression created IV. The "Proof"
from Nefer's addendum that his father's high
office was linked to the pleasing of the royal ka Admittedly, a slender thread of coincidences
when the great Queen Ahmose-Nefertary flew to and conjectures resolves the riddle of Nefer's
heaven. Stela; but can the disclosure be confirmed? In
The solution to the puzzle seems at hand: Ineni reality, Ineni must have toiled years in Western
directed the hewing of the hillside tomb where Thebes before he was charged with the tomb of
Ahmose-Nefertary was interred within her huge Ahmose-Nefertary. A youth practicing his trade
cartonnage and with her funeral furnishings. in the time of Amenhotep I and later as leader of
The layout of her tomb developed by Ineni and a work-crew, Ineni, at the start of Thutmose I's
its realization so pleased Thutmose I that when it reign, may have been called to work on the tomb
came time to fill the office of Chief Builder at of Amenhotep I, a tomb not yet established with
Karnak, Ineni was chosen. Accordingly, some certainty but most likely KV 39.74The burials of
eight or so months after Thutmose I returned
from campaigning in Naharin in Year 5, II smw 73 Hellmut Brunner, "Der 'Gottesvater'als Erzieherdes
14 (or less likely Year 6, II smw 14),71the Dowager Kronprinzen,"ZAS86 (1961),92; PM 1.2, 755;and Thomas,
Queen -Mother died; and certainly by IV smw 24 Royal Necropoleis, 186,assigning Tomb 46 in Valley of the
her funeral had occurred and she was entombed Queens to Imhotep. Upon retirementVizier Imhotep was
in the Dra abu'1-Naga cliff high in the hill appointedmale nurse for Prince Wajmose,whose name was
placed within a cartoucheimplying that he was at that time
overlooking the 17th Dynasty graves of her the heir apparent,a fact which signals Prince Amenmesses
relatives. One cannot help but wonder if the was dead. The presenceof Prince Wajmose's name at Deir
death of Ahmose-Nefertary freed Thutmose I to el-Medinah(PM 1.2,702)to the exclusion of Amenmesses(see
become his own man;72for shortly thereafter he note 59 above) confirms this change of status. Either fol-
lowing the death of Wajmoseor perhaps after he reached
replaced Viceroy Thure with Seni and elevated
maturity, Imhotep was chosen by Thutmose I to be male
nurseand tutorto all the royalchildren,a group presumably
71 So late a death and burial would place Ineni's promo- including ThutmoseII and Hatshepsut(£//?£ IV, 108).When
tion extremely late to have supervisedthe vast amount of Wajmosedied, Thutmose I built him a mortuarychapel on
constructionbeforea Sed-festivalin Year 8-9, unless Ineni the west bank (PM II, 157-58 and 444-45) fromwhencecame
took over projectsfor the Jubileebegun by Seni. Imhotep's inscription carvedon a block of his temple wall.
72This study has revealeda surprisinglydifferentimpres- This chapel and Wajmose'ssubsequentworship in the New
sion of the relationship between the commoner-crowned- Kingdomindicate the prince achievedsome importanceand
king, Thutmose I, and Ahmose-Nefertarythan heretofore recognition during his lifetime since funerarytemples for
suspected:1) Her public support was clearly manifestedby heirs apparent are extremely rare. See Alan H. Gardiner,
her appearanceon the twin coronation stelae. 2) His 14- Egypt of the Pharaohs(1966), 178.That Thutmose I would
month stay in Kush demonstrateshe had a competentand have providedan equally splendid burial sepulchercan be
faithful ally at home. 3) She outrankedhim on the Syrian assumed. Thomas (Royal Necropoleis, 73 and 186) has
vase fragmentfound in KV20. 4) She rankedaheadof him suggestedthat either the Wadi el-Habl Tomb B, which had
on the KarnakGate. 5) He probablycompleted the decora- "a royal purpose,"or KV32 (p. 186)or even QV 39 (p. 188),
tion of her mortuarytempleand may havebeen the instigator basedon size, location and plan, may have been quarriedfor
of hercult. 6) He commissionedherverylargequeenlytomb. Prince Wajmose.The author's appreciationis extended to
7) He employed the staff of Amenhotep I until after the ElizabethThomas for permissionto reproducethe Wadi el-
Queen'sdeath. Habl Tomb B plan and several other royal tomb plans in
Obvious questions spill forth: Did Thutmose I owe his fig. 3.
crown to Ahmose-Nefertary? Washe a puppet king chosen to 74The undeniable elimination of the Dra abuDl-Naga
widen the boundariesof Egypt and establish Egypt's influ- tomb as belonging to Amenhotep I caused Thomas, Royal
ence and tradingempireabroad?WasAhmose-Nefertarythe Necropoleis, 70-71, to adducethe only other royal tombs in
real power behind the throne? And does the cumulative the necropolis which possess the 120 cubit sheer drop
materialsupportthe findingof Schmitz(CdE53, 215-22, esp. documentedin the Abbot Papyrus, KV 39 or el-Habl B, as
218) that the childrenof Senisonb,Thutmose I and Ahmose, possibly owned by the king. For the reasons deduced by
wereraisedto the position of king and queen underpeaceful Weigall, A Guide to the Antiquities, 183 (map) and 223-24,
circumstances? and The Treasuryof Ancient Egypt (1911),174-75, when he

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88 JARCE XXII (1985)

other members of the Ahmosid family dying at built for a queen,76 while a left-hand turn was
the close of Amenhotep I's reign and first four incorporated throughout the kingly series up to
years of Thutmose I's rule would have presented the Amarna period77 (fig. 3). Unfortunately,
additional opportunities to Ineni to develop and Romer did not pursue his own unique criterion
utilize the tomb elements which flowered nearly and settle for all time the real owner of the
in full bloom in the Dra abuDl-Naga and KV 38 controversial KV 42. 78 It was the "definite and
tombs: the pit or stairway entrance, the ante- invariably progressive development throughout
chamber, and a pillared sepulchral hall with a the tomb series, always in the direction of further
storeroom. Consequently, one could argue that elaboration of the type,"79 which indicated to
any of these necropolis tasks might have been the Hayes that KV 42 was really excavated for
subject of his pretitled reference on Stela B. Thutmose II.80To the evidence of the early form
Nonetheless, it is in the ancient cemetery and of the unfinished stone sarcophagus discovered
among the royal tombs that proof of Ineni's within, the larger cartouche-shaped sepulchral
genius is to be found. hall, and a more refined architectural design over
Romer's important investigation of the early KV 38 can now be added the telling left turn from
18th Dynasty tombs was of value in determining the antechamber to verify KV 42 was built for a
the true owner of Ahmose-Nefertary's tomb and
the date of its intrusive well and enlargement of 76Ibid., 193ff.Besidesthe tombsfound in fig. 3, thereis the
its burial chamber.75 He also distinguished the unfinished grave of Princess Nufrure (Romer, MDAIK32,
remarkable fact that in the royal tombs the 196,citing Carter'sfig. 18);and even Akhenatonfollowed the
sepulcher has a gender; if a tomb exhibited a procedureby excavatingPrincessMeketaton's burial suite to
the right of his royaltomb'saxis at Amarna(ibid., 93;PM IV,
right-hand turn from the tunnel -corridor and
226, for plan).
antechamber into the burial chamber, it was 77 See fig. 3: others are KV 35 = Amenhotep II; KV
43 = Thutmose IV; KV 22 = Amenhotep III. The Amarna
tomb of Akhenatonis the firstto exhibit the straightgallery
identified KV 39 as Amenhotep I's, this tomb again is the into the royalburialchamberwithout eithera right-angleor
obvious choice. Weigall measuredthe mouth of KV39 as 120 left-angleturninto the king's sepulcher.This tomb plan was
cubits down from "The Height," the way station and high followedby Ay (= KV23)and by every19thand 20th Dynasty
point on the well-troddenpath leading from the village of ruler'stomb exceptin KV7, the second tomb of RamessesII,
Deir el-Medinah to the Valley of the Kings. The passage which revertedback to the right-angled antechamberand a
from the Abbott Papyrus,as translatedby T. E. Peet, The puzzlingright-handsarcophaguspillaredhall which hereto-
Great Tomb Robberiesof the TwentiethEgyptian Dynasty fore indicateda femaleowner. See PM 1.2,504, and Thomas,
(1930) 38 ("measures120 cubits in depth from its stela (?) Royal Necropoleis,94, for tomb plan.
called Pacaka, north of the House of Amenhotpe of the 78 Romercontinuedto maintain that neitherThutmose I's
Garden"), undoubtedly pinpoints the top of the workers' or Thutmose II's tombs have been discovered(MDAIK32,
path wheretheircult stelaeand shrines,somededicatedto the 191,note 1, and 202,note 55). He erred,too, by associatingKV
deifiedAmenhotep, were erectedamong the priests'and/or 20 with the one Ineni hewed for Thutmose I (JEA60, 119fT.;
watchmen'shuts extantin the 20th Dynasty(PM 1.2,588-89). MDAIK32, 205, note 73; and Valleyof the Kings [1981]25).
The present writer would modify Weigall's proposed loca- But KV 20 was most certainly Hatshepsut's kingly tomb,
tions for the unidentified structure, "Amenhotep of the incorporating the right-hand turn into the double burial
Garden,"a templecited only this one time, by suggestingthe chamberas built by Hapusonb: URK IV, 388;ARE II, 389;
landmarkwas the cult temple built at Deir el-Medinahfor Edgerton,The ThutmosidSuccession,36; Winlock,JEA 10,
AmenhotepI (now uninscribed)with a chapel for Ahmose- 54; and William C. Hayes, Royal Sarcophagiof the XVIII
Nefertary(PM 1.2, 693-94) on the northeast corner of the Dynasty (1935), 17, note 67. For positive identifications,see
workmen's village (PM 1.2, xiii-xiv for maps), and from below notes 83 and 102.
which in a northerndirectionlay "the 'high place'remains,a 79 Hayes,Royal Sarcophagi,7.
mute witness to the piety of the men who built the great 80 Ibid., 7-10 and 15-17, correctly dismissed Merytre-
tombs in the valley below" (William J. Murnane, The Hatshepsutas possibleowner(p. 10,note 37). As for the vases
Penguin Guide to Ancient Egypt [1983] 281, and map on and jar belonging to MayorSenneferand his wife, to whom
p. 247). "Amenhotepof the Garden"cannot be equatedwith M. Howard Carter("Report Upon the Tomb of Sen-Nefer
Mni-sw.t,as proposedby Van Siclen, Serapis6, 193-94, since Foundat BibanEl-Molouknearthatof Thotmes III No. 34,"
the investigatorsof the king's tombin the time of RamessesX ASAE 2 [1901] 196-200) originally assigned the tomb, the
were not visiting the Dra abu3l-Naga grave of Ahmose- only conclusion that can be drawn is that by the reign of
Nefertary. AmenhotepII, KV42 was indeedempty of the royal mummy
75Romer,MDAIK32, 201-6. of ThutmoseII.

