Sources:1. Borla, Mathilde : Les Statuettes Funéraires du Musée Égyptien de Turin In: Dossiers d'Archeologie
2003
2. KMT, vol. 14, pt. 1
3. Meskell, Lynn: Intimate archaeologies : the case of Kha and Merit. IN: World Archaeology, Vol. 29,
No. 3, Intimate relationships (Feb. 1998), p. 363-379.
4. Shaw, Ian, Nicholson, Paul: British Museum dictionary of ancient Egypt
London: British Museum Press, 1995.
5. Reeves, Nicholas: Ancient Egypt : the great discoveries : a year-by-year chronicle
London : Thames & Hudson, 2000.
6. Vassilika, Eleni: The tomb of Kha : the architect
Torino : Fondazione Museo delle Antichita Egizie, 2010.
7. Russo, Barbara: Kha (TT 8) and his colleagues : the gifts in his funerary equipment and related
artefacts from Western Thebes
London : Golden House Publications, 2012.
8 https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1107/1107.5831.pdf
9. Raffaella Bianucci, Michael E. Habicht, Stephen Buckley, Joann Fletcher, Roger Seiler, Lena M.
Öhrström, Eleni Vassilika, Thomas Böni, Frank J. Rühl. "Shedding New Light on the 18th Dynasty
Mummies of the Royal Architect Kha and His Spouse Merit", in PLOS-One, July 22, 2015
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131916
Images of Deir el-Medina:
past & present
Kingston Lacy, Dorset, England
The Ancient Egyptian Collection, assembled by John William Bankes (1786-1855) during his travels to Egypt in 1815 and 1818-1819, is the only surviving intact collection of 19th-century Egyptian antiquities in an English country house.
The house became the property of the National Trust, UK, in 1981 after the death of Ralph Bankes. Some 100 objects have been on display in the Billiards Room since 1992. These include a collection of stelae, fragments of Theban tomb paintings, amulets, shabtis, reliefs, scarabs, bronzes, fragments of furniture and small divine statuettes.
There is an obelisk from Philae and a granite sarcophagus in the grounds of the house. A collection of papyri (see below), mostly late copies of the Book of the Dead and several letters, and a recently discovered collection (in an unmarked crate in the basement in 2007) of 212 Upper Egyptian ostraka, represent the written sources of this collection.
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/kingston-lacy
Most of the stelae at Kingston Lacy are from Deir el-Medina. The stelae are the earliest objects from Deir el-Medina to reach British soil. It is thought that John William Bankes acquired the stelae during his second visit to Egypt in 1818 and that they were assembled by Henry Salt, the British Consul General, with whom Bankes was staying at the time. The year 1818 rather than 1819 is suggested because Giovanni d'Athanasi, Salt's agent and excavator, may have helped to collect them and he was working for Salt in 1818. 1818 is also the year in which Bankes is known to have collected a number of late Ramesside letters (see below) in Thebes. Jaroslav Černý published a description and translation of the stelae in 1958 in his "Egyptian Stelae in the Bankes Collection". In his preface to the publication he regretted the quality of the photographs of the stelae, which did not show the details of the hieroglyphs very clearly. Since then the stelae have been cleaned and conserved by the National Trust team.
With the kind permission of the House and Collections Manager at Kingston, Lacy Robert Gray, I photographed the stelae in September 2011 and present them below, together with translations mainly by Jaroslav Černý, whose language has been modernised. Some names have been transliterated according to the usage in modern genealogical sources. All translated text is in italics. The collection has been numbered in what is believed to be the correct chronological order.
The photographs were updated in April 2022 during our last visit to the collection.
I would like to thank Rosalind Janssen, who specialises in Deir el-Medina, and Jan Kunst, a Dutch Egyptologist, for their constructive and interesting comments on the content of this site. I would also like to thank Ann Smith, from the UK, and Ingeborg Waanders, from Holland, for helping me to acquire valuable primary sources.
All photographs were taken by Lenka Peacock and are © of The National Trust, UK.
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Bankes stela no. 1.
Stela of draughtsman May
From Deir el-Medina
Late 18th, early 19th dynasty
Limestone
Height: 30 cm
Width: 21 cm
This is a round-topped stela with a double division. In the lunette - the spatial area in the upper part of the stela - the solar barque carries a solar disc over the sky, represented by the hieroglyphic sign pt (sky). On the right side of the barque a child is seated with his thumb in his mouth.
The lower part of the stela consists of an image of a man standing at the bottom of the right side of the stela. He is looking to the right. His arms are raised in a pose of worship. Above and in front of the figure there are 10 columns with hieroglyphic inscriptions. The columns are written from top to bottom and read from left to right.
The text consists of a hymn to the setting sun:
"Praise to Re when he sets in the western horizon of the sky. You have appeared in the western half as Atum, who is in the evening, having come in your power, having no opponents, and having taken possession of the sky as Re. You appear and shine on the back of your mother, having appeared (as) the King of the Divine Ennead. I have done right in your presence, and I kiss the ground (for?) your crew, and I worship you as you travel through the heavens, your heart rejoicing. The Island of Flame has become peaceful, your enemies have fallen and are no more. The dwelling place of the evil dragon is doomed. Your body is Atum in the Boat of the Morning, the rightful one of the Two Lands. Beautiful is the boat of the evening when it has reached its end. (Said) by the draughtsman May, true of voice."
