Opening the Tomb of Petamenophis in Luxor: A First Look [Dec 2005]

The tomb is hugely significant, being, well huge. At this point, it is the largest tomb in Egypt and yet we really do not know why the owner of it was so blessed, but perhaps future work may reveal this secret.

Indeed, he was a high official, describing himself as "Sealbearer and Sole Beloved Friend, Lector and Scribe of the Records in the Sight of the King". In this inscription the king is not named, but there is an inscription in the northern part of the great outer courtyard, discovered by Lepsius, with a cartouche containing the name of a King Haremhab (Horemheb?), next to the name of Petamenophis. However, stylistically, many scholars believe that Pteamenophis' tomb could not be dated as early as the 18th or early 19th dynasty. In this regard, the tomb appears to date no earlier than the Ethiopian Period (when Nubians ruled Egypt). Some scholars believe that Petamenophis may have lived during the rule of Psammetichus I, the first king of the 26th Dynasty...

It has important texts such as the Book of the Dead which need to be studied. In fact it is one of the most important, if not the most important, source for sacred texts during the period of Egyptian history. For example, there is also a Late Period version of the Book of Caverns in the tomb, which has yielded otherwise missing parts of this text. But the most amazing thing about this tomb is it's sheer size, with some 330 meters of corridors.

The Book of Gates
by Global Egyptian Museum
It is not certain when the Book of Gates first appeared; although some scholars suggest a date in the Middle Kingdom or even the 1st Intermediate Period, it was probably composed under Amenhotep III and was first introduced into a tomb by Horemheb, partly to replace the Amduat. Henceforth the two oldest Books of the Underworld appear together in most of the royal tombs of the 19th and 20th Dynasties. There is a complete example on the sarcophagus of Sethos I.

After the New Kingdom the Book of Gates is no longer found on tomb walls, but still appears in fragments on the papyri and sarcophagi of non-royal persons from the 21st Dynasty. Only in the 26th Dynasty does the Book of Gates reappear together with other Books of the Underworld in the richly decorated tomb of Petamenophis. In the Late Period, when coffin decoration was undergoing a new Golden Age inspired by the royal tombs and sarcophagi of the New Kingdom, private persons began to use the judgement scene in particular, as well as part of the first hour. The final illustration, which depicts the end of the journey through the night, had already begun to appear in mythological papyri and in the Books of the Dead of the 21st Dynasty.

The 22nd Dynasty and its Connections:
Petamenophis
The California Institute for Ancient Studies
The tomb was later visited and described separately by Wilkinson, by Dümichen, and others, before Maspero, seeing its deteriorating condition and realizing the necessity of protecting it from despoliation, had it sealed at the end of the last century. It remained closed until 1936 when W. F. von Bissing obtained permission to re-open it with the purpose of performing a definitive survey and publication. Braving the "billions of bats" infesting the place and the thick air (the ventilation shafts "left much to be desired") he persevered, and within two years (1938) published a detailed description of the finds.

Rudolf Anthes and ~. Grapow were entrusted with making a cast of the inscription with Haremhab's cartouche and found that "the name [Haremhab] stands out quite clearly" "steht der name völlig deutlich da"). What happened to these plaster casts is a question we would like to find an answer to. Next arose the question of the tomb's date and the time of Petamenophis' career.

The archaeologists were unable to agree, except that on stylistic grounds it could not be earlier than Ethiopian time. "Unfortunately", von Bissing wrote, "in the entire vast tomb, not a single indication was found that would directly yield a date." [Bissing, Ibid., p. 24] But was not the cartouche of Haremhab just the sought-for indication? In the context of the accepted chronology Haremhab's name carved next to that of the tomb's owner was rejected as an anachronism, and since no other royal name was found, the date of the tomb was held to be in doubt. Anthes nevertheless arrived at what appears to be the correct estimate when he placed it in the time of Tirhaka. [Anthens, `Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache', 73 (1937), p. 30f]

The Stratigraphy of the 19th Dynasty in Asia Minor
by Alan Montgomery
Petrie found a temple of Rameses II at Tahpanhes, a 26th Dynasty site. Psammetichus (663 - 610 GAD) of the 26th Dynasty had granted Tahpanhes to his Greek and Carian mercenaries. It existed during the 26th Dynasty until the time of Amasis (569 -525). He found no artefacts of dynasties 20 to 25... Excavators at Lachish found a temple with 19th Dynasty artefacts also contained Israelite material of the 7th century. The stratum of the time Nebuchadnezzar, circa 590, contained the scarabs of Ramses II circa 1290... At Byblos... Ahiram... was buried in a coffin made by his son. His son's inscription was in Phoenician script of the 8th or 7th century as was the imported Cypriote pottery but the broken Egyptian vases and the coffin in the tomb were from the time of Ramses II... Rowe, the excavator of Beth Shan, designated the upper Strata IX to V to the 18th, 19th and the early 20th Dynasty. Levels IX, VIII, and VII are ascribed to the 18th Dynasty. Levels VI and V are ascribed to the 19th and early 20th Dynasties. The succeeding Stratum IV was ascribed to the period of the Late 20th Dynasty, Judges and Philistines, Israelite kings, Assyrians, Psammetichus and the Scythians as well as the Neo-Babylonians and the early years of the Persians. Whereas 5 strata are assigned to just over 300 years, the one and only Israelite stratum was assigned over 700 years. Furthermore, the thickness of Stratum IV is eight times thinner than the combined Strata V and VI, circa 150 years... Indeed, Mazar reports that Level VII belongs to the 19th Dynasty and Level VI to the 20th Dynasty. This leaves two levels V and IV for the Israelite levels. Though he cites Rowe as a reference, he gives no explanation of the discrepancy. Although it is suggested that the Philistines followed the 20th Dynasty, Rowe reports no Philistine pottery at this level. Furthermore, no artefacts identified as Israelite, Assyrian or Neo-Babylonian is reported either. Only a statue of Ramses III is found here together with Scythian artefacts. If Seti I and Ramses II (1300 - 1200) directly overlie the Scythians in Neo-Babylonian and Persian times (600 - 300), there remains a 600-year gap, just like the Syrian sites... It is hopeless to carry on special pleading any longer to avoid the obvious. There is no 600-year gap. The 19th Dynasty existed in the 7th not the 13th century. The 19th and 26th Dynasties are the same as Velikovsky has claimed.

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