DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49516#0136
86
HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
K X, grave 1096: part of an older ivory wand re-used as the handle of a dagger, with part of
an inscription:
5. The hereditary princess and king’s daughter, Ankh-Ptah
K XV, a minor tumulus: statuette from the debris thrown out of the burial chamber:
1. The chief of the elders, Menthuhotep, son of (woman) and Sebekhotep.
K XVI, from the debris of the main chamber:
1. Wooden statuette of a king whose name is lost.
2. Statuette of a seated woman, uninscribed.
3. Fragments of two or three private statuettes of a man or men.
4. Fragments of a large alabaster offering basin inscribed with the cartouches of a king
whose name ends in ms, probably Didiuwmes I or II.
5. Fragment of a large cylindrical jar of alabaster inscribed with the royal name, Kheper-
kara, a name borne by Sesostris I but perhaps also by some later king of the period
between Dynasties XII and XVIII.
The chief titles of Hepzefa are “the hereditary prince, the nomarch, the chief of chiefs,
the master of the south, the overseer of the king’s estate.” The presence of the two large
companion statues, one of Hepzefa himself and the other of his wife, the Lady Sennuwy,
leaves no doubt that the great tumulus, K III, was his tomb. This fact gives the clue to
the explanation of his unoccupied rock-cut tomb at Assiut and its curious ten contracts
with the priests of Assiut made to secure the service for his ka. A man of his rank buried
in such extraordinary state in this large Egyptian settlement and administrative center in
the Sudan can hardly have been less than the viceroy of Ethiopia. It is true that he did not
hold the title of “king’s son of Cush” used by the viceroys of the New Kingdom; but that
title did not come into use until the reign of Thothmes IV or Amenophis III.1 Indeed the
earlier viceroys of Dynasty XVIII bore the simple titles, first of “king’s son,” then of
“king’s son, governor of the Southern Lands.” When the administrative duties of the
Ethiopian conquests of the Middle Kingdom had first to be entrusted to an Egyptian offi-
cial, they were entrusted to Hormeny, the nomarch of El-Kab, who acted as viceroy of
Ethiopia with no other title than that of his former Egyptian office, and served in this
capacity until about the seventh year of Amenophis I, the second king of the dynasty. I
suppose therefore that this appointment of Hormeny was simply a continuation of the
practice of the Middle Kingdom. Like Hormeny, appointed by Ahmes I, Hepzefa, ap-
pointed by Sesostris I, had been given no special Ethiopian title, but had acted with his
former Egyptian titles, “the hereditary prince, the nomarch of Assiut, the master of the
south, the overseer of the king’s estate.” The last title, “overseer of the king’s estate,”
designates a function which might properly be extended to include the administration of
the royal conquests in Ethiopia. Ethiopia formed indeed part of the king’s estate.
Thus the great tumulus K III was the tomb of Hepzefa, acting viceroy of Ethiopia
under his former titles, as the king’s man and the king’s nominee. If this is so, the pre-
sumption arises that the men buried in K IV, K X, and K XVI were equally great and also
acted as viceroys of Ethiopia. Unfortunately all evidences of their names have been
destroyed by the merciless plundering of the tombs. In K IV, the statuette of a chancellor
whose titles begin, “the hereditary prince and nomarch, ...” would appear to have repre-
sented a man of a rank equivalent to Hepzefa himself, and I consider that this unknown
man was the acting viceroy of Ethiopia in his day. At K X, the only possible hint of the
1 See G. A. Reisner, “Viceroys of Ethiopia ” (Journ. Egypt. Arch., Vol. vi, p. 78).
HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
K X, grave 1096: part of an older ivory wand re-used as the handle of a dagger, with part of
an inscription:
5. The hereditary princess and king’s daughter, Ankh-Ptah
K XV, a minor tumulus: statuette from the debris thrown out of the burial chamber:
1. The chief of the elders, Menthuhotep, son of (woman) and Sebekhotep.
K XVI, from the debris of the main chamber:
1. Wooden statuette of a king whose name is lost.
2. Statuette of a seated woman, uninscribed.
3. Fragments of two or three private statuettes of a man or men.
4. Fragments of a large alabaster offering basin inscribed with the cartouches of a king
whose name ends in ms, probably Didiuwmes I or II.
5. Fragment of a large cylindrical jar of alabaster inscribed with the royal name, Kheper-
kara, a name borne by Sesostris I but perhaps also by some later king of the period
between Dynasties XII and XVIII.
The chief titles of Hepzefa are “the hereditary prince, the nomarch, the chief of chiefs,
the master of the south, the overseer of the king’s estate.” The presence of the two large
companion statues, one of Hepzefa himself and the other of his wife, the Lady Sennuwy,
leaves no doubt that the great tumulus, K III, was his tomb. This fact gives the clue to
the explanation of his unoccupied rock-cut tomb at Assiut and its curious ten contracts
with the priests of Assiut made to secure the service for his ka. A man of his rank buried
in such extraordinary state in this large Egyptian settlement and administrative center in
the Sudan can hardly have been less than the viceroy of Ethiopia. It is true that he did not
hold the title of “king’s son of Cush” used by the viceroys of the New Kingdom; but that
title did not come into use until the reign of Thothmes IV or Amenophis III.1 Indeed the
earlier viceroys of Dynasty XVIII bore the simple titles, first of “king’s son,” then of
“king’s son, governor of the Southern Lands.” When the administrative duties of the
Ethiopian conquests of the Middle Kingdom had first to be entrusted to an Egyptian offi-
cial, they were entrusted to Hormeny, the nomarch of El-Kab, who acted as viceroy of
Ethiopia with no other title than that of his former Egyptian office, and served in this
capacity until about the seventh year of Amenophis I, the second king of the dynasty. I
suppose therefore that this appointment of Hormeny was simply a continuation of the
practice of the Middle Kingdom. Like Hormeny, appointed by Ahmes I, Hepzefa, ap-
pointed by Sesostris I, had been given no special Ethiopian title, but had acted with his
former Egyptian titles, “the hereditary prince, the nomarch of Assiut, the master of the
south, the overseer of the king’s estate.” The last title, “overseer of the king’s estate,”
designates a function which might properly be extended to include the administration of
the royal conquests in Ethiopia. Ethiopia formed indeed part of the king’s estate.
Thus the great tumulus K III was the tomb of Hepzefa, acting viceroy of Ethiopia
under his former titles, as the king’s man and the king’s nominee. If this is so, the pre-
sumption arises that the men buried in K IV, K X, and K XVI were equally great and also
acted as viceroys of Ethiopia. Unfortunately all evidences of their names have been
destroyed by the merciless plundering of the tombs. In K IV, the statuette of a chancellor
whose titles begin, “the hereditary prince and nomarch, ...” would appear to have repre-
sented a man of a rank equivalent to Hepzefa himself, and I consider that this unknown
man was the acting viceroy of Ethiopia in his day. At K X, the only possible hint of the
1 See G. A. Reisner, “Viceroys of Ethiopia ” (Journ. Egypt. Arch., Vol. vi, p. 78).