The
ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...
ian noble Sennefer was "Mayor of the City" (i.e.
Thebes) and "Overseer of the Granaries and Fields, Gardens and Cattle of
Amun
Amun was a major ancient Egyptian deity who appears as a member of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad. Amun was attested from the Old Kingdom together with his wife Amunet. His oracle in Siwa Oasis, located in Western Egypt near the Libyan Desert, r ...
" during the reign of
Amenhotep II of the
Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt
The Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XVIII, alternatively 18th Dynasty or Dynasty 18) is classified as the first dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt, the era in which ancient Egypt achieved the peak of its power. The Eighteenth Dynasty ...
. Being a favourite of the king he accumulated great wealth. He was also allowed to place a double statue of himself and his wife in the temple at Karnak. The famous garden plan, often described as Sennefer's Garden, is more likely to be of a garden which Sennefer managed, and perhaps designed, than to be of a garden which Sennefer owned.
He was the son of the second priest Hor-wer in Qus, Nu; his mother was a woman called Henutiry, Tiiry. Sennefer is called ''son of the sister'' of Ahmose Humay, a male royal nurse, cousin to Amenhotep II's vizier
Amenemipet called Pairy, and married to the royal nurse Sentnay. His elder daughter Muttuy apparently married Kenamun, who succeeded Sennefer as mayor of Thebes. His cousin Amenemipet called Pairy constructed a tomb close to Sennefer's,
TT29.
He was buried in a small but well decorated tomb (
TT96, sometimes known as the "Tomb of the Vineyards" due to its decoration
), located in the
Sheikh Abd el-Qurna
The necropolis of Sheikh Abd el-Qurna () is located on the West Bank at Thebes, Egypt, Thebes in Upper Egypt. It is part of the archaeological area of Deir el-Bahari, and named after the domed tomb of the local saint. This is the most frequently v ...
district of the
Theban Necropolis
The Theban Necropolis () is a necropolis on the west bank of the Nile, opposite Thebes, Egypt, Thebes (Luxor) in Upper Egypt. It was used for ritual burials for much of the Ancient Egypt, Pharaonic period, especially during the New Kingdom of Egyp ...
opposite
Luxor
Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt. Luxor had a population of 263,109 in 2020, with an area of approximately and is the capital of the Luxor Governorate. It is among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited c ...
in
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
.
However, some funerary items for Sennefer and his family have been found in
KV42, the tomb of
Merytre-Hatshepsut, so he may have re-used this tomb for his actual burial. Some containers of Sennefer and Sentnay were also discovered in
KV32, the tomb of Queen
Tiaa
The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA, formerly TIAA-CREF) is an American financial services organization that is a private provider of financial retirement services in the academic, resea ...
, wife of
Amenhotep II and mother of
Thutmose IV.
References
External links
Page about TT96 on Osirisnet.net{{in lang, fr
Officials of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt