Thebes in the First Millennium BC

Thebes in the First Millennium BC

Edited by

Elena Pischikova, Julia Budka

and Kenneth Griffin

Thebes in the First Millennium BC,

Edited by Elena Pischikova, Julia Budka and Kenneth Griffin
This book first published 2014
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Copyright 2014 by Elena Pischikova, Julia Budka, Kenneth Griffin and contributors
All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
ISBN (10): 1-4438-5404-2, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-5404-7

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword xi
Acknowledgements ...xv
Part A: Historical Background
Chapter One ....3
The Coming of the Kushites and the Identity of Osorkon IV
Aidan Dodson
Part B: Royal Burials: Thebes and Abydos
Chapter Two ..15
Royal Burials at Thebes during the First Millennium BC
David A. Aston
Chapter Three ....61
Kushites at Abydos: The Royal Family and Beyond
Anthony Leahy
Part C: Elite Tombs of the Theban Necropolis
Section 1: Preservation and Development of the Theban Necropolis
Chapter Four ...101
Lost Tombs of Qurna: Development and Preservation of the Middle Area
of the Theban Necropolis
Ramadan Ahmed Ali
Chapter Five 111
New Tombs of the North Asasif
Fathy Yaseen Abd el Karim

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Table of Contents

Section 2: Archaeology and Conservation

Chapter Six ..121
Kushite Tombs of the South Asasif Necropolis: Conservation,
Reconstruction, and Research
Elena Pischikova
Chapter Seven .161
Reconstruction and Conservation of the Tomb of Karakhamun (TT 223)
Abdelrazk Mohamed Ali
Chapter Eight ..173
The Forgotten Tomb of Ramose (TT 132)
Christian Greco
Chapter Nine ...201
The Tomb of Montuemhat (TT 34) in the Theban Necropolis: A New
Approach
Louise Gestermann and Farouk Goma
Chapter Ten .....205
The Funeral Palace of Padiamenope (TT 33): Tomb, Place of
Pilgrimage, and Library. Current research
Claude Traunecker
Chapter Eleven 235
Kushite and Saite Period Burials on el-Khokha
Gbor Schreiber
Section 3: Religious Texts: Tradition and Innovation
Chapter Twelve ...251
The Book of the Dead from the Western Wall of the Second Pillared Hall
in the Tomb of Karakhamun (TT 223)
Kenneth Griffin
Chapter Thirteen .269
The Broad Hall of the Two Maats: Spell BD 125 in Karakhamuns Main
Burial Chamber
Miguel Angel Molinero Polo

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vii

Chapter Fourteen .295

Report on the Work on the Fragments of the Stundenritual (Ritual of the
Hours of the Day) in TT 223
Erhart Graefe
Chapter Fifteen ....307
The Amduat and the Book of the Gates in the Tomb of Padiamenope
(TT 33): A Work in Progress
Isabelle Rgen
Section 4: Interconnections, Transmission of Patterns and Concepts,
and Archaism: Thebes and Beyond
Chapter Sixteen ...323
Between South and North Asasif: The Tomb of Harwa (TT 37) as
a Transitional Monument
Silvia Einaudi
Chapter Seventeen ...343
The So-called Lichthof Once More: On the Transmission of Concepts
between Tomb and Temple
Filip Coppens
Chapter Eighteen .....357
Some Observations about the Representation of the Neck-sash in Twentysixth Dynasty Thebes
Aleksandra Hallmann
Chapter Nineteen .379
All in the Detail: Some Further Observations on Archaism and Style
in Libyan-Kushite-Saite Egypt
Robert G. Morkot
Chapter Twenty ...397
Usurpation and the Erasure of Names during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty
Carola Koch