This type of stela is called a Lucarne stela. A total of 13 Lucarne stelae from Deir el-Medina have been identified. This stela is an early example of its type because the owner is shown standing rather than kneeling in worship. Only 1 other stela - Turin 50043 - shares this feature, all other 11 stelae show the owner kneeling. The Lucarne stelae share the following characteristics
- a sun barque shown in the lunette, usually placed above the pt sign
- a solar disc or other representation of the sun god is depicted in the solar barque
- The sun god is accompanied by other symbols related to him (worshipping baboons, wedjat eyes).
- The owner either stands or kneels in worship before the barque.
- Although the owner's relatives may be depicted, this is rarely the case.
- The hymn, written in columns, praises the rising and/or setting sun.
Lucarne stelae were made from the late 18th dynasty to the 20th dynasty. They measure between 30 and 55 cm (Goyon, 2007, 1953-1954).
The owner of the stela was called May. He was a painter employed in the Theban necropolis and lived in Deir el-Medina in the 18th dynasty, around 1300 BC. His title was the "outline draughtsman of Amun" (Rice, 105-106). His tomb is located in the western necropolis of Deir el-Medina near the tomb of the architect Kha (TT8) and is numbered TT 338. The wall paintings from May's tomb were removed from the walls and taken to Turin. They are on display in the Museo Egizio, Turin, Italy.
The stela would have come from a niche in May's chapel, where it would have been placed on a stone pedestal.
(according to Bernard Bruyère) When Deir el-Medina was excavated in the last century, these chapels were were partially or completely lost, as they were built above ground and made of mud bricks.
Bankes stela no. 2.
Stela depicting Huy
From Deir el-Medina
19th dynasty, beginning of the reign of Ramesses II, 1270s BC
Limestone
Height: 46 cm
Width: 28 cm
This round stele is divided into 2 registers. The upper register depicts two deities seated on their thrones This round-topped stela consists of 2 registers. In the upper register two gods seated on their thrones are described in hieroglyphic inscriptions together with their epithets.
The first one is Amun-Re, Lord of the Thrones of the Two Lands, residing in Waset, foremost of the Westerners, the great god. Behind Amun-Re sits his daughter Mut, Lady of Heaven, Mistress of the Two Lands. Behind the throne of Mut stands a goddess with the head of a lion. Jaroslav Černý translated the inscription which identifies her as the daughter of Re, the cobra. Jan Kunst, a Dutch Egyptologist, points out that to translate the name as "The Cobra" the feminine definite article tA should be used instead of the masculine pA. He suggests that the goddess might be Wadjet.
Wadjet is sometimes referred to as the "Eye of Re" and can be depicted in leonine form or as a lion-headed woman, just like Bastet, with whom she was strongly associated. She was also strongly associated with Mut, which may explain her presence in this otherwise unusual combination. One of her epithets is "She of Pe", py.t, which may somehow (but not entirely) explain the pA. The cobra hieroglyph is probably the determinative for a goddess rather than an ideogram, as Jan Kunst explains in our private correspondence.
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A man is standing before the divine triad. His hands are raised in worship as he makes an offering, burning incense in a holder held in his left hand. The inscription reads: Made by the servant in the Place of Truth, Huy, true of voice.
The lower register contains a procession of 2 men, 4 women and a small child. They are all facing the triad and are supposed to be following Huy. The columns of inscriptions around them give us their names, sometimes their titles and their relationship to Huy. The first man on the left - directly behind Huy in the procession - is Kaha, who was probably responsible for the erection of this stela. The inscription reads 'Made by the servant in the place of truth, Kaha, true of voice'. Behind Kaha is his brother Paherypedjet. Paherypedjet's hand touches the head of the child standing between Kaha and himself, his son Khuru. He is depicted as a small naked boy. This stela, representing three generations of the same family, is an example of the valuable source of information that helps Egyptologists to reconstruct the chronological framework of the labour force at Deir el-Medina. Behind Paherypedjet stands his mother Tanehsy, followed by his sister, the lady of the house, Tuy. The procession is completed by two women standing side by side, his son (sic.sister) Takhat and his sister Na'ay, true of voice.
Huy served as an important official at Deir el-Medina in the early 19th dynasty. His title was "Chief Craftsman at the Place of Truth in West Thebes" (Davies, 1996, 15). Tanehsy, the first lady from the left, is the wife of Huy. She is the mother of Kaha who stands behind his father Huy in the procession - the first one on the left in the lower register of the stela. Kaha was a foreman for the "left side" of the crew at Deir el-Medina during the reign of Ramesses II (1279-1212 BC). According to a stela found in the courtyard of his tomb, TT 360, his title was "Chief Workman of Usermaatre-setepenre in the Place of Truth". Kaha's status was reflected in the fact that he occupied one of the largest houses in the 18th dynasty settlement (N.E.VIII) (Davies, 1996, 16). As Kaha's title on this stela does not indicate that he was a foreman, it could be dated to the very beginning of the reign of Ramesses II, as it is believed that Kaha was appointed to the foreman's post in the early years of the reign. The family relationships mentioned in the inscriptions refer to Kaha as the dedicator of the stela rather than Huy, the dedicatee. Kaha's wife Tuy is the woman standing behind Kaha's mother Tanehsy. It is believed that she and Kaha had a large family of at least 6 sons and 5 daughters (Davies, 1996, 16). One of the sons depicted here is Khuru, the little boy, standing next to his uncle - Kaha's brother - Paherypedjet. Takhat and Na'ay are both identified as Kaha's sisters, but I have found no evidence of a sister named Na'ay. We know that Na'ay was the name of Kaha's daughter, but a daughter would not have been an adult woman as depicted on the stela at this time in Kaha's life. In this particular case, the inscription definitely contains an error as the feminine ending for "snt" is missing and the word appears as the masculine form "sn". The word is usually translated as "sister", but in ancient Egyptian relationships it does not only refer to a sister. Sometimes it also means a wife, a niece, an aunt, etc. The word "sn", usually translated as "brother", is also used for male relationships between people of different generations who are related directly (an uncle, a nephew, etc.) or by marriage (a brother-in-law).
