Seneb was a high-ranking court official in the
Old Kingdom
In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning c. 2700–2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth ...
of
Ancient Egypt, ''circa'' 2520 BC. A
dwarf
Dwarf or dwarves may refer to:
Common uses
*Dwarf (folklore), a being from Germanic mythology and folklore
* Dwarf, a person or animal with dwarfism
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities
* Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a humanoid ...
, Seneb was a person of considerable importance and wealth who owned thousands of cattle, held twenty palaces and religious titles and was married to a high-ranking priestess of average size with whom he had three children. His successful career and the lavishness of his burial arrangements are indicative of
the acceptance given to dwarfs in ancient Egyptian society, whose texts advocated the acceptance and integration of those with physical disabilities.
Seneb is depicted with his wife and children in a painted sculpture from his tomb, rediscovered in 1926, that is a famous example of Old Kingdom art. It shows him sitting cross-legged on a block of stone with his wife embracing him and his children standing below him where the legs of a full-size person would ordinarily have been. The composition of the scene thus achieves a harmonious symmetry. It depicts Seneb realistically with the facial features and shortened limbs of an individual with
achondroplasia, a common form of dwarfism. Paintings and carvings in the tomb give his titles and depict various scenes from his life, such as carrying out inspections of his estate and holding symbols of his office.
Discovery and location of Seneb's tomb
![Giza pyramid complex (map)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Giza_pyramid_complex_%28map%29.svg)
Seneb was buried in a ''
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 ...
'' – a flat-roofed brick tomb – located in the
West Field
Helm Field also called Lemoore Auxiliary Army Airfield A-7 is a former US Army Airfield use for training during World War II. Helm Field was location in the town of Coalinga, California, 70 miles south of Fresno. Helm Field had two 3,000 foot runw ...
of the
Giza Necropolis
The Giza pyramid complex ( ar, مجمع أهرامات الجيزة), also called the Giza necropolis, is the site on the Giza Plateau in Greater Cairo, Egypt that includes the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Men ...
near modern
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
, where a large complex of ancient Egyptian royal tombs and mortuary structures was built, including the
Great Pyramid
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the biggest Egyptian pyramid and the tomb of Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Khufu. Built in the early 26th century BC during a period of around 27 years, the pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, ...
. It was rediscovered by the German archaeologist
Hermann Junker in 1926. The tomb is situated close to that of another dwarf, Perniankhu, a high-ranking royal courtier who may have been Seneb's father.
[Zahi Hawass, Sandro Vannini. ''Inside the Egyptian Museum with Zahi Hawass: Collector's Edition'', p. 88. American University in Cairo Press, 2010. ] Its date was long uncertain but is now firmly attributed to the reign of
Djedefre (2528–2520 BC).
[''Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids'', p. 62. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999. ] His wife's name also appears in the nearby tomb of an official, Ankh-ib, suggesting that the families of Seneb, Perniankhu and Ankh-ib may have been related.
[''Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids'', p. 164.] Seneb was apparently buried with his wife, but no trace remains of the bodies, and the tomb was looted long ago, like most of the others at Giza. It was one of the first known attempts at building a ceiling dome over a square chamber, with the dome resting on jutting bricks at the corners of the room.
[Alessandro Bongioanni, Maria Sole Croce (eds.) ''The Treasures of Ancient Egypt'', p. 81. White Star, 2003. ]
The rectangular interior of Seneb's ''mastaba'' contained two cult niches with a
false door and cavities containing stone chests. Three statues were found within the chests – the painted limestone sculpture of Seneb and his family and two other statues in wood and granite. The wooden one disintegrated when it was discovered but Junker recorded that it had been about high and depicted Seneb standing with a walking-staff in one hand and a sceptre in the other.
Véronique Dasen
Véronique Dasen (born 1957) is a Swiss archaeologist and Professor in Classical Archaeology and Art History at the University of Fribourg. Her research is led in a multidisciplinary and anthropological perspective. Her research interests range fr ...
