The Tomb of 'Ip is an

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 tomb chapel that was discovered in 1936 in El Saff, 17 km north of

Atfih Atfih ( ' , ''Tpeh or Tpēh'') is a town in Middle Egypt. It was part of the now defunct Helwan Governorate from April 2008 to April 2011, after which it was reincorporated into the Giza Governorate. As of 2001, it has a population of 1 ...

Middle Egypt Middle Egypt () is the section of land between Lower Egypt (the Nile Delta) and Upper Egypt, stretching upstream from Asyut in the south to Memphis, Egypt, Memphis in the north. At the time, Ancient Egypt was divided into Lower and Upper Egypt, ...

. The decoration of the tomb chapel was copied in the following years, but since then the location of the tomb was lost. The records were published in 1995 by Henry George Fischer in a monograph. No plan was recorded. The decoration of the chapel was painted. It can be assumed that the paintings decorated a tomb chapel cut into the rocks at El Saff. The left wall of the tomb chapel shows on the left, Ip and his wife are sitting in front of an offering table (the table was already destroyed when the scene was copied). His wife is called ''she who is known to the king, the revered one before

Hathor Hathor (, , , Meroitic language, Meroitic: ') was a major ancient Egyptian deities, 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 god Horus and the sun god R ...

, lady of Atfih''. Her name is Menkhet Henut. Above them is a text mainly listing the titles of Ip and of his wife. In front of this was painted a long offering list, also much destroyed when found. On the far right are shown servants and fishermen in a boat. The right wall of the chapel shows Ip twice, on boats hunting in the marshes. His wife is sitting next to him at his feet on the boats. The rear wall of the chapel shows Ip standing on the right, watching servants bringing cattle and scribes recording it. The caption of the scene reads: ''Viewing the accounting of production...''. At least the tomb chamber of the wife was painted too. She is once shown standing in front of oils. Another wall showed an offering list. Not much is known about Ip. In the tomb chapel he bears several titles, some of them connected to the provincial administration. He seems to date to the

Eleventh Dynasty The Eleventh Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty XI; ) is a well-attested group of rulers. Its earlier members before Pharaoh Mentuhotep II are grouped with the four preceding dynasties to form the First Intermediate Period, whereas the lat ...

, around 2000 BCE.Fischer: ''The Tomb of 'Ip at El Saff'', pp. 29-32

Significance

The Tomb of 'Ip provides important insights into the art and administration of the Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt. The detailed paintings and inscriptions offer valuable information on the titles and roles of provincial officials during this period.{{Cite web , title=The Tomb of 'Ip at El Saff , url=https://www.metmuseum.org/zh/met-publications/the-tomb-of-ip-at-el-saff , publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art , access-date=2024-05-17

References

Buildings and structures of the Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt Tombs of ancient Egypt