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 NEFER'S INSCRIPTION 89

Fig. 3 EarlyNew Kingdom Tomb Plans

(afterThomas, 1979,1966;and Hayes, 1935)

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90 JARCEXXII (1985)

king and not a female member of the royal infallible test that KV42 was designed(by Ineni?)
family. This means that KV 42 was constructed and hewed for Thutmose II.84Moreover,during
during the lifetime of Ineni, who on Stela A the regency period Ineni had his own tomb
reportedthat Thutmose II 'Vent forth to heaven, decorated, a dating firmly established by the
having mingled with the gods."81 incorporation of the 1/3 moon-sign, a unique
When Thutmose II died, Ineni must have been mode of writing according to Vandersleyen,and
a veryold man; he spoke of reachingthe "old age by the final incidentsrecordedin his life story.85
of the revered"as this king supplied him from But it is the thirdand majorconclusion Romer
the royal table. His officeof Mayorand Overseer arrived at after a meticulous examination of
of the Double Granariesdoubtlessly had passed Hatshepsut's queenly tomb in the Wadi Sikket
on to his son, Kenamon,for by the inception of Taqet Zaid86that provides the elusive "proof."
the regency period, Senenmut had assumed the Romer's measurements demonstrated conclu-
titles.82Even though elderly, Ineni was appar- sively that Hatshepsut'stomb "may now be seen
ently still active and at work in the royal as a smallerand carefullystudieddesign basedin
necropolis. A hint to this effect comes from large part upon the earlier tomb," i.e., Ahmose-
Ineni's boasts that while working on KV 38, he Nefertary'sgrave,87and that "the original square
"made fields of clay in order to plaster their burial chamber that fits the module scheme
tombsof the necropolis,"the plural formindicat- employed in the rest of the tomb . . . was taken
ing that Ineni lived to see more than KV 38 up again by the designersof Queen Hatshepsut's
decoratedwith his mud plaster.Since the yellow tomb. . . . Both tombs are identical until they
tinted mud plaster has been discoveredonly in reach the second corridor, where the tomb of
KV 38, KV 34 and KV 42,83it offers another Queen Hatshepsut is 2 m. smaller than that of
the Dra AbuDl Nega tomb." Romer further
81 URKIV, 59;ARE II, 118. reporteda most striking architecturalsimilarity:
82 See abovenotes 38 and 39. "The great pillar in the burial chamber of the
83The mud plasterfound in KV42 was thought by Carter
Dra Abu3l Nega tomb, a four cubit cube, is the
(ASAE2, 197)to have been a "fineyellow mud (hiebr),now same size as the entire third room of the tomb of
dry,which was carriedin by the waterwhich had coveredthe
floorsof the lower chambers."Thomas, Royal Necropoleis,
71, and laterRomer,calledattentionto the fact that only KV
38, 34 and 42 "had yellow-tinted plaster upon the walls,
though this is very fragmentaryin KV 38 ..." All threehad 72). Ineni's words make it impossible for KV 20 to have
someMr-frieze(Romer,JEA60, 122,andMDAIK32, 338-39). originally been excavatedfor Thutmose I. The use of "mud
Hayes, Royal Sarcophagi,9, note 34: "Fourfragmentsof the plasteras a coating"was reportedby Saleh Aly ("The Tomb
paintedstuccodecorationof the sepulchralhall of Tuthmosis of Wnjs-cnhat Qurna[PM-No.413],"MDAIK26 [1970],201
I were found." CompareIneni's remarkwith Nims', "The and 203) when discussingwall-paintingsfroma 6th Dynasty
walls of the sarcophagusroom of Thutmosis I (Tomb 38) tomb that had been "lightly washed after that with yellow
were plasteredand decoratedwith a painted composition," paint." Interestingly,this tomb'sownertoo was "governorof
(Thebes, 145).Ineni, too, solves the issue of ownershipof KV the south and controllerof the granaries"(p. 206).
38 and KV 20 raised by Romer, JEA 60, 119ff. Although 84 Hayes, Royal Sarcophagi, 15, seemed certain that
Romer advancedTomb KV 20 as the one quarriedby Ineni Thutmose II was neverinterredin KV42. However,since no
for Thutmose I, the scholardescribedhis on-site inspection royal tomb of the early 18th Dynasty was finished, his
thusly:"Mostof the tomb was cut in such loose rockthat any argumentloses validity.
smoothing and finishing of the excavatedwalls would have 85 Ineni's tomb may havebeen excavatedin ThutmoseII's
been impossible, and there is no evidence of plastering" reign but its decorationswere completed in the regency of
(p. 123),followed by his note 23 wherein he cited Theodore Hatshepsut(seenote 35).
M. Davis, E. Naville, and H. Carter, The Tomb of 86 Romer,MDAIK32, 200fT.The tombwas firstreportedby
Hatshopsitu (1906)Ch. Ill, and then wrote, "checkedby the M. HowardCarter,"ATomb PreparedforQueenHatshepsuit
writer for traces of plaster." Thomas (Royal Necropoleis, and Other Recent Discoveries at Thebes," JEA 4 (1917),
71-75) advocatedKV38 as probablythe earliestin the Valley 114ff.,Plates XIX, XX; see also Thomas, Royal Necropoleis,
and that it undoubtedlybelonged to Thutmose I. She also 195-96; Hayes, Royal Sarcophagi, 16-17 with fig. 3; PM
called attention to Carter'sdescriptionof KV 38 as of "very 1.2,591.
87 Romer, MDAIK32, 199-200. Earlier,Thomas, Royal
rough appearancetoday,"and the workother than in Hall J
"being so carelessthat only the plan shows it to be royal." Necropoleis,189ff.,had observedthat much of the plan of the
Carterfound plaster"bywhich 'the irregularitiesweresome- Dra abu'1-Nagatomb was copied by Hatshepsut'sarchitect
what improved'in the southeastcornerof C. and Ja." (ibid., for her cliffsidetomb.