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Bankes stela no. 3.
Stela of Ramose
From Deir el-Medina
Limestone
19th dynasty
Height: 46 cm
Width: 32 cm
This round-topped stela consists of 2 registers.
In the upper register a goddess is seated on a throne facing to the right. She wears a double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt and is described in the inscription as Mut, the Great, Lady of Isheru, Mistress of the House of Amun, Beautiful of Face in Hut-sekhem. Protection, life and dominion are around her every day, Mut's most popular epithet among the craftsmen. (Jauhiainen, 2009, 120). The same epithet also appears on Bankes stela no. 9. Hut-sekhem is located south-east of Abydos, it is the modern Hiw. In the Greco-Roman period it was known as Diospolis Mikra or Diospolis Parva. (Baines, 1996, 114).
Mut is seated before an offering table piled high with ox meat and large bouquets of lotus flowers. Offering all good and very pure things to the lady of the Two Lands, the mistress of the House of Amun.
In the lower register a man is depicted kneeling before the goddess with his hands raised in worship. Around and above him there are 9 columns with hieroglyphic inscriptions: Giving praise to Mut, lady of heaven, [mistress of] the House of Amun, with beautiful hand carrying the sistra, sweet of voice. Singers, be content with all she says, pleasing(?) to (your) hearts. May she give life, prosperity and health, intelligence, [favour] and love to the soul of the scribe in the Place of Truth, Ramose, true of voice with the great god.
Ramose is one of the best-documented officials of Deir el-Medina. Although he was not born in the village, he became one of the richest men who ever lived there. He was the son of Lady Kakaia and a retainer of Amenemhab (someone who carried messages to officials in the Theban area). Ramose was born around 1314 BC (Booth, 2006, 185). He must have attended scribal schools before becoming a scribe at the temple of Tuthmosis IV. He then moved to Deir el-Medina where he married Mutemwia, "the lady of the house whom he loves". He was appointed "Scribe of the Tomb" by Vizier Paser in year 5 of Ramesses II (O.CGC 25671). He served in this position at least until year 38 of Ramesses II (O.CGC 25809) (Davies, 1996, 98).
As Ramose and Mutemwia were continually unable to conceive a child, they prayed to various deities associated with childbirth and fertility. Stela 50066, now in Turin, is dedicated to Qudshu, the Asian goddess of love. There are many stelae and statues recording their pleas, but the couple remained childless. In the end they adopted Kenherkhepshef, like Ramose, probably a newcomer to the village, as an apprentice who would assume the role of the eldest son, take over Ramose's profession and perform funeral rites for them.
Ramose's family occupied a house in the northern part of the village. He also owned some land outside Deir el-Medina and there are 3 decorated tombs attributed to him - TT7, TT212 and TT250.
Ramose was a contemporary of the foreman Kaha of the Bankes stela no. 2.
The next stela also belonged to Ramose.
Bankes stela no. 4.
Stela of Ramose
From Deir el-Medina
Limestone
19th dynasty
Height: 43 cm
Width: 32 cm
This round topped stela is divided into 2 registers. The upper register contains the solar barque with images of a scarab beetle, representing the sun, at the stern, while the ibis-headed Thoth stands on the bow offering the Eye of Horus. The centre of the barque was once occupied by a spherical flint representing the solar disc, but it fell out and is lost. It was recorded as still in place by Sir John Gardner Wilkinson in the 1st half of the 19th century. A note was found in his manuscripts indicating that he must have seen at least this particular stele. On the bow of the stela the sun god is seated on a mat in the form of a child. A winged sun fills the curved top of the stela and hovers above the bargue.
The lower part bears an image of Ramose kneeling in the lower left corner and 10 columns of hieroglyphic inscriptions which can be translated:
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"Adoration of Amun-Re, the bull residing in On, the chief of all gods, good god, beloved one, who gives life to all warm blooded-creatures and to all beautiful animals. Hail to you, Amun-Re, lord of the throne of the Two Lands, for most of Opet sut, bull of his mother, for most of his fields, wide of the gate, foremost of the southern land, lord of Madjoy, ruler of Pwene, most ancient in the heavens and eldest in the whole world, who dwells in all things. May you give life, prosperity and health, intelligence, favour and love and a mouthful of food of your giving until I reach the revered state in peace. To the soul of one who is excellent and beloved of his master, chief of the treasury of the house of Menkheperure, chief of the administration in the house of the chief seal-bearer, accountant scribe of the cattle of Amun-Re, assistant letter-writer of the hereditary prince, chief of the works on the west of Waset, chief of the treasury in the place of truth, Ramose, true of voice, from ....."
The stela records a series of honours Ramose received before he was appointed to an administrative post in Deir el-Medina. In his commentary on the stelae, Černý thought that the "hereditary prince" mentioned in the text was the Prince Regent, future king Ramesses II. Later, Černý noticed that the first 4 columns of the text were identical with the beginning of the Hymn to Amun preserved on a papyrus now in the Cairo Museum and attributed this title to Amenhotep, son of Hapu, who had his own temple built by Amenhotep III near the temple of Tuthmosis IV where Ramose worked as a scribe (Černý, 1973, 318).