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Table of Contents

Part D: Burial Assemblages and Other Finds in Elite Tombs

Section 1: Coffins
Chapter Twenty-one ....419
The Significance of a Ritual Scene on the Floor Board of Some Coffin
Cases in the Twenty-first Dynasty
Eltayeb Abbas
Chapter Twenty-two ...439
The Inner Coffin of Tameramun: A Unique Masterpiece of Kushite
Iconography from Thebes
Simone Musso and Simone Petacchi
Chapter Twenty-three .453
Sokar-Osiris and the Goddesses: Some Twenty-fifthTwenty-sixth
Dynasty Coffins from Thebes
Cynthia May Sheikholeslami
Chapter Twenty-four ...483
The Vatican Coffin Project
Alessia Amenta
Section 2: Other Finds
Chapter Twenty-five ...503
Kushite Pottery from the Tomb of Karakhamun: Towards a Reconstruction of the Use of Pottery in Twenty-fifth Dynasty Temple Tombs
Julia Budka
Chapter Twenty-six .521
A Collection of Cows: Brief Remarks on the Faunal Material from
the South Asasif Conservation Project
Salima Ikram
Chapter Twenty-seven 529
Three Burial Assemblages of the Saite Period from Saqqara
Kate Gosford

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ix

Part E: Karnak
Chapter Twenty-eight .549
A Major Development Project of the Northern Area of the Amun-Re
Precinct at Karnak during the Reign of Shabaqo
Nadia Licitra, Christophe Thiers, and Pierre Zignani
Chapter Twenty-nine ...565
The Quarter of the Divine Adoratrices at Karnak (Naga Malgata) during
the Twenty-sixth Dynasty: Some Hitherto Unpublished Epigraphic
Material
Laurent Coulon
Chapter Thirty .587
Offering Magazines on the Southern Bank of the Sacred Lake in Karnak:
The Oriental Complex of the Twenty-fifthTwenty-sixth Dynasty
Aurlia Masson
Chapter Thirty-one ..603
Ceramic Production in the Theban Area from the Late Period: New
Discoveries in Karnak
Stphanie Boulet and Catherine Defernez
Chapter Thirty-two ..625
Applications of Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) in the Study
of Temple Graffiti
Elizabeth Frood and Kathryn Howley
Abbreviations ..639
Contributors 645
Indices .....647

FOREWORD
Egypt in the First Millennium BC is a collection of articles, most of
which are based on the talks given at the conference of the same name
organised by the team of the South Asasif Conservation Project (SACP),
an Egyptian-American Mission working under the auspices of the Ministry
of State for Antiquities (MSA), Egypt in Luxor in 2012. The organisers of
the conference Elena Pischikova, Julia Budka, and Kenneth Griffin intended to bring together a group of speakers who would share the results
of their recent field research in the tombs and temples of the Twenty-fifth
and Twenty-sixth Dynasties in Thebes and other archaeological sites, as
well as addressing a variety of issues relevant to different aspects of
Egyptian monuments of this period.
Papers based on the talks of the participants of the conference form the
bulk of this volume. However, we found it possible to include the papers
of a few scholars who could not attend the conference, but whose contributions are pertinent to the main themes of the conference and could enrich the content of the present volume. Therefore, this volume covers a
much wider range of sites, monuments, and issues as well as a broader
chronological span. Discussions of the monuments of Abydos and
Saqqara, along with the Libyan tradition, enrich the argument on interconnections, derivations, innovations, and archaism. The diversity of topics
cover the areas of history, archaeology, epigraphy, art, and burial assemblages of the period.
Aidan Dodson deliberates on chronological issues of the early Kushite
state by re-examining the identity of Osorkon IV and related monuments.
His paper gives a historical and cultural introduction to the Kushite Period
and the whole volume.
The papers of the General Director of the Middle Area of the West
Bank Fathy Yaseen Abd el Karim, and Chief Inspector of the Middle Area
Ramadan Ahmed Ali, open a large section in the volume dedicated to
different aspects of research and fieldwork in the Theban necropolis. They
concern the preservation and development of the necropolis, an incredibly
important matter which assumed a new dimension after the demolition of
the Qurna villages and clearing of the area being undertaken by the
American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) teams. Numerous tombs
found under the houses need immediate safety measures to be applied as
well as archaeological and research attention. The conservation,
preservation, and recording of the elite tombs in the area are amongst the
most relevant issues in the Theban necropolis today.