. ''Dwarfs in ancient Egypt and Greece'', p. 130. Clarendon Press, 1993. The remnants of the wooden statue are now in the
Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum Hildesheim
The Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum Hildesheim is an archaeological museum in Hildesheim, Germany. Mostly dedicated to ancient Egyptian and ancient Peruvian art, the museum also includes the second largest collection of Chinese porcelain in Europe ...
in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, in a very fragmentary state; the outline of a curled wig can still be made out, as can the pose of the left arm, which was held forward at the elbow. Seneb's 1.5 ton sarcophagus is part of the collection of the Egyptian Museum of the
University of Leipzig
Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...
.
Sculpture of Seneb and his family
The limestone sculpture of Seneb and his family is part of the collection of the
Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
[Farid Atiya, Abeer El-Shahawy, Matḥaf al-Miṣrī, Farid S. Atiya. ''The Egyptian Museum in Cairo: a walk through the alleys of ancient Egypt'', pp. 75–76. ] It depicts Seneb and his wife sitting next to each other with their children in the lower
register
Register or registration may refer to:
Arts entertainment, and media Music
* Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc.
* ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller
* Registration (organ), the ...
. Seneb is depicted sitting cross-legged on a block of stone with his arms folded in a position characteristic of a
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 ...
. His wife Senetites sits alongside him, wearing a long robe with long sleeves and a wig covering her natural hair, which can be glimpsed on her forehead. She encircles him with her arms in a gesture of affection and support. She is shown with a slight smile on her face to signify her contentment and happiness.
Two of the couple's children, one boy and one girl, stand below Seneb where the legs of an ordinary person would be. They are depicted nude with their index fingers placed in their mouths and a lock of hair falling on one side of their heads, indicating that they were below the age of puberty, when Egyptian children were given an "adult" haircut. Seneb and his son are shown with darker skin colouring than his wife and daughter. This was a standard artistic convention used to indicate gender and status, reflecting the fact that high-ranking females would remain indoors and retain a light skin colour while males would gain a darker skin from the hot Egyptian sun.
The names of three children are recorded, though the third child was not depicted on the sculpture - presumably for reasons of symmetry. They were named after Seneb's royal masters; his son was called Radjedef-Ankh ("May Radjedef live"), his eldest daughter was Awib-Khufu ("Happy is Khufu") and his younger daughter was Smeret-Radjedef ("Companion of Radjedef").
They are depicted with normal proportions, suggesting that they did not inherit their father's condition.
The sculpture's roughly cubical arrangement cleverly ensures that the overall composition retains a harmonious equilibrium. It is lightened by the artist dispensing with a back slab and incorporating
negative space into the piece.
By putting the children in the place of Seneb's legs, the artist adds to the sense of symmetry.
He creates the same impression that would have been made by an ordinary seated figure,
[Adelson, p. 141] preserving an appearance of normality without disguising Seneb's unusual physique.
The family's names and titles are given in inscriptions placed on either side of the children and on the horizontal face of the base.
Seneb's dwarfism is depicted realistically in the sculpture. It portrays him with a large head but small arms and legs.
This possibly indicates that he had
achondroplasia, a common form of dwarfism that most severely affects the fastest-growing parts of the body – particularly the
femur
The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates with ...
and
humerus
The humerus (; ) is a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. It connects the scapula and the two bones of the lower arm, the radius and ulna, and consists of three sections. The humeral upper extremity consists of a roun ...
, which become short and squat – and stunts the forearms and lower legs. It also affects the head, producing a relatively large skull with a bulging forehead and often a depressed nasal bridge. An alternative diagnosis is
dysmelia
Dysmelia (from the Greek (), "bad" + (), "limb" + English suffix -ia) is a congenital disorder of a limb resulting from a disturbance in embryonic development.(2006) Dysmelia (Limb Deficiency/Reduction). pp 312-322. In: Atlas of Genetic Diagnosi ...
– a condition that produces short arms and legs. Seneb's wife Senites is portrayed far less realistically; her depiction is of a piece with other contemporary portraits of high-ranking Egyptian women.
Role and position
Seneb's name means "healthy" – perhaps given by his mother as a wish for survival when he was a baby. Many Egyptians possessed similar names, not to denote an absence of disease but to convey a positive message of healthiness and vigour.