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 NEFER'SINSCRIPTION 91

Queen Hatshepsut.This four cubit dimension is signify a hermit existence or religious retreat,
quite unrelated to the metric scheme of either Hoffmeier theorized that Ineni, directing the
tomb. Simply, a four cubit cube of rock at the construction of his own tomb, had pitched his
heart of one tomb becomes a four cubit rock- tent near its site and that it was here Hatshepsut
hewn cubic room in the other, the final room of traveled.But the knowledgegleaned from Ineni's
that tomb."88 life and the architecturalevidence explain the
Obviously there are but three possible means true reason for his final royal tribute. Ineni did
by which the architectof Hatshepsut's queenly receive the Queen-regent in his tent pitched in
tomb could have so exactly duplicated the grave Western Thebes but not at Tomb 81; instead
of her predecessor:1) He came upon the plans Ineni's interesting phrase, "she recognized my
preserved somewhere; 2) he opened Ahmose- worth at court," give an inkling that Ineni
Nefertary's tomb and took measurements; or And one day when Hatshepsut rode out into the
3) he workedon the Dra abu'1-Nagatomb some desert to inspect the project or perhaps witness
20 yearsearlier,perhapsas the original architect her queenly quartzite sarcophagus hoisted
and acted as consultant or headed the construc- skywardto await her mortal remains,93she filled
tion of the cleft tomb for the woman who would Ineni's tent with vast amounts of silver, gold,
be king. linens, and all beautiful stuffs of the palace. It
Of his life under Hatshepsut, Ineni wrote, could not have been much later that Ineni died.
"Her majesty praised me, she loved me, she Once more Ineni's autobiography divulges
recognizedmy worth at court, she presentedme historical informationwhich aids in reconstruct-
with things, she magnified me, she filled my ing the past: the Wadi Sikket Taqet Zaid tomb
house (im) with silverand gold, with all beautiful was hewed during the short regencyof Hatshep-
stuffs of the royal house."89For what reasondid sut and not while she servedas King's GreatWife
Hatshepsutrewardher father'sold servant?Does for Thutmose II as Hayes envisioned.94The
Ineni's interesting phrase, "she recognized my difficultyof access to the mouth of her bab-tomb
worth at court," give an inkling that Ineni high in the 386-foot sheer-facedcliff, and the
continued to participate in major building formalized enhancement of her queenly sar-
endeavorseven though his officialdayswereover? cophagus over the unpolished, uninscribed
A valid and crucial emendation to the text kingly versionof Thutmose II's corroboratesthat
above was offeredby Hoffmeier in 197790when Ineni was employedby Hatshepsutwhen she was
he called attention to the Egyptianexpressionim the powerbehind the throneand not the wife of a
and argued that ratherthan meaning "house"as reigning monarch. Hayes' Sarcophagi A and B
Breastedtranslatedthe term, the word should be must be reversed in the series of early stone
rendered"tent."But afteradducing the evidence monuments.
for this translation, Hoffmeier was forced to
explain why a wealthy retired or semi-retired V. On the Talent of Nefer'sFather
administratorwould speakof residing in a tent.91
Rejecting Federn's proposal that this might Nefer's curious allusion to the deed his father
performedwas, without doubt, a proud reference

s8 Romer,MDAIK32, 199-200.See below note 104. 92 One cannot imagine how the elderlyarchitectscaledthe
89 URKIV, 60-61; ARE II, 342. 230-foot high sheerfacedcliff to the tomb's entranceor how
90 J. Hoffmeier, "Tents in Egypt and the Ancient Near he lowered himself 138 feet from the top of the vertical
East,"Newsletter,Vol. VII, No. 3, SSEA(May, 1977)13-28, sandstoneridge in order to check the cutting progress.For
esp. 20-21. sketchof cliff, see Carter,JEA 4, pl. XX.
91 Ibid., 14-15,citing thesametermas usedby Hatshepsut's 93 Her yellow quartzite sarcophagus, 199 cm. long by
messenger when he pitched his tent in Punt, and used 73 cm. wide and weighing severaltons, was either lifted 230
throughout the Annals of Thutmose III. Moreover,Amen- feet to the mouth of her tomb or loweredfrom the top of the
hotep III pitched a tent during his sailing venture to the verticalsandstoneridge 138feetdown;in eithercaseit was an
Height of Hua in Year5: R. O. Faulkner,"A Possible Royal unparalleledengineeringfeat.
Visit to Punt," Studi scrittiin onore di Ippolito Rossellini II 94 Hayes, Royal Sarcophagi, 9ff., 16-17 and 54; Scep-
(1955),86; URKIV, 1736. ter, 102.

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92 JARCE XXII (1985)