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Bankes stela no. 5.
Aamek's stela
From Deir el-Medina
Limestone
19th dynasty
Height: 51 cm
Width: 33 cm
This round-topped stela is divided into 2 registers.
The lunette is occupied by an image of a sun barque carrying a seated Re-Harakhte, Lord of Heaven, the falcon-headed sun god, worshipped by a baboon. Above the barque are two wedjat-eyes, symbols of protection.
The larger lower register depicts a kneeling man in a pose of worship. 9 columns of hieroglyphic inscription identify the owner as Aamek. This is the second example of a Lucarne stela in the Bankes collection. This time the owner is shown kneeling rather than standing, indicating a later date than stela no. The text praises the setting rather than the rising sun:
"Hail to Re when he appears on the western horizon of the sky. Hail to you, Harakhte, Khepri who dwells in his boat, that is Re, Lord of Opet-sut, Amun who shines in a sky that has appeared in the western half of the sky. Your mother greets you who have come in your power, for there is no opponent to you. You have taken possession of the sky as Re, you are the god of the world, first in rank by your light, who sees mankind. The gods kneel before you in rejoicing, and all men kiss the earth, and the spirits as well. May I live to praise Your beautiful face, and may You make me rejoice in Your love, like all the righteous. For the soul of the servant in the place of truth, the choir leader in the place of eternity, Aamek, true of voice, son of .... of Barbaste Pakhuru."
Re-Harakhte was a worshipped deity at Deir el-Medina. Many stelae were erected in his honour. Stelae no. 1, 5 and 13 of the Bankes Collection are dedicated to Re-Harakhte. The baboon in the solar barque of stela no. 5 represents the god Thoth. Thoth was also worshipped by the community in the form of an ibis-headed deity (stela 4) and a moon (Jauhiainen, 2009, 86).
Aamek lived in Deir el-Medina during the early part of the reign of Ramesses II. He had the title "Servant in the Place of Truth". His second title - "3 n" - mentioned in the text was translated by Černý as "leader of the choir". Černý thought that he could have been the leader of the singers who accompanied the statues of the gods carried in processions during various festivals. Bernard Bruyère thought that the post was secular and translated it as "dans les ateliers des cimetières royaux" (Davies, 1996, 244), "in the workshops of the royal cemetery".
Aamek was married to Wadjetronpet. Pakhuru, mentioned in the text and translated by Černý as "son", can be identified as either "son" or as "father" of Aamek. Pakhuru mentioned on the verso, line 6 of the BM Absence ostrakon EA 5634 could have been Aamek's son.
Aamek probably occupied house S.E. VI at Deir el-Medina, as Bruyère found an inscription on the left jamb of the shrine of the house which reads "
... blessing on] my house, for the spirit of the Servant in the Place of Truth", 'Aamek, justified" (Kitchen, 2001, 486). His stone hut at the top of the cliffs was also identified by Bruyère during his 1934-1935 season. Aamek's tomb is TT 1164 of the western cemetery (Davies, 1996, 245).
Bankes stela no. 6
Iyinofreti's stela
From Deir el-Medina
Limestone
19th dynasty
Height: 49.5 cm
Width: 32 cm
The upper part of this circular stela with two divisions is occupied by a solar barque with a seated falcon-headed solar deity, here identified as Pa-Shu, the Great God, Lord of Heaven. Jan Kunst points out that the solar god is identified as pA Sw, which translates as 'the sun' or 'the light of the sun'. He could therefore be identical to the god worshipped by Akhnaten under the name of Aten. But his iconography is clearly borrowed from Re. The sms-sign, symbol of the followers, holds an image of the full moon and its crescent in front of Pa-Shu, named as Moon-Thoth, the great god.
The lower register shows the kneeling dedicator of the stela, a woman called Iyinofreti. Behind her stands a man in a pose of worship.
9 columns of hieroglyphic inscription translate as:
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[Praising] to Moon-Thoth, great god, who listens to the prayers, kissing the ground for Pa-Shu, great god. Mercy! [You (two)] cause that I see darkness by day, upon the words of women. Be merciful to me, may I see your mercy." (So said) by the mistress of the house, Iyinofreti, the justified. Her son 'Anhotep.
(Galan, 1999, 24)
Iyinofreti was the wife of Sennedjem, a "servant in the place of truth", who lived in the village at the beginning of the 19th dynasty during the reigns of Seti I and Ramesses II. Their house is located in the south-west corner of the settlement and their tomb TT1 lies nearby on the slopes of the western cemetery. Iyinofreti's mummy, now in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, is that of a woman aged about 75.
This is a votive funerary stela dedicated by 'Anhotep, Iyinofreti's grandson (and not his son as the inscription states). He would have placed the stela in the rock shrine. The text is often interpreted in Egyptology circles as a plea for relief from permanent blindness. The inscription refers to "the words of women" as the reason for Iyinofreti seeing darkness. In his commentary, Černý interprets the passage "You cause that I see darkness by day, upon the words of women" as her prayer for relief from blindness caused by women's gossip or quarrels. Sweeney (Sweeney, 2006, 136) agrees with Adel Mahmoud's recent discussion of the physiological information from Iyinofreti's remains, which links her advanced age, plagued by extensive tooth decay, with her plea for relief from blindness, supplemented by textual evidence. On the other hand, Galan believes that the passage in question could refer to possible testimonies against Iyinofreti by her peers (Galan, 1999, 28) and suggests that physiological blindness is not always an adequate explanation. In his article "Seeing darkness", he gathers the corpus of stelae with the text revealing God's punishment of a sinner who confesses his wrongdoing, begs for mercy and promises the proclamation of God's power upon forgiveness. A shift in the perception of the divine is evident here: Egyptian deities are willing to forgive past sins, rather than simply rewarding good and punishing evil.
