Pennut's grave

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Entrance to the tomb of Pennut

The tomb of Pennut is an ancient Egyptian rock tomb that is now in New Amada on the shores of Lake Nasser in the Egyptian part of Nubia (Lower Nubia ). The original location of the grave was about 27 kilometers southwest of the village of Aniba (ʿIneiba), the ancient Egyptian Miam (Mjˁm) , across from Kasr Ibrim .

The grave of Pennut was about a kilometer north-west of the necropolis of the New Kingdom , the behind on the west bank of the Nile was created nearby Egyptian town of Miam. The grave was dug into a ledge of the northernmost of a series of isolated sandstone mounds on the desert area, with the entrance facing southeast towards the city. In addition to the grave of Djehutihotep from Debeira-Ost about 25 kilometers north of Wadi Halfa , which today stands in the courtyard of the National Museum of Khartoum , the grave of Pennut is the only grave monument that was erected in the 1960s before the rising waters of Lake Nasser theAswan High Dam, dammed up reservoir of the Nile, was completely recovered. The temples of Derr and Amada are also in the immediate vicinity .

Location and description

The tomb of Pennut, rebuilt in 1964, is located about 150 kilometers southwest of the Aswan High Dam and 79 kilometers northeast of the Abu Simbel temples . It is located under an artificially raised hill about 200 meters from the shores of Lake Nasser in the west. Derr Temple was rebuilt 560 meters south of the rock tomb. The temple of Amada, after which the place New Amada is named, stands today 700 meters south of the tomb of Pennut.

View from the entrance to the grave

The entrance to the rock grave now points exactly south, compared to the original deviation of 23 ° to the north-south direction. In front of him is a 7.50 x 2.50 meter atrium with a niche probably intended for a stele . The burial chapel, carved into the rock, is 5.90 meters wide, 2.70 meters deep and 1.90 meters high. Behind the entrance, in the middle of the room, was a three-meter-deep rectangular shaft with a coffin chamber on the floor offset to the west. When moving the grave, the grave shaft was only hinted at, not restored. Behind the shaft, opposite the entrance, a statue niche, slightly widened to the rear, has been carved out of the rock. It can be seen that there were three images of gods there, which are completely destroyed today and of which the middle one was apparently worked out as a cow's head. It is not clear whether the pictures were still or sitting. The architrave above the niche with the sun boat and an adoring baboon and a fish on each side has been preserved, albeit poorly . The reliefs on the other walls were badly damaged by grave robbers in the 20th century .

Pennut and Tacha

The pictures and inscriptions of the burial chapel, executed as sunken reliefs, which have often retained their color, are arranged thematically. The here and now in the eastern half with important experiences of Pennut and sacrifices to the gods and before the deceased is the afterlife of Western over, almost exclusively with scenes from the Book of the Dead . With the exception of the south-eastern entrance wall, which bears a large inscription, which is now heavily damaged, the other walls of the burial chapel were divided into an upper and a lower row of pictures. On the other hand, on the left, western door jamb of the entrance, in the middle under an inscription, the grave owner Pennut (Pn-nw · t) with his wife Tacha (T3-ḫʿ · t) is depicted as they step out of the grave with raised hands and adoring the sun at the same time greet visitors to the tomb. The decoration of the eastern door jamb has not been preserved. In funerary chapels of the Ramesside period, from which the tomb of Pennut originates, the tomb lord and his wife were depicted at the entrance worshiping aspects of the sun god, often in the form of Re-Harachte as the rising sun of the day and on the right of Atum or Osiris as the "night sun".

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Eastern south wall of the burial chapel
Drawing after Richard Lepsius from 1844 and today's condition

The large inscription on the south side of the eastern area of ​​the burial chapel was fully documented by Richard Lepsius in August 1844 , including the two-sided depictions of gods and people. The twenty-line hieroglyphic text reports on a foundation of land or an agricultural property on the east bank of the Nile, the proceeds of which were used to entertain the cult sacrifices for a king statue of Ramses VI. to be used in the temple of Miam, probably that of Horus . Heinrich Brugsch translated the inscription literally for the first time and published it in 1877 in his History of Egypt under the Pharaohs . The text was flanked by gods in the upper row of images, on the left by Ptah and Thoth and on the right by the Theban triad, consisting of Amun , Mut and Chons . Below right was the grave owner Pennut with the “head of the granary” Penre (Pn-rʿ) , both of them praying towards the inscription. You and the images of gods are no longer preserved today. Only the two praying female figures in the lower row of pictures to the left of the text and about a third of the inscription are still present.

