Paatenemheb ("the

Aten Aten also Aton, Atonu, or Itn ( egy, jtn, ''reconstructed'' ) was the focus of Atenism, the religious system established in ancient Egypt by the Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh Akhenaten. The Aten was the disc of the sun and originally an aspect of ...

sin festival") was an ancient Egyptian official who served under pharaohs

Amenhotep III Amenhotep III ( egy, jmn-ḥtp(.w), ''Amānəḥūtpū'' , "Amun is Satisfied"; Hellenized as Amenophis III), also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. According to different ...

and

Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Echnaton, Akhenaton, ( egy, ꜣḫ-n-jtn ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dy ...

of the 18th Dynasty.King Horemheb as Amun-Re, Dyn. 18
on Virtual Egyptian Museum.

Biography

Son of a man named Ptahmay, Paatenemheb made his way into the ranks of the military to become commander-in-chief of Akhenaten’s army. His tomb is among those of the nobles in

Amarna Amarna (; ar, العمارنة, al-ʿamārnah) is an extensive Egyptian archaeological site containing the remains of what was the capital city of the late Eighteenth Dynasty. The city was established in 1346 BC, built at the direction of the Ph ...

(TA24). It was barely started, and even the descending stairs were roughly hewn. The few inscriptions from the entrance are no longer visible, but these were recorded at the time of the discovery and reported the titles he had in life: Royal

Scribe A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing. The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its promi ...

, Overseer of the soldiery of the Lord of the Two Lands, Steward of the Lord of the Two Lands, and Overseer of porters in Akhetaten.

Identification with Horemheb

It is still uncertain if Paatenemheb was no other than pharaoh

Horemheb Horemheb, also spelled Horemhab or Haremhab ( egy, ḥr-m-ḥb, meaning "Horus is in Jubilation") was the last pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, 18th Dynasty of Egypt (1550–1295 BC). He ruled for at least 14 years between 131 ...

in his early career — before adopting a name more appropriate to the post-Amarnan religious restoration — or if they were two separate individuals. Such equation is seen as possible by

Aidan Dodson Aidan Mark Dodson (born 1962) is an English Egyptologist and historian. He has been honorary professor of Egyptology at the University of Bristol since 1 August 2018. Academic career Dodson, born in London on 11 September 1962, studied at Langle ...

and Dyan Hilton.

Toby Wilkinson Toby Alexander Howard Wilkinson, (born 1969) is an English Egyptologist and academic. After studying Egyptology at the University of Cambridge, he was Lady Wallis Budge Research Fellow in Egyptology at Christ's College, Cambridge (1993 to 199 ...

even contemplates the chance that Paatenhemeb may have switched his name ''twice'': born as Horemheb ("

Horus Horus or Heru, Hor, Har in Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as god of kingship and the sky. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the P ...

sin festival"), changed to Paatenemheb during Akhenaten’s reign, and conveniently reverted to Horemheb after the pharaoh’s death. Conversely,

Nicolas Grimal Nicolas-Christophe Grimal (born 13 November 1948 in Libourne) is a French Egyptologist. Biography Nicolas Grimal was born to Pierre Grimal in 1948. After his Agrégation in Classics in 1971, he obtained a PhD in 1976 and a Doctorat d'État in ...

argued that the two apparently were two different persons.

Biography

Identification with Horemheb

References

See also