Senemut

Senemut (sometimes spelled Senmut, Senenmut or Senmout) was an 18th dynasty ancient Egyptian architect and government official. He may also have been the lover of the female Pharaoh Hatshepsut.

Senemut was of low birth, born to literate provincial parents, Ramose and Hatnofer (or "Hatnefret") of Iuny (modern Armant). Much more is known about Senemut than many other non-royal Egyptians because the joint tomb of his parents has been discovered and preserved, the construction of which Senemut supervised himself. Senemut first enters the historical record on a national level as the "Steward of the God's Wife" (Hatshepsut) and "Steward of the King's Daughter" (Neferure). Some Egyptologists place Senemut's entry into royal service during the reign of Thutmose I, but it is far more likely that it occurred during either the reign of Thutmose II or while Hatshepsut was still regent and not pharaoh. After Hatshepsut was crowned pharaoh, Senemut was given more prestigious titles and became "high steward of the king".

Senemut supervised the quarrying, transport, and erection of twin obelisks, at the time the tallest in the world, at the entrance to the Temple of Karnak. One still stands today; the other broke in two and toppled centuries ago. Karnak's Red Chapel, or "Chapelle Rouge", was intended as a barque shrine and may have originally stood between the two obelisks.

Senemut's masterpiece building project is the Mortuary Temple complex of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri. It was designed and implemented by Senemut on a site on the West Bank of the Nile close to the entrance to the Valley of the Kings. The focal point was the Djeser-Djeseru or "the Sublime of the Sublimes", a colonnaded structure of perfect harmony built nearly one thousand years before the Parthenon. Djeser-Djeseru sits atop a series of terraces that once were graced with gardens. It is built into a cliff face that rises sharply above it. Djeser-Djeseru and the other buildings of the Deir el-Bahri complex are considered to be among the great buildings of the ancient world.

Some Egyptologists have theorized that Senemut was Hatshepsut's lover. Facts that are typically cited to support the theory are that Hatshepsut allowed Senemut to place his name and an image of himself behind one of the main doors in Djeser-Djeseru, and the presence of graffiti in an unfinished tomb used as a rest house by the workers of Djeser-Djeseru depicting a male and a hermaphrodite in pharaonic regalia engaging in an explicit sexual act.

Although it is not known where he is buried, Senemut had two tombs constructed for him, one (TT71) in the Tombs of the Nobles, and another (TT353) now considered to be probably a cenotaph and containing a famous star ceiling. near the temple at Deir el-Bahri, near Hatshepsut's mortuary temple. They were both heavily vandalized during the reign of Thutmose III, perhaps during the latter's campaign to eradicate all trace of Hatshepsut's memory.

Image gallery

Ostraca depicting Senenmut

Works from his tombs

culptures

External links

* [http://www.institutoestudiosantiguoegipto.com/senenmut/en/presentation.shtml The Seh-en-Must project, current archaeological work on TT 353]
* [http://www.maat-ka-ra.de/english/personen/senenmut/senenmut.htm Web dedicated to Senenmut]
* [http://www.maat-ka-ra.de/english/personen/senenmut/sen_tt71.htm TT71 Senenmut's tomb]
* [http://ib205.tripod.com/senenmut_2.html Senenmut: Courtier of Hatshepsut]

Further reading

* "Inscriptions of Senmut" in "Ancient Records of Egypt" by James Henry Breasted, Part Two, sections 345ff.