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East wall of the burial chapel
Drawing after Richard Lepsius from 1844 and today's condition

About three quarters of the reliefs on the east wall have been destroyed today. What remained are the depictions of two sacrificing female figures on the right side of the lower row of pictures, the wife and daughter of Pennut, above them in the upper row of pictures the grave owner with outspread arms, holding in each hand an ointment bowl as it is decorated by two subordinates, as well as a corresponding inscription to the left of this scene. Lepsius was still able to fully draw the wall reliefs in 1844. On the left side of the upper row of pictures, King Ramses VI was enthroned. with the blue crown and the Ankh symbol in his left hand under a canopy . The unnamed Viceroy of Kusch standing in front of him was commissioned by him, according to the inscription, to hand over two silver ointment vessels to the "deputy" Pennut. Between this commission and the inscription received, the viceroy was depicted again, accompanied by the "landlord" Meri (Mrịị) standing in front of the statue of the king on a pedestal, which was flanked by the "standards" of the gods Amun-Re and Horus. The wife of Pennut T3-ḫʿ · t and his daughter T-ḥn · t sacrificed in the lower picture area in front of four no longer existing people in two rows, above two men and below two women, the parents and probably the grandparents of Pennut represented. To the left of this picture, Pennut poured water on a sacrificial table as a libation for his mother T3-ḫʿ · t sitting in front of him and possibly his grandmother, whose name had not been preserved. Ten other people followed in two rows, five men at the top and five women below, as couples who were identified by the hieroglyphics as priests and singers. In the lower left picture of the east wall, Pennut poured water on a table decorated with offerings and flowers. The inscription there represented an invocation of his deceased ancestors.

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Eastern north wall of the burial chapel
Drawing after Richard Lepsius from 1844 and today's condition

On the north wall east of the statue niche, large parts of the upper row of pictures and a small fragment of the lower one have been preserved. In the upper scene, Pennut, the owner of the grave, his wife and six sons adore the falcon-headed god Re-Harachte , who sits on the left on a throne. Family members have raised their right hands in prayer. The Pennut's wife holds a sistrum in her left hand , while the men hold three papyrus stems each with their left hand at head level. The lower row of pictures, which is almost completely missing today, showed the praying Pennut and his wife in front of the god Osiris with an atef crown , crook and flagellum, sitting on a pedestal in front of the sign of the “West” . Between Osiris and the two praying people stood a lotus flower on which there were small representations of the geniuses of the dead, the four sons of Horus, Amset , Duamutef , Hapi and Kebechsenuef . Pennut and his wife were holding three papyrus stems or a sistrum in their left hand, as in the upper row of pictures. To the right of this scene, eight seated people looking to the right were depicted in two rows, four men at the top and four women below, who were the ancestors called by Pennut on the lower left section of the east wall. In this continuation of the representation of the east wall, “Osiris Ḥ3tỉ3 , Osiris Ḥr-nḫt , Osiris Pn-nw · t , Osiris Ỉmn-m-ỉp · t and their hosts (women) who are in the hereafter" were named.

