Penmeru

Penmeru in hieroglyphics
	Pseudo group of penmeru; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Penmeru was head of the kitchen, supervisor of the priests of the dead, royal acquaintance, priest of Mykerinus . He belonged to the retinue of Vizier Seschemnefer III. (G 5170). His wife Meretites was a royal acquaintance. His son was called Seschemnefer, his daughter Neferseschem.

His grave

The small stone mastaba (G 2197) is on the northern edge of the Westfriedhof in Giza . With the west wall it borders directly on the mastaba of Jasen (G 2196). It was excavated in 1912 by George Andrew Reisner and WK Simpson. Peter Der Manuelian examined it again and documented it in detail . The mastaba has four shafts, corresponding to the number of family members. In shaft A there were skeletal remains, probably from Penmeru and another person. The shaft also contained fragments of a wooden coffin and a number of mock vessels, namely eight offering bowls and eight jugs.

The Penmerus grave is particularly noteworthy because in the Serdab it contained three objects called "pseudo groups", in which Penmeru is represented seven times. The Serdab is so small that it is difficult to understand how it was possible to put the statues there. Two of these three statues, a triad and a family group, are in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston . The triad shows penmeru three times, once without a head; the painting is largely lost. In the family group, Penmeru and his wife and two children are shown twice; the colors are quite well preserved. The group is located within a frame that represents a kind of portal. The third statue is a group of two and shows Penmeru twice. It is kept in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (JU 43753) and is not so artistically successful. The burial chapel is extremely small, only 1.6 m². The peculiarity of the south wall of the burial chapel is that it contains the Penmerus will, which PD Manuelian examined in detail. The text found in 1912 is badly damaged, but has survived through photographs. According to this, Penmerus brother Neferhotep and his descendants are exclusively responsible for the care of the grave and the sacrificial service. The extraordinarily small burial chapel, the presumably provisional installation of the statues in the unsuitable Serdab lead to various considerations: Was a larger burial chapel planned, which was prevented by the untimely death of the owner of the tomb, or did Penmeru fall out of favor? Why did he use his brother in sacrificial service rather than his descendants? Did his son and daughter die before him or were there family disputes? After the vizier Seschemnefer III. is mentioned in the will, Manuelian places the mastaba in the late 5th dynasty .

literature

Peter Der Manuelian: Penmeru Revisited G-Mastaba G 2197, Giza Archives Cleanings V. In: Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt. Volume 45, 2009, pp. 3-48.
Clarence Stanley Fisher: The Harvard University Museum of Fine Arts Expedition, Work 1912 at Gizeh and Mesheikh (= Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts. (BMFA) Volume 11, No. 62). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 1913, pp. 19-22.
Bertha Porter , Rosalind LB Moss : Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings. III. Memphis. 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1974, pp. 82-83 ( PDF; 30.5 MB ).
William Kelly Simpson: Mastabas of the Western Cemetery, part 1 (= Giza Mastabas. Volume 4). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 1980, ISBN 0-87846-156-6 , pp. 24-27, plates XLVI-LII online .

Web links

Commons : Penmeru - collection of images, videos and audio files

MFA: Inventory number: 12. 1504 Triad of Penmeru and inventory number: 12. 1484 Pseudo-group statue of Penmeru . both at: mfa.org/collections , accessed September 11, 2017.

Individual evidence

↑ CS Fisher: The Harvard University Museum of Fine Arts Expedition, Work 1912 at Gizeh and Mesheikh. Boston 1913, pp. 19-22.
^ WK Simpson: Mastabas of the Western Cemetery, part l. Boston 1980, pp. 24-27.
↑ Peter Der Manuelian: Penmeru Revisited G-Mastaba G 2197, Giza Archives Cleanings V. 2009, pp. 3–48.
↑ MFA: Inventory number: 12. 1504 Triad of Penmeru and inventory number: 12. 1484 Pseudo-group statue of Penmeru . both at: mfa.org/collections , accessed September 11, 2017.

personal data
SURNAME	Penmeru
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Head of the kitchen, supervisor of the priests of the dead, royal acquaintance, priest of Mykerinus
DATE OF BIRTH	between 26th century BC BC and 24th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	between 26th century BC BC and 24th century BC Chr.

[1] CS Fisher: The Harvard University Museum of Fine Arts Expedition, Work 1912 at Gizeh and Mesheikh. Boston 1913, pp. 19-22.

[2] WK Simpson: Mastabas of the Western Cemetery, part l. Boston 1980, pp. 24-27.

[3] Peter Der Manuelian: Penmeru Revisited G-Mastaba G 2197, Giza Archives Cleanings V. 2009, pp. 3–48.

[4] MFA: Inventory number: 12. 1504 Triad of Penmeru and inventory number: 12. 1484 Pseudo-group statue of Penmeru . both at: mfa.org/collections , accessed September 11, 2017.