xii

Foreword

David Aston and Anthony Leahy examine the royal burials of Thebes
and Abydos. Both papers present a remarkably large number of burials
related to the royal families of the First Millennium BC. This time period
in the Theban necropolis is traditionally associated with elite tombs, with
the royal monuments often neglected. Research on the royal aspect of
these sites provides a deeper perspective to the study of the elite tombs of
the period.
The papers on the elite tombs of the Theban necropolis address a variety of aspects of work in this group of monuments such as archaeology,
conservation, epigraphy, and burial assemblages, as well as relevant issues
as archaism and innovations of the decoration and interconnections between the tombs of different parts of the necropolis. The areas of archaeology and conservation of the necropolis are presented by the papers of the
Director of the SACP Elena Pischikova, and its leading conservator
Abdelrazk Mohamed Ali. These papers give a summary of the rediscovery, excavation, conservation, reconstruction, and mapping work
done in the tombs of Karakhamun (TT 223) and Karabasken (TT 391)
over a period of eight years, with emphasis on the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
This section is complemented by a paper on the fieldwork in another
forgotten tomb of the South Asasif necropolis, Ramose (TT 132), by
Christian Greco. The archaeological work in the South Asasif necropolis
has resulted in the uncovering and reconstruction of a large amount of new
architectural, epigraphic, and artistic information, some of which is
presented in this volume for the first time.
The new project in the tomb of Montuemhat (TT 34), undertaken by
Louise Gestermann and Farouk Goma, is another invaluable piece of
information which, together with the work of Greco in the tomb of
Ramose, and Molinero Polo in the tomb of Karakhamun, modifies our
understanding of Kushite and early Saite burial compartments and their
semantics within the tomb complex. The paper on the Twenty-fifth to
Twenty-sixth Dynasty tombs of el-Khokha by Gbor Schreiber widens our
perception of the geographic disbursement of Kushite tombs in the Theban
necropolis. The amount of intrusive Twenty-fifth Dynasty burials within
the primarily New Kingdom site of el-Khokha gives confidence that we
may expect similar results from the numerous Qurna missions. Special
attention paid to such intrusive burials in different areas may build a solid
basis for our better understanding of Kushite presence and activities in
Thebes in the future.
The epigraphical studies of Kenneth Griffin, Miguel Molinero Polo,
and Erhart Graefe within the tomb of Karakhamun, and Isabelle Rgen in
the tomb of Padiamenope, concern the reflection of tradition and innova-