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West south wall of the burial chapel.
Drawing after Richard Lepsius from 1844 and today's condition

The image program on the west side of the burial chapel begins on the western south wall next to the entrance with the judgment of the dead in the upper row of images, which continues on the west wall. While the “ court hall ” is still there on the left, the depiction of the Pennut standing in front of it in the direction of the grave entrance, which was still available in Lepsius's time, is missing. The lower part of the following funeral court was also knocked off the wall in the 20th century and removed from the grave. Pennut and his wife can still be seen on the right of the “court hall” with their hands raised in adoration, who have entered through the gate. This is followed by an inscription and behind it at the right end of the south wall the writing god Thoth with a papyrus roll . He notes the result of the weighing of the heart , which was shown under the inscription and is no longer available today. Here the heart of the grave owner was weighed by the god Anubis on a scales with the world order Maat , while the demonic Ammit as a helper of Osiris waited to eat it when a convicted "lie of the heart" was heard. From the mouth opening ritual in the lower row of pictures, only half of a male person and six women of the mourning suite, each titled as “singer”, possibly daughters of the deceased, remain. On the missing right side of the wall, a priest held the mummy in front of the kneeling, plaintive widow, while a Sem priest poured water next to her. This was followed by a priest with a flower and a vessel, another reading the ritual and the funeral suite, including three sons of the deceased.

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West wall of the burial chapel
Drawing after Richard Lepsius from 1844 and today's condition

The reliefs and inscriptions on the west wall of the burial chapel are only preserved in the upper area. The scenes of the judgment of the dead continue from the south wall to the middle of the wall. The falcon-headed god Harsiese , equipped with the double crown , leads Pennut and his wife to Osiris. He sits in a chapel, the door of which is open and in front of which there was a small altar, the image of which is no longer recognizable today. Between the chapel door and Osiris there is a lotus flower with the genii of the dead. The seated god is accompanied by the twin sisters Isis and Nephthys standing behind him . The northern half of the west wall contains an inscription at the top that contains sentences from the 125th chapter of the Book of the Dead on the confession of sinlessness. Among them was the depiction of the grieving Isis and Nephthys in front of and behind the deceased laid out on a lion bed, on whom Anubis resurrected to eternal life. The completely removed lower row of images on the left shows the worship of the seated gods Re-Harachte, Atum and Chepri by the Pennut standing in front of them, followed by the praying Pennut and his wife. The lower right side of the wall was divided into three superimposed sections, in which pictures from the 110th chapter of the Book of the Dead, etc. a. the work on the fields of the blessed were reproduced.

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Western north wall of the burial chapel
Drawing after Richard Lepsius from 1844 and today's condition

Most of the scenes on the western north wall have been preserved, if not completely. This may be due to the fact that parts of the lower row of pictures on the left and towards the floor were already missing in Lepsius' time, which made them worthless to grave robbers. Only a representation of God at the bottom right was carved out of the rock. The upper row of pictures begins on the left with an inscription behind which Pennut, on his knees and with raised hands, worships the necropolis goddess Hathor in the form of a cow , emerging from the steep slope of the western mountains . She is surrounded by papyrus plants and is accompanied by the small, standing hippopotamus goddess Thoeris , who holds a staff in one hand and a scorpion in the other. In front of the mountain is a burial chapel with a pyramid-shaped roof, possibly an allusion to the Theban necropolis . Behind a papyrus plant to the right of the mountain stand Pennut with three papyrus stems and his wife with a sistrum praying in front of the human-headed god Re - Chepri sitting on a throne . In the lower row of images, the deceased is ritually cleaned with water by Thoth and Anubis in front of a chapel in which the falcon-headed Re-Harachte is enthroned. To the right of it, only Pennut's wife with a sistrum can be seen today. Originally she stepped with her husband, papyrus stalk in her left hand, in front of the seated Ptah - Sokar - Osiris , whose portrait was knocked out of the wall. The four genii of the dead stood before the god on a lotus flower.

The reliefs surrounding the cult niche in the center of the north wall of the tomb are also lost today. Only the architrave with the sun barge, the two monkeys adoring it and two fish symbolizing the water have been preserved, albeit difficult to recognize. On the severed pages Pennut was depicted praying, on the left above him a prayer to Re-Harachte, on the right to Atum of Heliopolis (see below ).

history

Approximate coordinates of the original location: 22 ° 40 ′ 23 ″ N, 32 ° 00 ′ 47 ″ E