to the excavation of Ahmose-Nefertary's tomb What does stand out in the Dra abu'1-Naga
when Ineni was still Chief of the Necropolis. tomb as unique was the inauguration of the
Was it simply the task of extracating and pillared hall, a tomb element destined to become
completing the large and well-constructed tomb the focal point in all the kings' tombs thereafter.
that won the admiration and attention of Yet Ineni's architectural achievement was cer-
Thutmose I or was it something more - the tainly not revolutionary or inventive: like other
introduction of a new tomb element? influences in tomb decoration and design spilling
The surveys of Thomas and Romer amongst over from the Middle Kingdom tombs of the
the Royal Tombs have disclosed that the setting nobles and rulers into the New Kingdom as cited
of the Dra abu'1-Naga tomb was not the original by Romer,98 the stone pillar was also a Middle
break from the immediate past as first believed.95 Kingdom inspiration. Apparently during Ineni's
Ahmose I had interred Queen Tetisheri in the apprenticeship in the necropolis or when roam-
Valley of the Queens, QV 4 1;96 and Queen ing Western Thebes where the graves of the
Inhapy was laid to rest in the cliff at Deir el- Middle Kingdom officials honeycombed the cliffs
Bahri, Tomb 320. Amenhotep I followed the and hills, Ineni became aware of this architec-
precedent by entombing Queen (Ahmose?) Mery- tural form. In fact, one such tomb, Tomb 366 in
tamon in the vicinity of his temple in the bay at the Asasif region, with eight pillars, dug in the
Deir el-Bahri, Tomb 358, while he himself was reign of Mentuhotep Nebhepetre, was probably
most likely buried in KV 39. If the location of the model for Ineni's own tomb excavated but
Ahmose-Nefertary's grave was not the initial 400 feet distant.99
departure from the 17th Dynasty burial practices, If not entirely novel in design, the Dra abu'l-
neither was the design of her queenly tomb Naga tomb was, however, a giant step forward in
wholly innovative, since the pit entry, the long tomb development and refinement of technique.
gallery, and the right-hand turn from the main Some eight years afterwards, Ineni adapted
axis into the burial chamber were shared by the another Middle Kingdom feature, the descending
earlier tombs of Inhapy and Merytamon.97 passage from the antechamber into the burial
room,100 for the tomb he excavated for Thut-
95 Romer, MDAIK 32, 206. mose I. Again, a single pillar was carved in the
96 Thomas (Royal Necropoleis, 45 and 170-71) proposed
that QV 41 belonged to Tetisheri due to its location, plus the
fact that Ahmose I probably initiated separate tombs since he However, it was the "striking resemblance" between the two
incorporated the term is, indicating a "pit tomb," rather than tombs which led Hayes, Scepter, 53, to revise Winlock's
the word mr for pyramid-tomb (earlier discussed by Winlock, identification. Gitton, L'epouse du dieu Ahmes Nefertary, 14,
JEA 10, 225-26). Apparently Ahmose Sipir was the last to be too accepted similarity in plans.
buried in Dra abu'1-Naga; and one wonders if the devastation 98 Romer, MDAIK 32, 200-201.
of so many graves in the cemetery by the exceptionally heavy 99 Tomb 366 = U
rains prior to Year 22 of Ahmose I motivated the king to seek PM I.I, 428 r-'^l
out the higher and more sheltered cliffs for the royal burials. Middle Kingdom | |
See C. Vandersleyen, "Une Tempete sous le regne d'Amosis,"
RdE 19 (1967) 123-59; and "Deux nouveaux fragments de la Tomb 81 = ^/
stele d'Amosis relatant une Tempete," RdE 20 (1968) 127-34. PM I.I, 160 X66e,66&£
The change in burial practice certainly did not take place as Ineni | |
late as Thutmose III, as advocated by Romer, MDAIK 31, 345.
Thomas, op. cit., expressed confidence that the Dra abu'l- Tomb 67 =
jt^tj
Naga tomb, AN A (Howard Carter #238 [1917] map, PI. XIX) PMI.I, 124 ~J?
was most likely hewed for Queen Ahhotep I, the mother of Hapusonb H-rH
Ahmose I and Ahmose-Nefertary, being similar to KV 39 and
AN B (Ahmose-Nefetary's tomb). Tomb 71 = ft /
97 Although Thomas, Royal Necropoleis, 174, saw "little PM1.1,136
£zdt^
=t»=
similarity of plan" between DB 358 and Ahmose-Nefertary's Senenmut
tomb, the antechamber was already an element in Ahmose(?)
Merytamon's tomb, but only "partially realised" (Romer, 100Unless there is a second stairway
leading into the burial
MDAIK 32, 197; and Thomas, op. cit., 176, who cited in DB chambers of KV 32 or KV 39 (Thomas, Royal Necropoleis,
358, the elements "A-E at most, E without its shaft"). 73-74 and 274-77), the royal tomb of Thutmose I is the first

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 NEFER'S INSCRIPTION 93

Table 3 The Construction of Royal Tombs from 1550 B.C.to 1450 B.C.,and Ineni's Career

Probable Sequence of Tomb Number Turn into Burial Chamber ArchitecturalDevices Stone Sarophagus
Royal Tomb Excavations Tomb Type Right = Female Pillar(s) Mud Plaster (Hayes,1935)
Left = Male
Queen Tetisheri(?) QV 41
(Pit tomb)

