Serinpu (court dwarf)

Serinpu in hieroglyphics
Serinpu (Ser Inpu) Sr Jnp.w Anubis is a / the ruler
Ser Inpu's grave stele

Serinpu (also Ser-Inpu ) is the ancient Egyptian name of a member of the royal court who lived during the reign of the king ( pharaoh ) Den ( 1st Dynasty ).

supporting documents

Serinpu's name appears on a badly damaged grave stele together with the determinative of a dwarf . The stele itself is made of limestone and is now in the Kestner Museum in Hanover . Serinpu is regarded as a dance and court dwarf because of the determinative . In the early days, people of short stature were considered a status symbol , but they were also able to advance professionally and officially. This would explain why Serinpu was granted a side tomb right next to the king's tomb. However, no rank or court titles have survived.

dig

Serinpu was buried in a side grave in the necropolis of King Den ( Tomb T ) in Abydos after his death . Until the beginning of the 2nd dynasty , it was an ancient Egyptian tradition that some members of the royal family had to follow the ruler to their death.

See also

• Short people in ancient Egypt

literature

• WM Flinders Petrie : The Royal Tombs of the earliest dynasties. 1901. Part II (= Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund. Volume 21, ISSN  0307-5109 ). Egypt Exploration Fund / P. Kegan u. a., London 1901, p. 29, online .

Web links

• Ser-Inpus grave stele ( memento from March 28, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) in the August Kestner Museum

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Drawing based on the grave stele of Ser-Inpu from the early dynastic period around 2800 BC. From Abydos of the Museum August Kestner , shown at an exhibition ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . 
2. ^ WM Flinders Petrie : The royal tombs of the first dynasty. 1900. Part I (= Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund. Volume 18). Egypt Exploration Fund u. a., London 1900, plate XXXII., object 17 .