 | This article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject.(September 2018) |
| Mahu Chief of Police at Akhetaten | |
|---|---|
| Dynasty | 18th Dynasty |
| Pharaoh | Akhenaten |
| Burial | Amarna Tomb 9 |
| ||||
| Mahu [1] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Era: New Kingdom (1550–1069 BC) | ||||
| Egyptian hieroglyphs |
Mahu was Chief of Police at Akhetaten.
Mahu was Chief of the Medjay of Akhetaten. The Medjay used to be a term for the people of the Eastern desert who were known for their military skills, and at this time referred to the police. [2]
Mahu's tomb is Amarna Tomb 9 of the Tombs of the Nobles at Amarna. The tomb was first opened by Bouriant in 1883. [1] A roughly hewn corridor leads to a decorated doorway. This doorway is decorated on one side with a scene depicting Akhenaten and Nefertiti and their eldest daughter Meritaten offering to the Aten. The opposite wall is decorated with the kneeling Mahu and an inscription of the Hymn of the Aten. [1]
This leads to the first chamber which contains a stele on one end and a false door at the other. The stele shows the royal couple and their daughter again, with a depiction and accompanying prayers of Mahu. The false door similarly shows the royal couple offering and Mahu kneeling with a large text. Davies mentions that the prayers contain a large number of errors. [1]
The walls are decorated as well and show both the duties and the rewards of Mahu. The rewards appear on the front wall and on the northern half of the back wall. The inscriptions were not finished but the sketches indicate that there would have been a reward scene showing the king bestowing honors on Mahu at the Window of Appearance. Mahu was shown accompanied by his men, the Medjay. Another scene showed Mahu receiving honors not at the palace, but at a temple. [1]
He is shown inspecting the defences of the city with the king and queen. This scene seems to be uniquely designed for this tomb. The vizier and other officials are also present. [1] In another scene Mahu is shown in his work policing the city, and is shown in a meeting with the vizier (probably Nakhtpaaten) and a lesser official named Heqanefer. [1] Mahu is leading three prisoners before the vizier. Being in the reset without permission was apparently something one would be arrested for. [2]
Scenes in the tomb show platforms with ramps manned by police. Military standards are shown on these platforms. These structures may have formed a series of watchtowers and watch posts that were used to patrol the city. [3]
In the back is a doorway to a second chamber that is positioned slightly askew compared to the first chamber. A winding set of stairs at the back of this second chamber leads down to an intermediary room. Further steps complete the turn and lead to the lower chamber which contains the burial pit. [1]
Paul C. Doherty wrote a trilogy of books told by Mahu in a (very frank) first-person narrative, recounting the events of the age of Akhenaten and his part in them and his relationships with other personages of the Amarna period.
Amarna is an extensive Egyptian archaeological site containing the remains of what was the capital city of the late Eighteenth Dynasty. The city was established in 1346 BC, built at the direction of the Pharaoh Akhenaten, and abandoned shortly after his death in 1332 BC. The name that the ancient Egyptians used for the city is transliterated in English as Akhetaten or Akhetaton, meaning "the horizon of the Aten".
Akhenaten, also spelled Echnaton, Akhenaton,, was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning c. 1353–1336 or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Before the fifth year of his reign, he was known as Amenhotep IV.
Neferneferuaten Nefertiti was a queen of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, the great royal wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for a radical change in national religious policy, in which they promoted a form of proto-monotheism centred on the sun god Aten. With her husband, she reigned at what was arguably the wealthiest period of ancient Egyptian history. Some scholars believe that Nefertiti ruled briefly as Neferneferuaten after her husband's death and before the ascension of Tutankhamun, although this identification is a matter of ongoing debate. If Nefertiti did rule as Pharaoh, her reign was marked by the fall of Amarna and relocation of the capital back to the traditional city of Thebes.
Meritaten, also spelled Merytaten, Meritaton or Meryetaten, was an ancient Egyptian royal woman of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Her name means "She who is beloved of Aten"; Aten being the sun-deity whom her father, Pharaoh Akhenaten, worshipped. She held several titles, performing official roles for her father and becoming the Great Royal Wife to Pharaoh Smenkhkare, who may have been a brother or son of Akhenaten. Meritaten also may have served as pharaoh in her own right under the name Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten.
Southern Tomb 23 is a sepulchre in Amarna, Egypt. It was used for the burial of Any, whose titles included, Royal scribe, Scribe of the offering-table of the Aten, Steward of the estate of Aakheperura.