Queen Inhapy DB 320 Right

(Pit tomb)

Queen Ahhotep(?) AN A Right

(Pit tomb)

Queen (Ahmose?) DB 358 Right

Merytamon (Pit tomb)

I
N King Amenhotep I KV 39 None- straight corridor
E (Stairwayentry) to sepulcher
N
I' Prince Amenmesses(P) KV 32 None- straight corridor (Hall J may have in-
S Death before Year 6 to sepulchur tended one)

Queen Ahmose-Nefertary Draabu'1-Naga Right First Square Pillar

Death Year 5, II smw 14 (Pit tomb) 1st Gallery 13M.a

Prince Wajmose Wadi El Habl B Left 1 Pillar

C (Stairwayentry) 1st Gallery 12 M.b
A
R Thutmose I KV 38 Curves Left 1 Pillar Yellow Tint
E (Stairwayentry) Cartouche-shapedHall
E
R Thutmose II KV 42 Left 2 Pillars Yellow Tint SarcophagusB
(Stairwayentry) Cartouche-shapedHall

Hatshepsut Wadi Sikket Right SarcophagusA

Year 1-2 of T.III Taqet Zaid

(Bab-tomb)

Hatshepsut KV 20 Right 3 Pillars SarcophagusC

Middle of Kingship (Stairwayentry) SarcophagusD

Thutmose III KV 34 Left

End of Kingship (Stairwayentry) Cartouche-shapedHall 2 Pillars Yellow Tint SarcophagusF

^Carter,1916,150.
^Thomas,1966,182,(estimated).

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94 JARCE XXII (1985)

center of the sepulchral hall, but this time the cophagus of the New Kingdom, a royal monu-
resourceful architect created the very imaginative ment that henceforth dominated all kingly
cartouche-shaped burial chamber for the king's burials. Who at court was the ingenious artisan
mummy and coffins. Yet despite his completely who brought into being this piece of funerary
ingenious design, Ineni modestly claimed only equipment? The fact that the stone box was
the invention of the mud-plaster for the use of fashioned after the wooden coffins of the Middle
decorating tombs. Kingdom103 points to the master of Egyptian
When Thutmose II died, two stone pillars were funeral tradition as its creator.
hewed in his near perfectly executed cartouche- For Queen Hatshepsut Ineni modified and
shaped tomb, a tomb which must be acknowl- incorporated many of the features from the Dra
edged as the culmination of Ineni's vast experi- abu'1-Naga tomb but, interestingly, did not cut a
ence and expertise for its advanced plan and stone pillar. Instead, her unfinished crypt was
skilled construction. It was the precision of this planned to be the size of the square pillar in
royal tomb, its proportions and controlled work- Ahmose-Nefertary's tomb and was deliberately
manship, with its acute angles, that misled quarried, according to Romer, to snugly hold
Thomas into believing it was excavated shortly Hatshepsut's small stone sarcophagus, but not
after KV 35 for Amenhotep II and by the same until after the sarcophagus had been filled with
architect.101 Romer also considered this tomb the deceased Queen within her anthropoid coffins
more refined than Thutmose Ill's and was thus in the antechamber and then lowered into the
convinced KV 42 belonged to the end of his long cubital room. Her crypt, therefore, was "intended