At the time of the discovery of Pennut's tomb, the relief furnishings were almost complete. Johann Ludwig Burckhardt was one of the first Europeans to describe the burial chapel, which he visited in March 1813: “About three kilometers from the river there is an isolated sandstone hill in which a small burial chamber has been designed, seven steps long and three wide and five and a half feet high, with a burial pit in the middle; this is followed by a smaller chamber, in the lower part of which a bust is placed between two seats, probably intended for mummies. The sides of the main chamber are covered with paintings, the colors of which are as well preserved as those in the tombs of the kings of Thebes, although they were not so well executed (...) ”

Edging of the cult niche after Richard Lepsius

In Panorame d'Egypte et de Nubie by Hector Horeau from 1841 there was a paragraph with a brief description of the tomb, including a small plan and a section next to the text. During the Prussian expedition to Egypt and Nubia from 1842 to 1845, the grave of Pennut was extensively documented on August 19, 1844 by Richard Lepsius. The redrawings of the reliefs appeared in the third volume of the monuments from Egypt and Ethiopia on pages 229 to 232. The first photographs came from Félix Teynard and were published in 1858 in Egypte et Nubie, sites et monuments les plus interestants pour l'etude de l'art et de l'histoire published. Georg Steindorff used the photos taken by Friedrich Koch on the Nubian expedition James Breasteds in 1906 in his second volume of text by Aniba in 1937 to describe the grave.

Before it was moved to its current location in 1964, the isolated grave was the target of numerous art thieves who knocked the colored reliefs out of the rock over a large area and tried to bring them into European trade. In the early 1980s, the wall pictures, ground into thin sandstone slabs, appeared at a Parisian art dealer. Since the seller was informed about the presentation of the stolen goods by a German museum director, the grave reliefs have disappeared, possibly destroyed. The Egyptians are said to have succeeded in securing part of the stolen property. However, the damage in the burial chamber remains immense.

The inscriptions of the tomb recorded by Richard Lepsius indicate that Pennut, son of a priest named Herunefet (Hrw-nfr) , at the time of Ramses VI. (1145–1137 BC) held the office of deputy (Idenu) of the viceroy of Kush for Lower Nubia (Wawat) based in Miam, where he also administered the temple domains. His immediate superior was probably the viceroy Siese , in any case an Egyptian who resided in Nubia for the duration of his tenure. It remains unclear whether Pennut was also Egyptian or Nubian as the deputy. His wife Tacha, daughter of Patjauemdimonth (P3-ṯ3w-mdị-mnṯ (w)) , held the office of singer in the Temple of Horus in Miam. The burial place in the coffin chamber of the grave shaft was looted in antiquity, so it is not known whether Pennut's grave was intended only for himself, together with his wife or for other relatives.