Foreword

xiii

tions in the texts of the Book of the Dead, the Amduat, the Book of the
Gates, and the Ritual of the Hours of the Day, as well as their new architectural and contextual environment. The comparative research of these
texts in different tombs will eventually lead to a better understanding of
the reasons for selections of certain traditional texts, reasons for their adjustments, as well as their interpretations in the new contexts of temple
tombs of the period.
Although Kushite and Saite tombs demonstrate a rich variety of architectural, textual, and decorative material they are all interconnected by
certain aspects and concepts. The next group of papers by Silvia Einaudi,
Filip Coppens, Robert Morkot, Aleksandra Hallmann, and Carola Koch
concern such aspects, relevant to most of the monuments. Silvia Einaudi
raises the incredibly important question of interconnections and interinfluences between the tombs of the Theban necropolis, origins of certain
patterns and traditions within the necropolis, and their transmissions from
tomb to tomb. Filip Coppens and Aleksandra Hallmann concentrate on
smaller elements of the tomb complexes, such as a piece of garment or a
single architectural feature, to track it within a group of monuments. Thus,
Coppens traces similarities and differences in the Sun Court decoration in
different tombs, its connection with the temple concept, and discusses its
symbolic and ritual meaning in temple tombs. Robert Morkot discusses the
sources and chronological developments of archaism in royal and elite
monuments. Carola Koch addresses the Saite approach to Kushite monuments by re-examining the phenomenon of the erasure of Kushite names
during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty.
A large group of papers on the burial assemblages and other finds in
elite tombs enrich and expend the discussion of the burial complexes of
the First Millennium BC. Eltayeb Abbas, Simone Musso and Simone
Petacchi, Cynthia Sheikholeslami, and Alessia Amenta discuss the issues
of construction techniques, workshops, and iconography of coffin decoration and its ritual meaning. Julia Budka and Salima Ikram discuss finds in
the tomb of Karakhamun. Budka analyses Kushite pottery found in the
burial compartment and its usage in a Twenty-fifth Dynasty temple tomb,
while Ikram remarks on the faunal material from the First Pillared Hall.
Kate Gosford broadens the boundaries of the discussion with some burial
assemblages from Saqqara.
The last section of the volume is dedicated to the new archaeological
research at Karnak presented by Nadia Licitra, Christophe Thiers, Pierre
Zignani, Laurent Coulon, Aurlia Masson, Stphanie Boulet, and
Catherine Defernez. Their papers concern different areas of the temple
complex such as the temple of Ptah, the Treasury of Shabaqo, the palace

xiv

Foreword

of the Gods Wife Ankhnesneferibre in Naga Malgata, and offering magazines as well as the new evidence of ceramic production at Karnak in the
chapel of Osiris Wennefer. Another Karnak paper introduces a new technology, with Elizabeth Frood and Kathryn Howley describing the use of
Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) as a means of studying graffiti
at the site.
Most of the information included into this volume is being published
for the first time. We feel that the research presented here brings together a
range of current studies on royal and elite monuments of the period, putting them into a wider context and filling some gaps in First Millennium
BC scholarship. This time period is still one of the least researched and
published area of study in Egyptology despite the numerous recent developments in field exploration and research. The present volume offers a
discussion of the First Millennium BC monuments and sites in all their
complexity. Such aspects of research as tomb and temple architecture,
epigraphy, artistic styles, iconography, palaeography, local workshops,
and burial assemblages collected in this publication give a new perspective
to the future exploration of these aspects and topics. We hope that the
present volume will inspire new comparative studies on the topics discussed and bring First Millennium BC scholarship to a new level.
.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank the Minister of Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim and
the Ministry of State for Antiquities for their support in organising the
conference Thebes in the First Millennium BC in Luxor in October 2012
and permission to work in the South Asasif necropolis. We are grateful for
the support our Egyptian-American team, the South Asasif Conservation
Project, has received over the years from Dr. Mohamed Ismail Khaled,
Director of the Department of Foreign Missions MSA, Dr. Mansour
Boraik, Director General of Luxor Antiquities until 2013; Ibrahim
Soliman, Director of Luxor Antiquities; Dr. Mohamed Abd el Aziz, General Director for the West Bank of Luxor; Fathy Yassen Abd el Kerim,
Director of the Middle Area; Ramadan Ahmed Ali, Chief Inspector of the
Middle Area; Ahmed Ali Hussein Ali, SCA Chief Conservator and
Director of the Conservation Department of Upper Egypt; Afaf Fathalla,
General Director of the Conservation Department of Upper Egypt; the
MSA conservation team; and all our team members and volunteers. We
are very grateful to our sponsors, IKG Cultural Resources, directed by
Anthony Browder (USA), and the South Asasif Conservation Trust, directed by John Billman (UK). Without all this help and support we would
not have been able to accomplish the field work and research included in
the present volume.
Special thanks to the participants of the conference, particularly to our
Luxor colleagues Nadia Licitra, Christophe Thiers, Pierre Zignani, Laurent
Coulon, Claude Traunecker, Isabelle Rgen, Louise Gestermann, and
Farouk Goma who showed their sites to the participants.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
THE INNER COFFIN OF TAMERAMUN:
A UNIQUE MASTERPIECE OF KUSHITE
ICONOGRAPHY FROM THEBES
SIMONE MUSSO & SIMONE PETACCHI*
Consultant curators for the Egyptian collection,
Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan
Abstract: The anthropoid inner wooden coffin of the lady Tameramun, Singer of
the Inner of Amun in Thebes during the Kushite Period, is stored in Pogliaghis
villa at the Sacro Monte di Varese (Italy). It was given scholarly attention in the
1970s, but has not been studied since. In this article, the coffin has been reexamined with regards to stylistic, iconographical, and textual criteria providing
images of the coffin that have never been published before.
The coffin under discussion in this paper belongs to a small collection of
Egyptian antiquities owned by an important sculptor and professor of arts
at the Academy of Brera (Milan), Ludovico Pogliaghi, who lived between
the end of late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century. He is remembered mainly for being responsible for commissioning
the bronze gateway of the Saint Ambrogio cathedral in Milan. Pogliaghi
spent a large part of his life in his villa at Sacro Monte of Varese, a vast
estate located on the peak of the mountain. He used to live and work in his
studio apartments where he assembled antiquities of different time periods,
ethnographic items, in addition to an innumerable amount of sketches,
models, and art works of his own creation.
One of the relevant pharaonic items of the villa is the anthropoid coffin
of a lady named Tameramun, now in the possession of the Veneranda
Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan (fig. 22-1). According to a recent catalogue made by the authors, her coffin has the inventory number CEP10 (=
*