Dwarfism was not seen as a defect in ancient Egypt, unlike in many other cultures. Egyptian texts advised the acceptance of those with physical or mental disabilities, and there were even two dwarf gods,
Bes and
Ptah.
A number of dwarfs gained prestigious roles and were given lavish burials in proximity to their royal masters. Seneb's career is documented on his false door and the plinths of his statues, which record twenty titles
including "beloved of the lord
ing
Ing, ING or ing may refer to:
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* '' ...ing'', a 2003 Korean film
* i.n.g, a Taiwanese girl group
* The Ing, a race of dark creatures in the 2004 video game '' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes''
* "Ing", the first song on The Roches' 1992 ...
, "overseer of weaving in the palace", "overseer of dwarfs" (presumably indicating that there were others in the palace), "overseer of the crew of the ''ks'' ship"
[Chahira Kozma. "Genetic Disorders in Ancient Egypt", in Ahmad S. Teebi (ed). ''Genetic Disorders Among Arab Populations'', p. 288. Springer, 2010. ] (referring to a ceremonial or cult boat), "overseer of the ''jwḥw''" (possibly referring to animal-tenders), and "keeper of the God's seal of the ''Wn-ḥr-b3w'' boat" (referring to a papyrus bark used in certain festivals). His titles suggest that he might have started his career as an official in charge of royal linen and possibly also pets, a role in which other dwarfs are known to have served, and subsequently gained higher-ranking posts in charge of royal or cult boats. Alternatively, he could have been born into a high-ranking family and was given roles appropriate to his birth rank.
[Dasen, p. 127] Seneb also carried out religious rites in his dual role as a priest. He was titled "Priest of
Wadjet
Wadjet (; egy, wꜢḏyt "Green One"), known to the Greek world as Uto (; grc-koi, Οὐτώ) or Buto (; ) among other renderings including Wedjat, Uadjet, and Udjo, was originally the ancient local goddess of the city of Dep. It became part ...
", priest of "the large bull which is at the head of ''Sṯpt''" and of the bull ''Mrḥw''. He participated in the funeral services for the
Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...
s
Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid, and his successor Djedefre (Radjedef).
His wife Senetites, a woman of normal stature, was likewise a priestess, serving the goddesses
Hathor
Hathor ( egy, ḥwt-ḥr, lit=House of Horus, grc, Ἁθώρ , cop, ϩⲁⲑⲱⲣ, Meroitic: ) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion who played a wide variety of roles. As a sky deity, she was the mother or consort of the sky ...
and
Neith.
![False door of seneb](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/False_door_of_seneb.JPG)
Seneb's tomb reliefs and the
false door of his tomb indicate his wealth and power. Seneb is described as the owner of several thousand cattle and is shown in various scenes of domestic life – being carried in a litter, sailing in a boat in the
Nile Delta
The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Po ...
, or receiving his children.
The false door shows Seneb carrying out the standard activities of a high-ranking courtier such as inspecting his linen and cattle, receiving accounts and overseeing his retainers. He is shown wearing kilts and a priestly robe made of panther skin, and carrying symbols of his office such as a sceptre and staff. One relief shows him accompanied by two pet dogs, each captioned with a name.
[Dasen, p. 129] He is depicted using what were evidently custom-made items of furniture, such as low stools and a specially adapted litter with a low back and large side-panels to conceal his legs.
As with the sculpture, Seneb's size required the creator of the reliefs to make some unusual artistic choices. The standard convention of depicting higher status through physical size was maintained by portraying Seneb as being larger than his retainers, although this was clearly the opposite of the situation that actually existed.
On the other hand, he is still shown with the physical characteristics of a dwarf. Unusually for such a relief, his wife is not pictured alongside him but appears separately. This may have been done to avoid the complications that would have arisen from needing to depict the couple's relative sizes realistically while still portraying Seneb as the larger party, as convention would have dictated. Seneb is also not shown carrying out typical male activities such as hunting, which was presumably impractical for someone of his stature, although one relief shows him pulling on papyrus reeds to guide his boat through the marshes of the Nile Delta.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seneb
Archaeological artifacts
People with dwarfism
Sculptures of ancient Egypt
26th-century BC works
26th-century BC people
People of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt