Reading Qs 4

The Autobiography of Harkhuf (Old Kingdom)

1. Who, other than Harkhuf, seems to have helped pay for his funeral and burial?
2. What was Harkhuf’s job?
3. What virtues does Harkhuf claim to have?
4. What was the content of the pharoah’s letter to Harkhuf? Why do you think this letter was inscribed in his tomb?!

The Stela of Sehetep-ib-Re (Middle Kingdom)

1. What was Sehetep-ib-Re’s job?
2. What does he want people who walk by his stela to do? (He even says this twice!)

The Stela of Amenhotep III (New Kingdom)

Amenhotep was the king of a massive Egyptian empire. This text borrows from both the tomb autobiography and royal inscription genres.

1. Who has Amenhotep III been building monuments for? Why do you think he would put these accomplishments on a stela for his mortuary temple?
2. What was the content of Amun’s blessing on Amenhotep? Why do you think this message was inscribed on his stela?

Wegner and Cahail – Tomb of Woseribre Senebkay

Woseribre Senebkay was a previously unknown pharoah of the Second Intermediate Period in the late 1600s BC[E] who was buried with other unknown rulers of the period near the Middle Kingdom cemetery in South Abydos.

From Part 1

1. What parts of Senebkay’s tomb and tomb equipment were made from reused materials? Where did his people get these materials? (pages 1-6, 8)
2. Why do you think they reused stuff rather than building or making it from scratch? (You may want to revisit this question after looking at Part 3.)
3. What were the archaeologists able to determine about what the first set of tomb robbers did? (page 23)
4. What happened to the burial chamber, and why do the archaeologists think this means that the tomb was robbed a second time? (pages 25-26)

From Part 3

1. How old and how tall was Seneb-kay? (page 106)
2. What is a muskuloskeletal stress marker (MSM)? (page 107)
3. What do his MSM’s suggest about his activities? Why might a person in this period of Egyptian history perform this activity? (page 117)
4. How did Seneb-kay probably die? (pages 130-134) – Trigger warning for violence. If you can’t watch the battle scenes in the Lord of the Rings movies (for example) you can skip this question.