We would like to express our gratitude for the permission to study this coffin and
for the technical assistance in Milan and in Varese to all the members of the
Collegio dei dottori of the Ambrosiana, in particular to Dr. A. Rocca and his
collaborators, Drs. E. Fontana and E. Mantia.

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Chapter Twenty-two

Collezione egizia Pogliaghi). It consists of an anthropoid, inner wooden

case and lid,1 intended to contain the mummy of the deceased lady to
whom it belonged. The Varese piece was made from sycamore and rests
on a quadrangular wooden platform to which it has been fixed by an iron
casing provided with hinges added in modern timeslikely an addition by
Pogliaghi in order to assist with the opening of the coffin lid.

Fig. 22-1: Tameramuns inner coffin, front view (photo by the authors).

Both lid and case are largely complete and are in a fairly good state of
preservation. A part of the nose is missing and there is a long lateral break
on both the long sides of the coffin, neither of which affects the general
reading of the artefact (fig. 22-2). The lid and case were richly decorated
with friezes and figured registers on the external surface while the inner
1

Length: 164cm, width: 24.5cm, height of face: 14.5cm.

The Inner Coffin of Tameramun

441

part is only covered with white plaster without decoration. However,

traces of a black substance have been recorded on the interior surface of
the case.2

Fig. 22-2: Tameramuns face with her broken nose (photo by the authors).

Tameramuns face was elegantly sculptured and rendered with a rose

coated colour, in a natural way, with large eyes that have been slightly
incised and painted in black ink. An elaborate tripartite wig surrounds the
face, exposing only the ears. A vulture headdress covers the top of the
head and part of the forehead, extending over the lateral tails.
The scenes from the coffin have been divided up into registers, each of
which have been given a corresponding letter for easy identification (fig. 223).
The shoulders and neck are adorned with a coloured wesekh-collar,
consisting of floral motifs. The first register begins at the base of the neck
(A), with a figured pectoral cavetto cornice structure depicting Maat with
the sun-disc between a djed-pillar and tyet-symbol (fig. 22-4). Below, on
the centre of the breast, the ubiquitous scene of a winged ram headed
2

A few samples have been sent to chemical laboratories of the University of Pisa
for analysis, not yet available at the time of publication.

