Mehu was an Ancient Egyptian

vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was a ...

who lived in the Sixth Dynasty, around 2300 BC. The office of the vizier was the most important one at the royal court. Mehu is mainly known from his monumental

mastaba A mastaba (, or ), also mastabah, mastabat or pr- djt (meaning "house of stability", " house of eternity" or "eternal house" in Ancient Egyptian), is a type of ancient Egyptian tomb in the form of a flat-roofed, rectangular structure with inwar ...

Saqqara Saqqara ( ar, سقارة, ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. ...

, not far away from the

Pyramid of Unas The pyramid of Unas (Egyptian: ''Nfr swt Wnjs'' "Beautiful are the places of Unas") is a smooth-sided pyramid built in the 24th century BC for the Egyptian pharaoh Unas, the ninth and final king of the Fifth Dynasty. It is the smallest Old King ...

. The exact dating of Mehu is disputed in Egyptology.

Hartwig Altenmüller Hartwig Altenmüller Hamburg University biography (in German) (born 1938, in Saulgau, Württemberg, Germany) is a German Egyptologist. He became professor at the Archaeological Institute of the University of Hamburg in 1971. He worked as an ar ...

published the relief decoration of the mastaba and dates him under king

Teti Teti, less commonly known as Othoes, sometimes also Tata, Atat, or Athath in outdated sources, was the first king of the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt. He was buried at Saqqara. The exact length of his reign has been destroyed on the Turin King List bu ...

. He argues that the one of the brothers of Mehu with the name Iynefret is identical to another vizier also named Iynefret, who might date to the early Sixth Dynasty. Furthermore, Mehu carried the title of an ''overseer of priest at Djed-sut-Teti'', that is the pyramid complex of king Teti. Other argue that he dates slightly later under king

Pepy I Pepi I Meryre (also Pepy I) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, third king of the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt, who ruled for over 40 years at the turn of the 24th and 23rd centuries BC, toward the end of the Old Kingdom period. He was the son of ...

. Mehu's family, in particular his parents, remain unknown but he was very likely from

Mendes Mendes ( grc-gre, Μένδης, ''gen''.: ), the Greek name of the ancient Egyptian city of Djedet, also known in ancient Egypt as Per-Banebdjedet ("The Domain of the Ram Lord of Djedet") and Anpet, is known today as Tell El-Ruba ( ar, تل ال ...

. Mehu had two wives, one called Nebet, the other one Neferkaus. Mehu was bearing a high number of important titles. These include the titles of the vizier, but he was also

Overseer of the treasuries The overseer of the treasuries (alternative translation: overseer of the two treasuries; ''imy-r prwy ḥḏ'') was an important official at the ancient Egyptian court of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old and the New Kingdom. The title is first attest ...

, overseer of the double granary,

overseer of Upper Egypt The Overseer of Upper Egypt was an important Ancient Egyptian title during the Old and Middle Kingdom periods. The title appears first in the early Fifth Dynasty. The first title holder is the vizier Kay, who possibly lived during the reigns of ...

and overseer of all royal works. Several sons are mentioned in the tomb. One son was perhaps called Mery, but his name was several times deleted. Another son was Hetepka. Within the mastaba of Mehu there are parts reserved for a vizier called Hetepka. It is possible that he was the son of Mehu, albeit final evidence for this identification is missing. The vizier Hetepka might have been just a member of Mehu's family. Two other known children of Mehu are a daughter called Merut and a further son called Khuy.Hartwig Altenmüller: ''Die Wanddarstellungen im Grab des Mehu in Saqqara'', Archäologischer Veröffentlichungen 42, Mainz 1998, {{ISBN, 3805305044, 78-79

References

Viziers of the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt Overseer of the treasury Overseers of Upper Egypt Ancient Egyptian overseers of royal works Ancient Egyptian overseers of the granaries

External links

Virtual tour of his mastaba