Meru (head of the sealers)

Meru in hieroglyphics
Meru Mrw The Popular
Detail from the “Stele of Meru”; Museo Egizio (inventory number Turin 1447)

Meru was a high official in the time of the ancient Egyptian 11th dynasty under King ( Pharaoh ) Mentuhotep II. (Approx. 2000 BC) as the " chief of the sealers " . His grave (TT240) is in the Deir el-Bahari necropolis north of Thebes .

He is known from two rock inscriptions in Wadi Shatt el-Rigala. In addition, the "Stele des Meru" is located in Turin (height 172.5 cm; width 70 cm; depth 13 cm), which is dated to the 46th year of Mentuhotep II's reign. Meru's grave in Deir el-Bahari consists of a large forecourt, a funerary chapel with a long corridor and an undecorated cult chapel behind. The burial chamber is clad with limestone and decorated with pyramid texts and sacrificial tables. The sarcophagus Merus, which was richly painted on the inside, was set in the floor of the burial chamber . Meru carried among other things the titles " royal sealer ", "only friend", "overseer of the eastern mountain country" and "chief of the foreign countries". The latter title may suggest that he was involved in one of the Nubia campaigns of Mentuhotep II.

literature

• James P. Allen: Some Theban Officials of the Early Middle Kingdom. In: Peter Der Manuelian (Ed.): Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson. Volume 1. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 1996, ISBN 0-87846-390-9 , pp. 4, 9-10, 24 ( PDF file; 32.2 MB ); Retrieved from The Giza Archives .
• Bertha Porter , Rosalind LB Moss , Ethel W. Burney: Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings. I. The Theban Necropolis. Part 1. Private Tombs. 2nd revised and expanded edition. Griffith Institute / Ashmolean Museum , Oxford 1970, pp. 330–331, Map III ( PDF file; 21.9 MB ); Retrieved from The Digital Topographical Bibliography .

Web links

• Stele of Meru in the Museo Egizio ( Stele di Meru )