442

Chapter Twenty-two

figure, a solar image with sun-disc, uraeus, and corkscrew horns. On top
of the uraeus a second solar-disc is located between the Hathoric horns.
The falcon body is represented in a protective act with wings outstretched.
As usual, the claws grasp shen-rings to enforce the regenerating power of
the circuit of the sun, giving life to all creatures, and in this case
guaranteeing the resurrection of Tameramun (fig. 22-5). At each side of
the ram-headed falcon wings, a line of hieroglyphs is painted on a yellow
background. The inscription is framed by the rishi-friezes in red, green,
and blue components and reads as follows: BHdt(y) nTr aA nb pt Horus of
Behdet, the Great God, Lord of Heaven.

Fig. 22-3: The figured and inscribed registers of the coffin

(drawing by the authors).

The Inner Coffin of Tameramun

443

Fig. 22-4: Register A (photo by the authors).

Fig. 22-5: The ram headed winged god on the breast (photo by the authors).

Beneath the rishi-friezes, within both the parallel lateral registers (B1
and B2), Osiris is followed by two of the sons of Horus. All are represented standing, looking towards the inner part of the coffin, and facing a
uraeus who wears the white crown (B1) and the red crown (B2). The most
prominent and striking feature of this iconography is the unique and
personal rendering of the four sons of Horus in a female appearance (fig.
22-6). It is clear that Tameramun identified herself with all these

444

Chapter Twenty-two

characters, particularly as the canopic gods are all represented as females.

They are shown with green bodies, wearing a long and tight red robe that
exposes only the breast, in addition to a cone atop their heads. The only
character who differs from the others on these registers is the one representing Tameramun, with a rose skin rather than a green one. In addition,
the likely identification of Tameramun with these funerary genii is confirmed by the presence of her name on the top of B1 and B2where in the
case of other figures the names of the funerary divinities appear.

Fig. 22-6: Registers B1 and B2 (photos and drawings by the authors).

Immediately below the ram-headed sun-god is another representation

of a falcon in the same attitude of the previous winged god, this time in the
guise of Re-Horakhty. The Htp-di-nswt formula, addressed to Osiris
Wennefer on behalf of Tameramun, is located beneath the wings of ReHorakhty, between two horizontal rishi-bands (fig. 22-7). Beneath this is
the Abydos fetish, the reliquary containing the head of Osiris, which is
surmounted by a crown with double feathers, solar-disc, and uraeus.
On the right side of the Abydos fetish (C2) is another frieze of images
depicting Anubis standing with his hand on the crown in a protective act.
He is followed by Osiris, who is shown with green skin and wearing the

The Inner Coffin of Tameramun

445

dress of the living in contrast to the upper registers where he was represented mummiform. Osiris leads Tameramun by the hand, with the deceased wearing a long white robe, pleated in red lines, covering arms and
legs. Additionally, she has a cone on the head, with a lotus flower, while
she has her left hand raised in adoration.

Fig. 22-7: Re-Horakhty between registers B1B2 and C1C2

(photo by the authors).