TThe texts do not usually specify the exact nature of the transgressions, nor do they always specify the punishment given. Apart from 3 instances, there are two phrases used to describe the sinner's situation: "you cause that I see darkness by day" or "you cause that I see the darkness you create". Usually the phrase is translated as "becoming blind".
Galan's interpretation of the phrase "seeing darkness" is as a metaphor used to refer to the situation in which the deceased find themselves after the Final Judgement and before they reach the Hereafter, where god is. They implore God's mercy in order to have any sins removed and to be able to make contact with the divine. (Galan, 1999, 29-30)
A new interpretation of the phrase is discussed by David G. Smith in his two-part article on solar eclipses during the New Kingdom (see the link to the online version of the article in Sources No. 18). According to Smith, during the reign of Ramesses II, when the stela was made, there were eclipses of such magnitude that they would have been experienced as unusual and disturbing events and could have been described as "loss of sight". He argues that this text and others with similar spells were produced in response to actual observations of astronomical phenomena, albeit couched in religious terms.
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Bankes stela no. 7
Bukanefptah's stela
From Deir el-Medina
Limestone
19th dynasty
Height: 53 cm
Width: 30.5 cm
This is a large round-topped stela with four divisions. In the lunette the seated goddess is identified as Nebethotep of I-n-tore, Lady of Heaven. She wears a solar disc and cow horns on her head, holding an ankh in her right hand and a papyrus sceptre in her left. In front of her is a pile of offerings. Beside her, in a pose of worship, facing the goddess, stands the donor of the stela. The inscription above her head reads 'Made by the Lady of the House Bukanenfptah, true of voice'. Behind Nebethotep there is a large sistrum with the head of Hathor, guarded on each side by a cat. The inscription above the instrument identifies her as Nebethotep, Mistress of the Two Lands.
The second register contains 4 lines of hieroglyphic inscription:
Praise your soul, Nebethotep, kissing the earth to the Lady of the Two Lands. I praise your beautiful face every day in order to propitiate your soul. Be merciful to me that I may tell of your power to all who do not know you and to all who know you. For all people come to you in crowds, men and women alike, and they say, "Be merciful to Pipi the beautiful, for she is merciful. The lady of the house, Bukanenfptah, true of voice, she says: Every follower (of her) is in joy. No evil shall befall them, child after child.
The next two registers are filled with a procession of men, women, and a child who must be seen by the viewer as following Bukanenfptah and all facing the goddess Nebethotep. The goddess Nebethotep seems to be a form of Hathor, the Solar Eye (Jauhiainen, 2009, 106). The procession is in a festive mood, some are beating tambourines, some are rattling wooden clappers, others are clasping their hands or simply carrying offerings in the form of lotus flowers or food. It has been suggested that the family is participating in the festival of Hathor, the Eye of Re, as the playing of tambourines and clappers was an important part of appeasing the angry Hathor on her return from Nubia (Jauhiainen, 2009, 106).
All participants are identified by hieroglyphic captions. The first row starts from the left with The servant in the Place of Truth, Kasa, true of voice. Kasa is followed by his sister, the lady of the house, Bukanenfptah. Her son Nebamentet, her sister Ya and her sister Isis all walk behind Sheritre in the procession.
The lower register shows her sister Pipia, her brother the soldier Maia, her brother the soldier Ramose, her sister Bendepentes, her sister Tewosret, her sister Ipu, her brother Tjutju and her brother Piay, the naked boy who closes the procession.
This stela is extremely informative about Bukanenfptah's family relationships. Although she is recorded on the stela as Kasa's sister, she was his wife. Kasa's title was "Servant of the Place of Truth". They were both contemporaries of the foreman Kaha on Bankes Stela No. 2, which places them in the first half of Ramesses II's reign.
Kasa was a joint owner of TT 10 with the "guardian" Penbuy. There is no surviving textual evidence that their relationship to each other.
Bankes stela no. 8
Pyiay's stela
From Deir el-Medina
Limestone
19th dynasty
Height: 53 cm
Width: 40.5 cm
This round topped stela is carved in well executed raised relief. It is the largest stela in the Bankes collection.
In the lower part of the stela, 2 men stand in a pose of worship in front of an offering table and large bouquets of flowers. They are addressing
Khnosu-in-Thebes, Neferhotep, Horus of..., who is depicted as a falcon with a crescent and a full moon on his head. On his forehead is an uraeus and around his neck is a massive collar. Jan Kunst explains that what we see here is the bow of the barque of Khonsu, together with the front part of the carrying poles. Apparently, the aegis of Khonsu, which adorned the bow and stern of the barque, was regarded as an embodiment of the god himself.
10 columns of hieroglyphic inscription in the upper part of the stela read:
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Offering which the king gives to Khonsu-in-Thebes, Neferhotep, Thoth, lord of Upper Egyptian On, scribe of truth of the Divine Ennead, who gives an office to him whom he loves, and a lifetime in his home. Breath is in his grasp, and fate and fortune are from him. How happy is he who is in his favour, evil shall never overtake him. He gives life, prosperity, health, and happiness, a good old age and sound speech, no faulty act of his being brought up until (he) has reached the place of the righteous. To the soul of the chisel-bearer in the Place of Eternity, Piay, repeating life, and (to) the chisel-bearer of Amun, Piay.