reign or later.102That it took nearly a century of as a measure of security" and so was "reminiscent
architectural know-how to again achieve such of many Middle Kingdom burials," concluded
results is a credit to Ineni's superior ability. Romer.104
Inside KV 42 was placed the first stone sar- While the discussion is fresh in mind, it seems
worthwhile to summarize in tabular form (see
table 3) the developmental phases and sequence
in the New Kingdom series to incorporatethe descentfrom of the early 18th Dynasty royal tombs, many
the interiorof the antechamberto the corridorleading into
the sepulchral hall (Romer, JEA 60, 122). For plan, see constructed during Ineni's lifetime. Those tombs
Thomas, Royal Necropoleis, 85; PM 1.2, 548; Hayes, Royal challenged by Romer- KV 34, KV 42 and KV
Sarcophagi,6. 20- are reassigned to their proper owners as the
101Thomas Royal Necropoleis, 75 and 78-80. Calling
evidence from Ineni's autobiography requires.
attention to the fact that KV 42's entrance was "below a In summation, the historical questions raised
waterfallin a cornerof the cliffs similar to that selectedby
Thutmose I" (p. 78), Thomas, nevertheless,questioned the at the onset of this study appear to find satis-
ownership because of the "tomb's apparent precision," factory answers by synchronizing the inscriptions
especiallysince "the stepsareas perfectin executionas those on the stelae of Nefer and Ineni: their father-son
of 43 (T. IV) while the slightly decreasedangle of the descent relationship and the mysterious act performed by
is morenearlythatof 43 and 35 (AmII) thanof the two earlier Ineni who, as the head of the necropolis, put his
tombs"(p. 79). The foundationdepositsbelonging to Queen
talent to work on the great tomb of Ahmose-
Merytre-Hatshepsut found near its entrance were also a
factor. For Hayes' resolution to that problem, see Royal Nefertary when she died in Year 5, II smw 14,
Sarcophagi,10, note 37. about eight months after Thutmose I returned
102Romer, JEA 60, 122, and MDAIK32, 200-201; so too from Syria. Because of the information contained
PM 1.2, 559, expresseddoubt. Yet it was Romer,MDAIK31, in the writings of the two scribes, the shadow
347,note 87, who pointedout that "it is interestingto observe
that both KV 42 and 38 have burial chamberproportionsof reign of Thutmose I comes alive with historical
virtually2:2,whereasThutmosis Ill's chamberis 1.75,which
becamestandardfor the next threeroyal tombs. KV's42 and
38 are narrowerthan almost all the later royal tombs of the 103Hayes, Royal Sarcophagi,39-42; Romer, MDAIK32,
Valley,none of which are2:1,most of themgroupingaround 200 and 202.
1.33:1and 1.5:1."It is the presentwriter'scontention that the 104Romer,MDAIK32, 200, estimatedthat the dimensions
duplicationof measurementscoupledwith the otherevidence of the crypt made "a snug fit for the sarcophagus,allowing
adduced herein forcefully demonstratesthat Ineni was the only 12 cm at its ends and 1.38m in its sides after
architectfor both the tombsof Thutmose I and Thutmose II. emplacement."

