The Burial of Queen Ahhotep

The Burial of Queen Ahhotep One of the most important and intriguing finds linked to the begin The Dra Abu el-Naga burial must have been a reinterment, as ning of the New Kingdom was made in 1859, when a gilded cciffin were the Kamose reburial 8 and possibly the Qurna rishi cciffin group and a trove of magnificent jewels and other objects belonging to a found by Petrie as well. 9 These reburials may have been necessitated queen named Ahhotep were discovered, supposedly in a brick-lined by the tomb robberies of the late New Kingdom, but the quantity of vaulted tomb in the necropolis DraA bu el-N aga in western Thebes. 1 precious items surviving in them suggests that they had been treated Among the ornaments uncovered there were a number ofprecious with more reverence than were the tombs of their successors. metal fly pendants associated with military honor and derived from PL the Nubian Kerma culture. 2 The inclusion of this type of ornament riflects the que en's role, as recorded in an inscription from Karnak, 1. Reeves 2000, pp. 5()-52; von Bissing 1900. 2. In addition to the well-known goldflies on a chain are smaller gold and silver as "the princess, the king's mother, the noblewoman who knows things flies from the tomb that are identical to the ones found at Kerma: cj. American and takes care of Egypt. She looked after its soldiers and protected Discovery ifAncient Egypt 1995, p. 167. The find was made during the early years ifarchaeological exploration in Egypt, and the lack if supervision at the them. She brought back its fugitives and gathered its dissidents time has made some scholars skeptical ifthe discovery, beginning with Winlock 3 together. She pacified Upper Egypt and expelled its rebels. " 1924, pp. 217-77, especially p. 254, and, more recently, Harvey 1998, pp. 2()-21, Clearly Ahhotep had peifOrmed some part in ensuring the Theban and Arnold 2008, the latter two cautioning against any inferences made from the material. It could be at least as likely as not, however, that this material triumph over the Hyksos. Most likely she was a princess of the does form a singular group. Theban line, the wife of king Seqenenre, and perhaps the mother of 3. Janosi 1992,p. 99. both Kamose and Ahmose. 4 Inscribed materials for both these rul 4. Bryan 200o,pp. 228-29. of 5. CG3872; Winlock 1932. ers were found among her putative burial equipment. Another cciffin 6. Roth 1999, p. 362. inscribed for Ahhotep was discovered in the Deir el-Bahri cache 5 7. Eaton-Krauss 2003, pp. 75-89. 8. Reeves 2000, p. 48. and has been taken as evidence that there were two early Dynasty 18 9. The Ahhotep and Kamose reburials may be related to later reuse if the Dra queens named Ahhotep. 6 The Deir el-Bahri cciffin, however, was Abu el-Naga tombs (Daniel Polz, personal communication). The circumstances ifthe rich rishi aiffin burialfrom Qurna suggest that it could well have been reused by Painedjem I of Dynasty 21, and its massive size suggests part ifthe same project (Petrie 1909, pp. 6-11). that it once formed the outer case to the Dra Abu el-Naga inner cof- fin. Such a pairing is evocative of the cciffins ofprincess Meryetamun, indicating that the cciffins ofAhhotep were originally made as a pair and separated at some point in the distant past. 7 67 AxE Gold, electrum, copper alloy, semiprecious stones, wood he objects associated with the Ahhotep a gold band with inlaid hieroglyphs giving Height 47.5 em (18% in.); width 6.7 em (2% in.) Tfind reflect the cosmopolitan nature of the titulary of Ahmose, and cartouches at Thebes, Tomb of Ahhotep Egypt at the outset of the New Kingdom, the top side of the blade read, "The good New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, 16th century B.C. when contact with foreign cultures from god Nebphetyre, son ofRe, Ahmose." Luxor Museum, Egypt JE 4673 both the north and south brought many new Below this is a depiction of the king wear influences to the art and customs of the ing a blue "battle" crown and smiting an fledgling empire. The copper-alloy cer enemy in the attenuated style of the late emonial battle-axe encrusted with semi Second Intermediate Period. The pharaoh, 68 precious stones and gold cutouts inlaid depicted as an Egyptian sphinx on the DAGGER into a black substance is an elaborate imi reverse of the axe, is here rendered as a tation (using precious metals) of a typical crested recumbent griffin, with a raised Gold, electrum, copper alloy, semiprecious Egyptian weapon of the period, which wing and eagle or vulture beak, in the low stones would have had a copper-alloy blade, est register, with the inscription "beloved Width 3.4 em (1% in.); length 28.5 em leather binding, and wood handle. 1 The of Montu," the god of war. 3 The tradition (11~ in.) now-missing bands on the handle would of depicting the pharaoh as a conquering Thebes, Tomb of Ahhotep have evoked the contrasting bands of falcon-headed winged feline extends back New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, 16th century B.c. wood sometimes found in functional axes. 2 to the Old and Middle Kingdoms, as seen Luxor Museum, Egypt JE 4666 Running along the length of the handle is on the pectoral of Mereret (fig. 34), and 119 .

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