"I never took anything from any man": the enigmatic inscription on the tomb of the official Khuwy discovered in Saqqara

La Brújula Verde ^ | November 4, 2026 | Guillermo Carvajal

[SunkenCiv]

Broken pieces of limestone from a 4,400-year-old tomb in Egypt carry one of the earliest known Egyptian autobiographies. In it, an official named Khuwy presents himself as an honest man who was close to the royal couple. 

An Egyptian official who lived some 4,400 years ago wanted to be remembered as a man who never took anything from anyone. His words survive only in fragments, but those fragments may help show where a long Egyptian habit began: carving your own life story on the walls of your tomb. 

The man was called Khuwy. His tomb was uncovered in 2019 at Saqqara, the huge burial ground south of Cairo, inside the cemetery that surrounds the pyramid of King Djedkare. 

A new study by the Czech Egyptologist Hana Vymazalová of Charles University, published in 2026 in The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, now analyses the inscription... 

Underground, it holds one of the oldest decorated burial apartments (the rooms where the dead man was laid to rest) known from the Old Kingdom, the era when the great pyramids were built. 

The building above ground did not survive. Ancient robbers destroyed it during the New Kingdom... One phrase appears to warn against anyone who commits an "evil act" against the tomb or the people buried in it. Warnings of this kind were common in Egyptian tombs.

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TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: 5thdynasty; djedkare; egypt; epigraphyandlanguage; godsgravesglyphs; ikhetnefert; khuwy; khuwykhuwybaby; newkingdom; oldkingdom; ptahshepses; sabu; saqqara

[SunkenCiv]

The eastern façade of Khuwy's tomb following consolidation and reconstruction works carried out by the Djedkare Project mission.

Credit: Djedkare Project / Hana Vymazalová

[SunkenCiv]

[sidebar from Archaeology mag] Ahram Online reports that a 4,000-year-old offering chapel belonging to Ikhetnefert, the wife of the high priest Sabu, has been discovered at his tomb in Saqqara by researchers from the Czech Institute of Egyptology. The team members also explored the tomb of Ptahshepses, a 5th Dynasty official who was the son of Sabu and Ikhetnefert. Ptahshepses is known to have served four kings of the 5th Dynasty and to have married an Egyptian princess. The tombs in this area of the Saqqara necropolis were first explored in the nineteenth century by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, who founded the Egyptian Antiquities Service. He uncovered some 160 Old Kingdom tombs in the area, but left the work on these particular tombs incomplete. The new excavation has shown that Sabu's tomb measured more than 175 feet long and 90 feet wide, and that it once stood about 16 feet tall. Hisham El-Leithy of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said that the tomb's exterior walls featured elaborate decorations. Well-preserved reliefs depicting Sabu and Ptahshepses were found within Ikhetnefert's offering chapel, which was not excavated by Mariette. The chapel also houses a false door bearing images of Ikhetnefert with her husband and their two sons, Ptahshepses and Raneferef. The nearby tomb of Ptahshepses also has an offering chamber and reliefs depicting processions and offerings. Although his burial chamber was looted in antiquity, a limestone sarcophagus containing human remains was discovered there. Examination of the remains suggests that Ptahshepses lived for more than 60 years. To read about the elaborately decorated chapel of an Egyptian royal tomb sculptor, go to "A Tomb of One's Own."

Relief in the offering chapel of Ikhetneferet, Saqqara, Egypt

Czech Institute of Egyptology

[SunkenCiv]

[z3n]

I am curious what the specific context of the translation word “took” is here.

I surmise it is meant to suggest that he never stole from anyone. That also seems to be what the article is suggesting.

But it could also mean that he never accepted any gifts or charity.

Also, and this seems the most unlikely, he might be saying that he was not transactional at all. Always giving and never receiving.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“I never took anything from any man”

How many modern politicians can claim that?

[ProtectOurFreedom]

That relief carving is amazing. What detail!

[jimtorr]

Perhaps he was denying accusations of theft from when he was living.

Literally setting it in stone.

[BenLurkin]

“I am not a crook.”