TOMB OF KHNUMHOTEP II (Beni Hasan) The Tomb of Khnumhotep II is the BH3 of the Necropolis of Beni Hasan. Khnumhotep II was a high official of the Nome of the Oryx. He was the son of the vizier Nehri and of Beket, daughter of Khnumhotep I. He had two wives: the first was Khety, eldest daughter of the Governor of the Nome of the Jackal, the seventeenth of Upper Egypt, and the second was Tjat. We know of two sons, Nakht and Khnumhotep III. He carried out his duties under the reigns of Amenemhat II and Sesostris II during the XII Dynasty. His was one of the last built tombs at Beni Hasan. The tomb is introduced by a porch with a lintel supported by two fluted columns. The porch has a width of about 23 feet and a depth of about 6,50 feet. In the rear wall of the porch is the entrance that leads into the square chapel with sides measuring about 10 meters and a height of about 6 meters. The ceiling was supported by four polygonal columns. The east wall of the chapel has at its center the entrance to a niche where once stood a statue of Khnumhotep seated; now we can only see the bottom of that statue. To the left of the niche we see Khnumhotep while hunting, standing on a small boat of reeds. With his right hand throws a throwing-stick against the birds that rise from the stain of papyrus while his left hand holds the legs of the decoys. At the bow of the boat is a servant sandals-bearer. The other three characters depicted in the scene are the two wives and one son. In the scene that we see under the boat are depicted some fishermen pulling a net. On the right of the niche we see Khnumhotep while is fishing with a harpoon into the swamp of papyrus. Before him a servant hands him a harpoon. In the scene under the boat we see some men playing on some small boats of reeds. On the north wall we see scenes of hunting, foreign men delivering tributes, etc... In the two central registers we can see the scene that has made famous this tomb: the caravan of the asian peoples who deliver tributes. These men are led by their chief Abishai. The western wall shows us scenes of an agricultural nature, plowing, harvesting, etc... and two boats that perform the ritual Journey to Abydos. For further informations visit my website: my-egypt.it/middle-egypt/beni-hasan-3/
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 10:53:38 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015