446

Chapter Twenty-two

The left side (C1) is similar to the previous, this time with Horus,
wearing the double crown, followed by Thoth, who plays the role of chaperone to the deceased. Directly above these two scenes are two horizontal
bands of hieroglyphs, surrounded by a rishi-frieze, which are to be read
from right to left. The text reads as: Dd mdw <i>n Ra-r-Axty Hry nTrw pri
m Axt di=f Htp DfA.w Hs<t> &A-mr-Imn mAa<t>-xrw, Words spoken by ReHorakhty, Lord of the Gods, the one who comes forth from the horizon, in
order that he might give food provisions for the Singer Tameramun, true
of voice.
Beneath the Abydos fetish there is a column of text finishing at the
level of the foot. Here, the inscription represents another Htp-di-nswt
formula with a few important additions concerning the role of Tameramun.
She is identified as the Hs<t> Xnw <n> Imn.3 Furthermore, two registers
framed on the top and bottom by rishi-friezes are also present beneath the
fetish. On both sides, (D1 and D2), Re is represented as a falcon, resting
on the nwb-sign and with a solar disc on his head. In both cases, his wings
surround a wAs-sign, in addition to a wedjat-eye resting on a nwb-sign. The
opened wings face the Abydos fetish with the name of the god, Re, written
in short columns above his head.
Between the lower rishi-band and the central inscription, the scribe
added a protection formula made by Wepwawet of the north for
Tameramun. On the foot of the coffin, flanking this protection formula,
there are two representations of Wepwawet of the west and the east
respectively (E1 and E2), crouching upon on a shrine, with a sekhemsceptre in front of the god and a winged uraeus with a sun disc projecting
from the front (fig. 22-8).
Concerning the outer case, at the level of the shoulders there are two
protective funerary genii who are depicted kneeling, each grasping a knife
and looking towards the inner part of the coffin (F1 and F2, fig. 22-9). The
figure on the right has a serpent shaped head with a false beard and two
high feathers on top of the head. The other figure is damaged and therefore
lacking a large section of his head and chest. The names of either figure
are not present although it seems likely that they represent the knifebearing guardian gods.
Two blue horizontal lines separate the guardians and a large central
motif that occupies the remainder of the coffin (G). Here, a large djedpillar, representing the god Osiris, is depicted above a nwb-sign. The pillar
has human hands, which grasp nekhakha-sceptres, while the top is
crowned with the tjeni-crown. Furthermore, the figure is flanked on both
3

Yoyotte 1961, 45; Teeter and Johnson 2009, 2529.

The Inner Coffin of Tameramun

447

sides with a pair of wedjat-eyes at the head and two cobras with solar disc
protruding from the waist area.

Fig. 22-8: The western and eastern Wepwawet on the foot of the lid,
registers E1 and E2 (photo by the authors).

The personification of the djed-pillar is a rare and important element

that corresponds to Type III of Amanns classification, i. e. semianthropomorphic representations of this Osirian emblem, a typical symbolic element used during the Twenty-secondTwenty-fifth Dynasties (fig.
22-3, right side).4 The dating of the coffin therefore depends on stylistic
4

Amann 1983, 5256.

448

Chapter Twenty-two

features of the images painted on the coffin, thus making it likely that it
dates to the Twenty-fifth Dynasty category of Theban style coffins, but
with an unusual mix of elements, both from the beginning and its late
phase. In fact, according to the classification of Taylor, developed over the
past decade, the general layout and division of Tameramuns lid can be
assigned to design 3,5 generally in use from the Twenty-second to early
Twenty-fifth Dynasties. This includes a higher ram-headed winged sungod on the breast, supplemented in this case by another winged figure just
below, the Abydos fetish in the central part with an inscribed band running
to the foot of the coffin, and symmetrical compartments painted and
written on the lateral sides.

Fig. 22-9: The genii on the right and left shoulders of the case, registers F1
and F2 (photos by the authors).

The originality of the decoration of the frontal case has no parallel in

the iconography of examples dating to either earlier or later periods.6
Tameramuns lid is the only evidence so far known to demonstrate a
personal emphasis of the canopic deities as a representation of the
deceased. For this reason, they have been depicted in a living dress and
with the same attitude as the singer. Thus, there is nothing strange in the
5

Taylor 2003, 109.

This theory was confirmed by John Taylor after a preliminary examination of the
coffin. Personal communication.

