The Tomb of Parennefer, Butler of Pharaoh Akhenaten

Theban Tomb 188 is the sole archaeological site in the ancient Theban necropolis securely dated to the reign of the “heretic pharaoh” Akhenaten (1353–1336 BCE). The result of several years of clearance and recording by Dr. Susan Redford, director of the Akhenaten Temple Project’s Theban Tomb Survey, this richly illustrated book provides a detailed description of the remaining wall scenes and texts of this historically important ancient monument.

In the fourteenth century BCE, Pharaoh Akhenaten attempted to institute a radical religious reform and moved his capital city to Amarna. This book publishes important evidence related to the Amarna period in ancient Egypt, specifically the plans, reliefs, and inscriptions of Theban Tomb 188, belonging to Parennefer, the tutor and butler of the king. Dr. Redford’s detailed archaeological study traces the rapid evolution of ideology, iconography, and iconoclasm, as revealed in Parennefer’s tomb. The decoration kept pace with the momentous changes in the king’s thinking, so that, when dovetailed with the pictorial evidence from the excavations of the great Gem-pa-aten temple at Karnak, it becomes possible to chronicle these rapid changes.

This definitive study of the tomb of Parennefer will appeal to archaeologists, Egyptologists, historians of religion, and art historians working on the ancient Near East.

“. . .this is a beautifully produced volume that addresses, in detail, the archaeology of a historically important ancient Egyptian monument. . . . Perhaps most significantly, Redford’s definitive guide to this tomb, and to Parennefer himself, provides unique insight into the changes in art and culture at that time, especially at a non-royal level of society.”—Elizabeth Eltze, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Susan Redford is an Egyptologist on faculty at the Pennsylvania State University. She is Director of the Theban Tomb Survey and Associate Director of the Akhenaten Temple Project, and she has for forty years been conducting excavations at East Karnak and Mendes. She is the author of The Harem Conspiracy: The Murder of Ramesses III.

List of Illustrations

Preface and Acknowledgements

List of Abbreviations

Introduction

Chapter 1. Location and Description

1.1 Surrounding Landmarks

1.2 Description of Adjacent Monuments

1.3 Disposition of the Monuments

Chapter 2. Architecture

2.1 Courtyard and External Premises

2.2 Interior Arrangement

2.3 Shafts and Subterranean Chamber

2.4 Present Physical Condition

2.5 Preparation of Surfaces for Decoration

Chapter 3. Decorative Program (with textual translations and notes by Donald B. Redford)

3.1 Courtyard Façade

3.2 Exterior Doorway

3.3 Reveals of the Entryway

3.4 Granary Scene

3.5 Vintage Scene

3.6 Orchard Scene

3.7 Scene of Bringing Cattle

3.8 The Per-Aten Complex

3.9 The Reward Scene

3.10 The Seated Couple

3.11 The Processional Scene

3.12 Scene of Mortuary Offerings

3.13 Doorway to the Inner Shrine

3.14 Ceiling and Borders

Chapter 4. Dating and Chronology

4.1 Chronology of the Reign

4.2 Dating Criteria

4.3 Chronological Ordering of Wall Decoration

Chapter 5. Scene Restoration

5.1 South Wall, West Side

5.2 South Wall, East Side

5.3 North Wall, East Side

5.4 North Wall, West Side

5.5 Courtyard Façade

Chapter 6. Catalogue of Wall Blocks

Chapter 7. The Tomb Owner (by Donald B. Redford)

7.1 Rank and Functional Titles

7.2 Courtesy Titles and Epithets

7.3 Chronology of Parennefer’s Career

Chapter 8. Conclusion

Plates

Bibliography

Index

Download a PDF sample chapter here: Chapter1