Pediamenopet

Four ushabti of Pediamenopet, now in Munich.

Pediamenopet in hieroglyphs

Pediamenopet, also: Padiamenopea, Petamenophis, Padiamenope, Padiamenipet or Petamenofi, was the original resident of the tomb TT33 located at el-Assasif, in Egypt's Theban Necropolis. His tomb is the largest non-royal site in the necropolis.

Pediamenopet was a royal scribe and chief lector priest. He served one or more pharaohs during the 25th and 26th dynasties, and he amassed enough wealth and power to build a labyrinthine tomb covered with hundreds of meters of frescoes and hieroglyphs.^[1]

Tomb

Pediamenopet’s burial site, designated as TT33, was deemed to be of interest since Egyptologists uncovered it in the 19th century. It is located near the Nile river on the site of Deir el-Bahari and is larger than those of the famous pharaohs of the necropolis.

TT33 has 22 rooms connected by long corridors and deep shafts. It is spread over 3 levels descending to 20 meters below ground level, and includes numerous hieroglyphic scripts.

During 2004–2005, University of Strasbourg professor Dr. Claude Traunecker explored the chambers of the huge tomb. The official reopening was attended by notable officials from Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities and by other archaeologists working in the area, among them Francesco Tiradritti. Further planned work will concentrate on the cleaning, restoration and conservation of the Tomb 33 which has been engraved with many important writings, such as the Book of the Dead.^[2]

Several ushabti belonging to Pediamenopet are known; all of these are broken, presumably for some magical reason.^[3]

References

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pediamenopet.

• Traunecker, Claude & Lorton, David The Gods of Egypt, Translated by David Lorton, Cornell University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8014-3834-9, ISBN 978-0-8014-3834-9