literature

Richard Lepsius: Anibe. In: Monuments from Egypt and Ethiopia , Vol. V, p. 116
  • Richard Lepsius : Monuments from Egypt and Ethiopia . Ed .: Eduard Naville . Fifth volume of text. Hinrichs'sche Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1913, Anibe, p. 116–122 ( digitized (reprint) ).
  • James Henry Breasted : Ancient Records of Egypt . Volume IV. University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1906, Tomb of Penno, p. 231–235 (English, digital version [PDF; 17.1 MB ]).
  • Georg Steindorff : Aniba . tape 2 (text). JJ Augustin, Glückstadt, Hamburg, New York 1937, Pennut's rock grave, p. 242–247 ( digital version [PDF; 29.5 MB ]).
  • Georg Steindorff: Aniba . tape 2 (panels). JJ Augustin, Glückstadt, Hamburg, New York 1937, Pennut's rock grave, p. 101-104 ( digitized version [PDF; 44.7 MB ]).
  • Martin Fitzenreiter: Internal references and external function of a Ramessid rock grave in Nubia - Notes on the grave of Pennut (Part I) . In: Caris-Beatrice Arnst, Ingelore Hafemann, Angelika Lohwasser (eds.): Encounters. Ancient cultures in the Nile Valley. Ceremony for Erika Endersfelder, Karl-Heinz Priese, Walter Friedrich Reineke, Steffen Wenig by students and employees . Wodtke and Stegbauer, Leipzig 2001, ISBN 978-3-934374-02-7 , pp. 131-159 ( online ).
  • Martin Fitzenreiter: Concepts of death and the dead in the late New Kingdom - Notes on the grave of Pennut (Part II) . In: Martin Fitzenreiter, Christian E. Loeben (eds.): The Egyptian mummy - a phenomenon of cultural history (=  Internet articles on Egyptology and Sudan archeology . No. 1 ). Golden House, London 2004, ISBN 978-0-9547218-3-1 , pp. 27–62 ( digitized version [PDF; 623 kB ]).
  • Martin Fitzenreiter: Ancestors on the east wall - Notes on the grave of Pennut (Part III) . In: Jürgen Thiesbonenkamp, ​​Helgard Cochois (Hrsg.): Detours and companions: Festschrift for Heinrich Balz for his 65th birthday . Erlanger Verlag for Mission and Ecumenism, Erlangen 2003, ISBN 978-3-87214-605-2 , p. 294-317 ( online ).
  • Martin Fitzenreiter: Identity as Confession and Claim - Notes on the Grave of Pennut (Part IV) . In: Mitteilungen der Sudanarchäologische Gesellschaft zu Berlin eV, issue 15. Sudanarchäologische Gesellschaft zu Berlin, 2004, ISSN  0945-9502 , p. 169–190 ( digital version [PDF; 4.7 MB ]).
  • Martin Fitzenreiter: Foundation of statues and religious foundations in pharaonic Egypt. Notes on the Tomb of Pennut (Part V) . In: Martin Fitzenreiter (ed.): The holy and the goods. On the area of ​​tension between religion and economy (=  Internet articles on Egyptology and Sudan archeology . No. 7 ). Golden House, London 2007, ISBN 978-1-906137-03-8 , pp. 233–259 ( digitized version [PDF; 783 kB ]).
  • Richard A. Lobban, Jr .: Historical Dictionary of Ancient and Medieval Nubia (=  Historical Dictionaries of Ancient Civilizations and Historical Eras . No. 10 ). Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-8108-4784-1 , Aniba, Anibeh, Miam, pp. 33-34 (English, online ).
  • Necia Desiree Harkless: Nubian Pharaohs and Meroitic Kings: The Kingdom of Kush . AuthorHouse, 2006, ISBN 978-1-4520-3063-0 , The Tomb of Pennut, pp. 43–44 (English, online ).
  • Joachim Willeitner : Abu Simbel and the temples of Lake Nasser. The archaeological guide . von Zabern , Darmstadt, Mainz 2012, ISBN 978-3-8053-4457-9 , The grave of Pennut from Aniba , p. 73–79 ( digitized version of the table of contents [PDF]).

Web links

Commons : Grave of Pennut  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
Wikivoyage: New Amādā  - travel guide
  • Thierry Benderitter: The tomb of Pennut. Osirisnet, May 23, 2017 (English).;

