Penthu ( egy, pnṯw)
was an
Egyptian
Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
noble who bore the titles of sealbearer of the King of
Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt ( ar, مصر السفلى '; ) is the northernmost region of Egypt, which consists of the fertile Nile Delta between Upper Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, from El Aiyat, south of modern-day Cairo, and Dahshur. Historically, ...
, the sole companion, the attendant of the Lord of the Two Lands, the favorite of the good god, king's scribe, the king's subordinate, First servant of 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 ...
in the mansion of the Aten in
Akhetaten, Chief of physicians, and chamberlain.
[N. de G. Davies, The rock tombs of El-Amarna, Parts III and IV, 1905 (Reprinted 2004), The Egypt Exploration Society, ] These titles alone show how powerful he would have been in
Eighteenth Dynasty Egypt.
He was originally Chief Physician to
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 ...
, but may have survived the upheavals of the end of the
Amarna Period
The Amarna Period was an era of History of Ancient Egypt, Egyptian history during the later half of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty when the royal residence of the pharaoh and his queen was shifted to Akhetaten ('Horizon of the ...
, and served under
Ay, after being Vizier under
Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun (, egy, twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn), Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen () (), sometimes referred to as King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ruled ...
. The identification of Penthu the Physician with
Pentu
Pentu (Pentju) was a vizier of ancient Egypt. He served during the reign of Tutankhamun.
Pentu is only known from a wine jar docket found in the tomb of Tutankhamun. It has been suggested that Pentu the Vizier is identical to Penthu the Chief P ...
the Vizier is not certain, however.
He had a tomb constructed at
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 ...
,
Amarna Tomb 5
Amarna Tomb 5 is an ancient sepulchre in Amarna, Upper Egypt. It was built for the courtier Pentu, and is one of the six Northern tombs at Amarna. The burial is located to the south of the tomb of Meryra. It is very similar to the tomb of Ahme ...
,
although his remains have never been identified, and he was probably never buried there.
An inscription discovered in 2012 in the Dayr Abū Ḥinnis limestone quarry dated to Year 16, 3rd month of
Akhet, day 15 of the reign of Akhenaten
records that quarrying was being undertaken for building work on the
Small Aten Temple
Small may refer to:
Science and technology
* SMALL, an ALGOL-like programming language
* Small (anatomy), the lumbar region of the back
* ''Small'' (journal), a nano-science publication
* <small>, an HTML element that defines smaller text
...
under the authority of the king's scribe Penthu.
The Penthu mentioned in the inscription is presumably the same Penthu who was the owner of Amarna Tomb 5. Due his position as a chief priest within the Aten priesthood, it is unlikely to be a coincidence that he would have been placed in charge of quarrying stone for this temple.
See also
*
List of ancient Egyptian scribes
This is a list of Egyptian scribes, almost exclusively from the ancient Egyptian periods.
The hieroglyph used to signify the scribe, ''to write'', and ''"writings"'', etc., is Gardiner sign Y3, Y3 from the category of: 'writings, games, & mu ...
References
External links
El Amarna North Tombs
14th-century BC Egyptian people
Ancient Egyptian scribes
Ancient Egyptian physicians
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