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 NEFER'S INSCRIPTION 95

Table 4 Proposed Chronology of Events

Jan. July 18th Dec.

Peret Shomu III smw 14 ±2 days Akhet
1530 b.c. Death of III 21
Amenhotep I Accession of Thutmose I
KUSH CAMPAIGN
1529 b.c. 1/2 * * I smw ******** ******** ******** j d^ * * n 3/^ 15 ********
Tangur Kurgus Tombos
1528 b.c. 2/3 * * * * i $mw 22
Aswan
1527 b.c. 3/4 Prince Syrian Campaign to the Euphrates ******** Karnak Gate decorated
Amenmesses Kdm vase manufactured

1526 b.c. 4/5 II smw 14 IV smw 24 Appointment of Viceroy Seni

Death of Ahmose- Burial Elevation of Ineni to Mayor
Nefertary Dra-Abu'1-Naga Tomb
Death or retirement of Viceroy Thure
1525 b.c. 5/6 Nefer's Stela
Building Program at Karnak for Jubilee
Director of the Works, Ineni
1524 b.c. 6/7 By now Prince Wajmose Heir Apparent/Death of Amenmesses

1523 b.c. 7/8 Village at Excavation of Obelisks

Deir el-Medinah Pair floated down on
1522 b.c. Jubilee 8/9 Jubilee being built High Nile
1521 b.c. 9/10
1520 b.c. 10/11
1519 b.c. 11/12 Replacement of wooden columns at Karnak
1518 b.c. 12/13 Construction of KV 38 II Iht 8
Accession of Thutmose II
War in Nubia
July 18th
III smw 17 + 2 days
13 years of reign for King Thutmose II
Kenamon was Overseer of Double Granaries of Amon(?)
Excavation of KV 42 by Ineni and manufacture of first stone Sarcophagus B
1504 b.c. Regnal Year 14 /I smw 4
Thutmose II Accession of
Thutmose III Excavation of Hatshepsut's Queenly tomb and second stone
Sarcophagus A
1503 b.c. 1/2
1502 b.c. Wprt29 2/3
Accession of Hatshepsut

and human events resulting in a tentative recon- to the outstanding contributions the architect
struction of the period (see table 4). Moreover, made in the development of New Kingdom royal
this search for Nefer's father has uncovered sur- tombs and funeral paraphernalia during the 30
prisingly new and different impressions of several years he ably served four 18th Dynasty kings.
historical persons, not the least of whom is Ineni,
when, for the first time, Egyptologists are privy Oak Ridge, Tennessee

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