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martin Fitzenreiter: Internal references and external function of a Ramessid rock grave in Nubia - Notes on the grave of Pennut (Part I) . In: Caris-Beatrice Arnst, Ingelore Hafemann, Angelika Lohwasser (eds.): Encounters. Ancient cultures in the Nile Valley. Ceremony for Erika Endersfelder, Karl-Heinz Priese, Walter Friedrich Reineke, Steffen Wenig by students and employees . Wodtke and Stegbauer, Leipzig 2001, ISBN 978-3-934374-02-7 , pp. 131 ( online ).
  2. ↑ a b c Joachim Willeitner: Abu Simbel and the temples of Lake Nasser. The archaeological guide . von Zabern, Darmstadt, Mainz 2012, ISBN 978-3-8053-4457-9 , The grave of Pennut from Aniba , p. 75-76 .
  3. ↑ Martin Fitzenreiter: Internal references and external function of a Ramessid rock grave in Nubia - Notes on the grave of Pennut (Part I) . In: Caris-Beatrice Arnst, Ingelore Hafemann, Angelika Lohwasser (eds.): Encounters. Ancient cultures in the Nile Valley. Ceremony for Erika Endersfelder, Karl-Heinz Priese, Walter Friedrich Reineke, Steffen Wenig by students and employees . Wodtke and Stegbauer, Leipzig 2001, ISBN 978-3-934374-02-7 , pp. 150 ( online ).
  4. ^ Georg Steindorff: Aniba . tape 2 (text). JJ Augustin, Glückstadt, Hamburg, New York 1937, Pennut's rock grave, p. 243 ( digital copy [PDF; 29.5 MB ]).
  5. ↑ a b Georg Steindorff: Aniba . tape 2 (text). JJ Augustin, Glückstadt, Hamburg, New York 1937, Pennut's rock grave, p. 242 ( digitized version [PDF; 29.5 MB ]).
  6. ↑ Martin Fitzenreiter: Internal references and external function of a Ramessid rock grave in Nubia - Notes on the grave of Pennut (Part I) . In: Caris-Beatrice Arnst, Ingelore Hafemann, Angelika Lohwasser (eds.): Encounters. Ancient cultures in the Nile Valley. Ceremony for Erika Endersfelder, Karl-Heinz Priese, Walter Friedrich Reineke, Steffen Wenig by students and employees . Wodtke and Stegbauer, Leipzig 2001, ISBN 978-3-934374-02-7 , pp. 137 ( online ).
  7. ↑ a b c Georg Steindorff: Aniba . tape 2 (text). JJ Augustin, Glückstadt, Hamburg, New York 1937, Pennut's rock grave, p. 243 ( digital copy [PDF; 29.5 MB ]).
  8. ↑ Martin Fitzenreiter: Internal references and external function of a Ramessid rock grave in Nubia - Notes on the grave of Pennut (Part I) . In: Caris-Beatrice Arnst, Ingelore Hafemann, Angelika Lohwasser (eds.): Encounters. Ancient cultures in the Nile Valley. Ceremony for Erika Endersfelder, Karl-Heinz Priese, Walter Friedrich Reineke, Steffen Wenig by students and employees . Wodtke and Stegbauer, Leipzig 2001, ISBN 978-3-934374-02-7 , pp. 143 ( online ).
  9. ^ Heinrich Brugsch : History of Egypt under the Pharaohs . Hinrichs'sche Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1877, The twentieth royal house, p. 626-630 ( digitized version ).
  10. ↑ a b c d Georg Steindorff: Aniba . tape 2 (text). JJ Augustin, Glückstadt, Hamburg, New York 1937, Pennut's rock grave, p. 244 ( digital copy [PDF; 29.5 MB ]).
  11. ↑ a b c d Georg Steindorff: Aniba . tape 2 (text). JJ Augustin, Glückstadt, Hamburg, New York 1937, Pennut's rock grave, p. 245 ( digital copy [PDF; 29.5 MB ]).
  12. ↑ a b c Joachim Willeitner : Abu Simbel and the temples of Lake Nasser. The archaeological guide . von Zabern , Darmstadt, Mainz 2012, ISBN 978-3-8053-4457-9 , The grave of Pennut from Aniba , p. 77 .
  13. ↑ Johan Ahlfeldt: Aniba. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire. Lund University, August 1, 2013 (English).;
  14. ^ Johann Ludwig Burchhardt: Travels in Nubia . John Murray, London 1819, Return from Dar-el-Mahass to Assouan, p. 93 (English, digitized version ).
  15. ^ Hector Horeau: Panorame d'Egypte et de Nubie . Chez l'Auteur, Paris 1841, Terdjé, Ibrim, Temples d'Ibsamboul, p. 33 (French, digitized ).
  16. ^ Joachim Willeitner: Abu Simbel and the temples of Lake Nasser. The archaeological guide . von Zabern, Darmstadt, Mainz 2012, ISBN 978-3-8053-4457-9 , The grave of Pennut from Aniba , p. 74-75 .
  17. ^ Joachim Willeitner: Abu Simbel and the temples of Lake Nasser. The archaeological guide . von Zabern, Darmstadt, Mainz 2012, ISBN 978-3-8053-4457-9 , The grave of Pennut from Aniba , p. 73-74 .

Coordinates: 22 ° 44 ′ 14.6 "  N , 32 ° 15 ′ 40.3"  E