Penthu was an Egyptian noble who bore the titles of sealbearer of the King of Lower Egypt, the sole companion, the attendant of the Lord of the Two Lands, the favorite of the good god, king's scribe, the king's subordinate, First servant of the Aten in the mansion of the Aten in Akhetaten, Chief of physicians, and chamberlain. These titles alone show how powerful he would have been in Eighteenth Dynasty Egypt.
Panehesy was an Egyptian noble who bore the titles of 'Chief servitor of the Aten in the temple of Aten in Akhetaten'.
The Royal Tomb of Akhenaten, located in the Royal Wadi at Amarna, is the burial place of the Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh Akhenaten.
Meketaten was the second daughter of six born to the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten and his Great Royal Wife Nefertiti. She likely lived between Year 4 and Year 14 of Akhenaten's reign. Although little is known about her, she is frequently depicted with her sisters accompanying her royal parents in the first two-thirds of the Amarna Period.
Neferneferuaten Tasherit or Neferneferuaten the younger was an ancient Egyptian princess of the 18th Dynasty and the fourth daughter of Pharaoh Akhenaten and his Great Royal Wife Nefertiti.
The Tomb of Meryra is part of a group of tombs located near Amarna, Upper Egypt. Placed in the mountainsides, the graves are divided into north and south groupings; the northern tombs are located in the hillsides and the southern on the plains. Meryra's burial, identified as Amarna Tomb 4 is located in the northern cluster. The sepulchre is the largest and most elaborate of the noble tombs of Amarna. It, along with the majority of these tombs, was never completed. The rock cut tombs of Amarna were constructed specifically for the officials of King Akhenaten. Norman de Garis Davies originally published details of the Tomb in 1903 in the Rock Tombs of El Amarna, Part I – The Tomb of Meryra. The tomb dates back to the 18th Dynasty.
Mutbenret (Benretmut) was an Egyptian noblewoman, and said to be the sister of the Great Royal Wife Nefertiti. Her name used to be read as Mutnedjemet. The hieroglyphs for nedjem and bener are similar and so is their meaning. The name is now thought to be Mutbenret however.
]Nakhtpaaten or Nakht was an ancient Egyptian vizier during the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten of the 18th Dynasty.
Amarna Tomb 3 is a rock-cut cliff tomb located in Amarna, Upper Egypt. The tomb belonged to the Ancient Egyptian noble Ahmes (Ahmose), who served during the reign of Akhenaten. The tomb is situated at the base of a steep cliff and mountain track at the north-eastern end of the Amarna plains. It is located in the northern side of the wadi that splits the cluster of graves known collectively as the Northern tombs. Amarna Tomb 3 is one of six elite tombs belonging to the officials of Akhenaten. It was one of the first Northern tombs, built in Year 9 of the reign of Akhenaten.
Amarna Tomb 5 is an ancient sepulchre in Amarna, Upper Egypt. It was built for the courtier Pentu, and is one of the six Northern tombs at Amarna. The burial is located to the south of the tomb of Meryra. It is very similar to the tomb of Ahmes. The sepulchre is T-shaped and its inner chamber would have served as the burial chamber.
Amarna tomb 7 was one of the Southern tombs at Amarna, Egypt. It belonged to Parennefer, who was a pure handed cupbearer of the king's Person.
The Tomb of Panehsy is a sepulchre in Amarna, Upper Egypt. It was erected for the First servant of the Aten in the house of Aten in Akhet-Aten, Second prophet of the Lord of the Two Lands Neferkheprure-Waenre (Akhenaten), the sealbearer of the King of Lower Egypt, Overseer of the storehouse of the Aten in Akhetaten, Overseer of cattle of the Aten in Akhet-Aten.
The Anonymous Tombs in Amarna are ancient Tombs of Nobles at the Royal Wadi in Amarna, Upper Egypt. They consist of both sepulchres and burial pits in varying stages of construction.
May was an ancient Egyptian official during the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten. He was Royal chancellor and fan-bearer at Akhet-Aten, the pharaoh's new capital. He was buried in Tomb EA14 in the southern group of the Amarna rock tombs. Norman de Garis Davies originally published details of the Tomb in 1908 in the Rock Tombs of El Amarna, Part V – Smaller Tombs and Boundary Stelae. The tomb dates to the late 18th Dynasty.
Ipy, also transliterated as Apy, was a court official from the time of Amenhotep III and Akhenaten during the Egyptian 18th Dynasty. Ipy was High Steward of Memphis, and a royal scribe.