Černý believed that the first man on the left, worshipping Khonsu-in-Thebes, was the "Sculptor in the Place of Eternity" Piay, who lived in Deir el-Medina during the first half of Ramses II's reign. The name of the sculptor Piay appears on several objects and in several tombs. He married Nofretkhau and had several children with her: Neferronpet, Nakhtamun, Ipuy (also sculptor, TT 217), Sahte, and Henutmehyt (Davies, 1996, 213).
The man standing behind him was probably his son of the same name, Paiy. His title "Sculptor of Amun" may explain the fact that his head is shaved as he may have been a priest in the temple of Amun.
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Bankes stela no. 9
Nekhemmut's stela
From Deir el-Medina
Limestone
19th dynasty
Height: 52 cm
Width: 35 cm
This round top stela is divided into 2 registers.
In the upper register a winged sun fills the curved top of the stela and hovers over 5 columns of hieroglyphic inscription. The 3 columns on the right identify a standing king as Lord of the Two Lands, Usermaatre-setepenre, Lord of Appearances, Ramesses-Meryamun, endowed with life like Re forever and ever. Ramses II seems to have been worshipped at Deir el-Medina during his lifetime. The cult continued at least until the end of the Ramesside period (Jauhiainen, 2009, 182). He offers jugs of wine to two goddesses seated on their thrones opposite each other. The one on the left is identified by the first column of the hieroglyphic inscription as Mut, the Great, Lady of Isheru. She wears on her head the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. The same epithet appears on Bankes stela no. 3. The second goddess is Hathor, Lady of the West, Lady of the Sky. Hathor's headdress consists of the solar disc and cattle horns. Her name and epithets are written in the second column from the left.
In the lower register 2 men and 2 women are depicted kneeling in the pose of adoration. The hieroglyphic inscription above their heads reads:
Giving praise to your soul, Hathor, mistress of the West, kissing the earth before Mut, the great, Lady of Isheru, by the servant in the Place of Truth, Nekhemmut, his sister, Lady of the House, Webkhet, his son Khons, his daughter Tamek(et), true of voice, and his daughter Tasak(et), true of voice.
Nekhemmut appears in the family tree of Sennedjem. In a scene in the tomb of Sennedjem's son Khabekhnet TT2, Nekhemmut is mentioned as a son of Khons(ii), who was a brother of Khabekhnet and a son of Sennedjem and his wife Iyinofreti, who is depicted on Bankes stela no. 6. Davies identifies Webkhet as the wife of Nekhemmut rather than his sister and suggests that she was a daughter of Khabekhnet and Sahte, which means that the couple were cousins (Davies, 1999, 55).
The stela names 3 of their children: son Khnos and daughters Tameket and Tasaket, but only 2 of them are depicted. We know that the couple had another child named Amenkhau (Davies, 1996, genealogical table 7). The offspring are all depicted as adults, but it has been suggested that since the stela is dated to the reign of Ramesses II by his cartouche appearing in the upper register inscription, this may be an artistic device and they may have been only children of a younger age (Davies,1996,56). This would be consistent with the fact that the fourth child is not depicted, perhaps because the stela was executed before the child was born.
Nekhemmut is believed to have been born around year 25 of the reign of Ramesses II. He probably lived into his 70s as there is textual evidence that he became foreman of the crew in years 11-15 of Ramesses III's reign (O.Geneva MAH 12550). Ostrakon Gardiner 57 tells us that he worked on the right side of the crew.
Bankes stela no. 10
Penrennut's stela
From Deir el-Medina
Limestone
20th dynasty
Height: 50 cm
Width: 33.5 cm
This round topped stela is divided into 2 registers. In the upper register the owner of the stela is depicted in a pose of worship in front of an offering table. He is the servant in the place of truth, Penrennut, true to voice. To his left are two deities. Lord of the Two Lands, Djeserkare, Lord of Appearances, Amenhotep, true of voice, the deified king Amenhotep I, and behind him his mother Ahmose-Nefertari. Khonsu-Thoth, the benevolent god, sits on a shrine or pylon behind the queen. He is depicted as a small naked boy with a side lock of youth and a thumb in his mouth. The hieroglyphic inscription above and around him also mentions Penrennut's (his) brother, the servant Seti, true of voice, his brother, the servant Hori, and his brother Sobekmose. They are not shown in the scene.
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In the lower register, 3 men and a boy stand worshipping the deities. Two of them are holding large lotus flowers. 11 columns of hieroglyphic inscription from left to right. 8 men are mentioned in the lines: the first man is identified as the true servant Amenemone, true of voice. His son Nebamun, true of voice. His son Qenamun. His son Amenkhau. The inscription near the second man reads: The servant Huy, true of voice. His son Mentpahapy. The third in the procession is his father Nakhtmin. The child is the son of his son Panakhtemheb.
Penrennut was a workman at Deir el-Medina. His title was servant in the Place of Truth. He was married to a woman named Tadehnetemheb. His father was called Nakhtmin. Nakhtmin is the third man in the procession and he is followed by Panakhtemheb who is his grandson and therefore the son of Penrennut. The relationship of the first man in the procession, Amenemone, to Penrennut is not stated on the stela. Perhaps he is a workman from the reign of Ramesses IV, who is known to have been the father of the workmen Seti and Hori, both of whom are named in the upper register as Penrennut's brothers. In fact, they were both brothers-in-law of Penrennut (Davies, 1996, 251-252).
Other sons of Amenemose are named in the lower register as Nebamun, Qenamun, and Amenkhau.
