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Davies, Norman de Garis
The tomb of two sculptors at Thebes — New York, 1925

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https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4859#0021
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The two men
buried in the
tomb

The partition
of the tomb
between them

N

THE TOMB OF TWO SCULPTORS AT THEBES

ances of the king in Ast-josret."1 Apuki, however, adds to the recorded
titles, though not perhaps to the accomplishments, of his father, that of
"sculptor of the king," or even "superintendent of sculptors in Ast-
josret" (Plate XIX). Nebamun also held the positions of superintendent
of sculptors and administrator of workshops, but (apparently in the latter
respect) he is once styled "controller of the secret (expert) department
in Herihirmeru." This establishment seems, then, to have housed the
skilled craftsmen of Ast-josret. The only title of his which has no echo
in those of Apuki is that of "child of the (royal) nursery," an honorary
designation which is frequently given to men of standing or even of high
rank, and so marks out Nebamun as a man of better family or greater
success than the other. His rank of superintendent of sculptors, how-
ever, had come to him almost as a birthright; for his father had held it
before him.2

As to the partition of the tomb between them, so far as the mutila-
tion it has received permits us to judge, it was highly irregular, and
shows, instead of a division of the mural space into two halves, a partici-
pation by both men in the social meal, the adoration of the gods, the
homage to their parents, and the burial rites; sometimes by separate
scenes, sometimes by the appearance of both men in the same act or in
a composite picture. The problem of recording the life and burial of
two men is solved cleverly enough. No scenes can be said to be dupli-
cated, and yet neither man has failed to receive proper burial or the
benefit of prescribed formulas. One of them is credited with one part of

1 Actually "controller of the balances of the king," "controller of Ast-josret," and "controller" simply.
The first title meant that he was responsible for the precious metals and stones weighed out to the craftsmen for
manufacture. It may thus be the same office as that of Senennuter; for such designations are not precisely fixed
but admit curtailment or variation. For a similar official see Daressy, Cones Funeraires, No. 236. Ast-josret
is a term that is known to me only from Mace, El Amrah, PI. XXIX, as a name for the necropolis of Abydos.
Is it here an equivalent of To-joser, the Theban cemetery; of Josret, the vicinity of Deir el Bahri (cf. p. 54); or
is it a definite temple? If great temples had workshops attached to them, Deir el Bahri had the best right on
the west of Thebes, unless the temple of Amenhotep III had supplanted it in this respect. The additions "of
the king" and "in Ast-josret" seem to be mere variants. The name of Amon is nowhere used; so there may
have been a State atelier apart from those of the temples, or Ast-josret may be a name for the temple of Amen-
hotep or its adjuncts.

1 The reader will be better able to control what is said of the relationship of the various persons in the
tomb if he consults the genealogical table on p. 16 whenever such questions recur.
 
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