Ptahshepses (high priest)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Ptahshepses
High Priest of Ptah in Memphis
Dynasty
Niuserre
BurialMastaba C1 in Saqqara
p
t
V28A50ss
Ptahshepses
in hieroglyphs
Era: New Kingdom
(1550–1069 BC)
False door and architrave of Ptahspepses. From the Tomb of Ptahshepses at Saqqara, Egypt. Old Kingdom, 5th Dynasty, 25th century BCE. British Museum

Ptahshepses was an ancient Egyptian official at the end of the Fourth and the beginning of the Fifth Dynasty. His main title was that of a great one of the leaders of craftsmen, that in later periods is the main designation of the High Priest of Ptah.

Ptahshepses is mainly known from a

Oriental Institute Museum (Inv. no. 11084) in Chicago[1] He is also known from statues and had a mastaba at Saqqara (mastaba C 1).[2]

His false door bears a biographical inscription that reports the main events in his life. Starting on the far right of the door, column 1 records that Ptahshepses was born under king

Niuserre
.

On the lintel of the false door appears the underworld god Osiris in the offering formula. Osiris is otherwise not well attested in the Fifth Dynasty and there is a scholarly debate going on, about the first mentioning of Osiris in Ancient Egyptian sources. Depending on the life time of Ptahshepses, his inscriptions might be the earliest evidence for this deity. However, it is also possible that Ptahshepses died after Niuserre.[3]

In 2022–23, the Czech Institute of Egyptology [cz] rediscovered the tomb of Ptahshepses, 160 years after initial excavation by Auguste Mariette.[4]

References

  1. Peter F. Dorman
    ː The Biographical Inscription of Ptahshepses from Saqqaraː A Newly identified fragment, inː Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 88 (2002), 95-110
  2. ^ Auguste Mariette, Gaston Maspero: Les mastabas de l'Ancien Empire: Fragment du dernier ouvrage de A. Mariette, publié d'après le manuscrit de l'auteur. F. Vieweg, Paris 1889, 110-114
  3. 118-120
  4. ^ "Czech archaeologists rediscover famous tomb of Egyptian high official". radio.cz. 27 September 2023.