A limestone offering table of Penrennut, "servant in the Place of Truth", is in the collection of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology at University College London, UC 14446.
Bankes stela no. 11
Pamedunakht's stela
From Deir el-Medina
Limestone
The 1st part of the 20th dynasty
Height: 37 cm
Width: 26.5 cm
This round-topped stela is divided into two sections. In the upper register the deified king Amenhotep I, Lord of the Two Lands, Djeserkare, stands on the right side in front of the Theban Triad, to whom he makes an offering. The father of the triad is identified by the inscription near his head and his headdress as Amun-Re, Lord of Happy Encounter. Behind him standshis consort Mut, who is not mentioned in the inscription. The hieroglyphs above the head of the third deity identify him as Khonsu, the god of the moon, Amun-Re and the child of Mut.
In the lower register there are 2 men kneeling in worship. They are surrounded by 12 columns with hieroglyphic inscriptions.
Two of the columns in the middle of the stela are damaged. The text was reconstructed by Černý and appears in brackets in the translation:
Giving praise to your soul Amun-Re, lord of Happy Encounter, and kissing the earth before your name by the hand of the wab-priest of the Lord of the Two Lands in the Place of Truth, Pamedunutenakht, true of voice, son of the Servant in the Place of Truth [to the West of Waset] Hay, true of voice, and by the hand of his beloved son Amenhotep-neferenwaset, true of voice.
Pamedunakht, son of Hay, is known to us from several sources. A rectangular stela in the British Museum EA 342 shows Pamedunakht, wab-priest, making offerings to the god Ptah. The stela was purchased by the museum from Henry Salt in 1821. Another small stela is in the Burrell Collection in Glasgow. It shows Pamedunakht worshipping Amun-Re as on the Bankes stela. The Glasgow inscription gives Pamedunakht's title as wab-priest of all gods, sculptor of statues in the House of Gold. Černý explains that the House of Gold is an expression for the sculptor's workshop (Černý, 1958, stela 11). Another source of our information about this workman is the rock graffito No. 839 (Davies, 1996, 89) from the Theban necropolis, dated to the first year of Ramesses IV (Černý, 1958, stela 11). Another appearance of this rare name comes from TT2 where Pamedunakht is mentioned - together with 5 other men - as one of the sons of the chief workman Nekhemmut (Bierbrier, 1980,103). 3 of them are known to have been his sons, but the other 3 - including Pamedunakht - are not. Bierbrier suggests that he may have been Nekhemmut's son-in-law (Bierbrier, 1980,104).
Bankes stela no. 12
Stela of Tjay and Pentaweret
From Deir el-Medina
Limestone
20th dynasty
Height: 34.5 cm
Width: 25 cm
According to Černý, the stela once had a round top, but this has been chipped away. The stela bears the image of two gods facing each other.
The god standing on the left is identified by the hieroglyphic inscription near his head as Amun-Re, Lord of the Thrones of the Two Lands. The deified queen, mother of Amenhotep I, shakes the sistra in her hands and is identified by the inscription in a cartouche as the Lady of the Two Lands, Ahmose-Nefertari.
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A column of hieroglyphs is placed behind the queen's back and reads Made by the wab-priest of the Lady of the Two Lands, To, true of voice, son of the scribe Amennakht, true of voice.
At the bottom of the stela, below the line indicating the ground on which the gods stand, there is a line of a hieroglyphic inscription. It reads from right to left: Made by the scribe of the House of Eternity, Pentaweret, true of voice.
Scattered among the cliffs of the Theban Necropolis are several graffiti bearing the name Tjay. Tjay appears to be a "scribe" and to be a son as well as a father of Amennakht. The sons of the scribe Amennakht are recorded in various graffiti as Tjay, Amennakht, the Draftsman, Harshire, Amenhotep and the scribe Pentaweret (Davies, 1999, 131). Evidence from TT 23 of the royal secretary Tjay has shown that the name To was used as a diminutive form of the name Tjay. Thus, Davies concluded that To, son of the scribe Amennakht, and the scribe Tjay were one and the same person (Davies, 1999, 132). Textual evidence based on two graffiti and one papyrus place him firmly in the years 1153-1134 B.C.: year 29 of Ramesses III (graffito no. 3021), year 4 of Ramesses IV (graffito no. 2609) and year 7 of Ramesses VI (papyrus Turin 1885) (Davies,1999,133). To/Tjay's titles include "Scribe in the Place of Truth West of Thebes", "Royal Scribe in the Place of Truth West of Thebes, and "Scribe of the tomb" (Davies,1999,131).
The second dedicator of the stela is named as the scribe Pentaweret, who is known from Theban graffiti No. 785 and No. 2864 as the son of the scribe Amennakht. He was the brother of To.
The stela is dedicated to Amun-Re an Ahmose-Nefertari by two brothers, sons of the scribe Amennakht.
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Bankes stela no. 13
Stela of Harmose
From Deir el-Medina
Limestone
19th or 20th dynasty
Height: 39 cm
Width: 25.5 cm
This is the smallest stela in the Bankes collection.
It is an example of a stela that was appropriated at a later date. The original stela was a simple one with no carvings. It had its decoration and inscriptions painted in black. Only the traces of the winged sun disc at the top and the partially preserved inscription on the upper right part of the stela remain.
Černý read and reconstructed it as By the servant in the Place [of Truth] on the West [of Thebes] ..., true of voice, (and) his beloved son ...