The Inner Coffin of Tameramun

449

choice of the artist to substitute the only son of Horus with all the human
traits, Imsety, with a real portrait of the deceased Tameramun. Even if their
style is innovative, the shape of the unguent cone corresponds to Taylors
type 2, in which a vegetal green matter flanks an irregular shaped cone.7
On the frontal surface of Tameramuns coffin, the lady wears two
different types of dresses: on the upper left register (B1, fig. 22-6) she is in
a tight fitting red robe with only one strap, a typical but later Twenty-fifth
Dynasty attire that corresponds to type 9 of Taylors classification,8 even
if it represents a variant because of the lack of the second strap. Below, on
the lower registers (C1 and C2, figs. 22-7 and 22-10), the deceased wears
another long transparent and pleated robe, which fits into type 10 of the
same classification (Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Dynasties).9 Moreover,
the presence of Osiris wearing a dress of the living (C2, fig. 22-10) is also
uncommon. The closest parallel to this iconography can be found on the
coffin of Padiashaikhet from the Nicholson Museum in Sydney (inventory
number R28) but in this case, Osiris is depicted alone.10

Fig. 22-10. Register C2: Tameramun accompanied by Osiris in a living dress

(photo by the authors).
7

Taylor 2003, 101102.

Taylor 2003, 100.
9
Taylor 2003, 100.
10
Taylor 2006, pl. 49d.
8

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Chapter Twenty-two

In addition, the position of the two guardians gods holding a knife on

the left and right shoulders of the outer case of the coffin is, however, quite
unusual although it does confirm the general freedom of the artist(s) in
rendering stereotypical figures and motifs. In fact, these deities are
generally depicted either on the inner case or on its lateral sides.
In brief, the coffin is only apparently standard: the layout of the registers, early in date, does not match with the other stylistic elements
(dresses, unguent cones), rather later; however, its uniqueness is well confirmed by other uncommon features (the female appearance of the four
sons of Horus, the position of the guardian gods on the shoulders of the
outer case), which can probably explain an archaising and experimental
solution of the artist(s).
The inscriptions on the coffin are largely uninformative, providing
only the name of the owner and her title Singer of the Inner of Amun. At
present, Tameramun is unknown from any other monuments or funerary
equipment. However, the only character with this personal name and title
is attested during the same period and geographical context as noted by
Ranke.11 Here, a lady named Dimutshepenankh, whose outer and medium
coffins are stored in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (CG 41060 and CG
41061), is given the good name of Tameramun (fig. 22-11).
Furthermore, she also bears the same title of Singer of the Inner of
Amun.12 This woman, who was buried at Deir el-Bahari, was the
daughter of a High Priest of Montu Nesnebnetjerw. Her mummy and the
inner coffin are believed lost, with no mention of them being made by
Gauthier.
In comparing the dimensions of the medium coffin in Cairo with the
one from Varese, it is clear that the latter could easily fit within the case of
the former. For this reason, we can suppose that the Varese specimen may
in fact be the inner coffin of the Cairo set belonging to Dimutshepenankh,
thus confirming a later Kushite dating. Unfortunately the Pogliaghis archives, now stored at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, do not provide any details as to how or when the inner coffin arrived in his collection or to any
connection between the three coffins now housed in Cairo and Varese.
The second phase of our research, which we aim to achieve in the next
few years, consists of a restoration project that could allow for a scientific
evaluation of the general state of the coffin. This will include a thorough
cleaning of the surfaces, a chemical analysis of the black samples taken

11
12

PN I, 357.
Gauthier 1913, II, 363381.

The Inner Coffin of Tameramun

451

from the interior of the case, and a reconstruction of the lost parts of the
coffin with the aim of providing a new and valuing display.

Fig. 22-11. Dimutshepenankh, whose good name is Tameramun. Cairo

CG 41060 (after Gauthier 1913 II, pl. XXVI).

452

Chapter Twenty-two

Bibliography
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Djed-Pfeilers als Form des Osiris. WeltOr 14: 4662.
Gauthier, Henri. 1913. Cercueils anthropodes des prtres de Montou (CG
4104241072). 2 vols. CGC. Cairo: Institut franais darchologie
orientale.
Taylor, John H. 2003. Theban Coffins from the Twenty-second to the
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