The stela was later reused. An attempt was made to cut a smaller stela - measuring about 29 by 21 cm - out of the original stela. The piece broke in two and was repaired with plaster. The second stela is decorated in bas-relief. Traces of red and yellow pigments and, according to Černý, gold leaf can still be seen on the face of the god and on the solar disc on his head. The newer stela is dedicated to the falcon-headed Re-Harakhte, the same deity to whom Bankes stelae no. 1 and 5 are dedicated to. Re-Harakhte stands on the left facing an offering table piled with bread and vessels. He is identified by an inscription near his head as Re-Harakhte, the Great God, Lord of Heaven.
Another hieroglyphic inscription appears at the bottom of the smaller stela: Made by Harmose and his son Khaemnun.
Both names, Harmose and Khaemnun, appear on various objects and in several murals from Deir el- Medina, but it is not possible to identify with certainty a Khaemnun, son of Harmose.
Bankes stela no. 14
Pesherenese's stela
From Deir el-Medina
Limestone
21st dynasty
Height: 43.5 cm
Width: 28 cm
Černý believed that this round topped stela had also been reused. Although the names of the dedicators are dated to the end of the 21st dynasty, the style of the stela belongs to the 18th dynasty. The arrangement of the contents, together with the use of the pair of wedjat eyes and the depiction of a person smelling a lotus, all point to a pre-Amarna style.
The stela was probably carved in the 18th dynasty and reused in the 21st dynasty. It has a short hieroglyphic inscription on the curved top. It reads Life to the good god Djeserkare-Amenhotep, the deified king Amenhotep I, who together with his mother Ahmose-Nefertari was credited with the founding of Deir el-Medina, where they enjoyed personal religious cults until the late Ramesside period. Below is a pair of wedjat eyes, a symbol of protection. The round object in the shape of a circle, painted red with a ring around it, sits on a small pedestal resembling the hieroglyphic sign for "m". The meaning of the symbol is unknown.
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Below the wedjat-eyes there are 9 short columns of hieroglyphic inscriptions. The first part of the inscription is written in the first 6 columns from left and is read from right: For the soul of the servant in the Place of Truth, Nespautytowe, true of voice, and his son Haemtawer, true of voice. The remaining 3 columns are read from left to right and translated as: The son of his son, Pesherenese, true of voice.
Below the inscription there is an offering scene carved in raised relief. Two men, identified as Nespautytowe and his son Haemtawer, are seated on a wide couch and the third man, the grandson Pesherenese, stands facing them on the right. Between them is a small table laden with ox meat and vegetables. Pesherenese adds to the pile by placing another offering on top. Nespautytowe, seated closer to the table, is smelling a lotus flower. His son Haemtawer rests his left arm on his father's shoulder.
Below the offering scene there are 3 lines of hieroglyphic text: Offering which the king gives to Osiris, foremost of the Westeners, great god, lord of the necropolis, that he may give invocation-offerings and all good things whereon a god lives to the soul of the servant in the Place of Truth, Nespautytowe, true of voice.
Černý tells us that the name of Nespautytowe appears in several rock graffiti and on an ostrakon, and he places the type of name towards the end of the 21st dynasty. The family, especially the grandson Pesherenese, must have lived during the turbulent times and probably witnessed the departure of the inhabitants of Deir el-Medina. They were once thought to have moved within the safer walls of the nearby temple of Medinet Habu, but recent research by Robert Demarée of Leiden University suggests that under Ramesses IX the community took refuge near the temple of Deir el-Bahri, where they built tombs for the priests of Amun, and under a new chief of a new dynasty at Thebes the ruling elite seem to have been ordered to empty the royal tombs and recycle the objects.
The current display of the collection of stelae in the former servants' quarters.
The Bankes Papyri Collection, British Museum, London
A group of late Ramesside papyri collected in Thebes by William John Bankes (1786-1855) on his second trip to Upper Egypt in 1818 has an interesting modern history. I.E.S. Edwards, Keeper of Egyptian Antiquities at the British Museum from 1955 to 1974, learned of the existence of the papyri collection at Kingston Lacy from Prof. P.E. Newberry and wrote to H.J.R. Bankes to offer him access to them. The only problem was that the family did not know where to find them. During Edward's first visit, all the likely areas around the house were searched, but to no avail. On his second visit to Kingston Lacy, the collection was finally located, having been carefully placed between the pages of a large atlas kept in the library.
Transliterations and translations of two complete papyri were published by Edwards in 1982 in his journal article The Bankes papyri I and II. The remaining documents in the collection were all fragmentary. In the 1950s and 1990s, all the Bankes papyri were transferred from the National Trust to the British Museum for specialist care, conservation and storage.
Hieratic Papyrus
Collected in 1818 by William J. Bankes
Transferred from the National Trust 1996-2010
Reg. No. 10302, 75019, 75022
© The Trustees of the British Museum
In all, there are 16 separate documents, some of which consist of several fragments. They are a particularly exceptional group of manuscripts because they include previously unknown letters by the most famous Ramesside correspondents - the necropolis scribes Dhutmose and Butehamun - and the missing half of a previously published letter, now known to have been written almost certainly by the famous general Payankh. The first half of the letter was published by Jac. Janssen in his Late Ramesside Letters and Communications (pp. 37-39, pl. 23-24). The fragment (now BM papyrus 10302) was later joined with another larger piece (BM papyrus 75019) and four adjacent smaller fragments (75020).
In 2006, ten of the Bankes papyri were published by R.J. Demarée in his book The Bankes Late Ramesside Papyri.
The papyri were conserved by Bridget Leach of the Museum's Conservation and Scientific Research Department.