Petamenophis

Four ushabti of Pediamenopet, now in Munich

The most extensive private tomb constructed  at any Egyptian site during the pharaonic era belonged to a little-known chief lector-priest, Petamenophis (or Pediamenopet), who lived from the late  twenty-fifth  into  the  early  twenty-sixth  dynasties.  Although  that  title was the highest rank recorded on his tomb, the tomb's massive  size indicated that he was one of the most influential individuals in Upper Egypt at  that  time.  Probably  constructed  during  the  earliest decades of the twenty-sixth dynasty, his tomb was located  within a series of monuments built for local officials in the Asassif  region  of  the  Theban  plain,  dating  from  about  700-540  BCE.  Sometimes considered an expression of an "Archaic revival," the  tombs actually follow a four hundred year hiatus of tomb building;  yet they incorporate features from nearby private tombs and mortuary temples of the preceding periods, rather than recalling elements  of  much  earlier dynasties. These  tombs  are  conspicuous  for  their  size and complexity, as well as for their shared features, such as the  massive  mud-brick  superstructures,  the  dramatic  subterranean  courtyards,  the  innovative  use  of  architectural  sculpture,  and  the  multilevel burial chambers.

The  inscriptions  from  one  of  the  seven  known  statues  of Petamenophis indicate  that  he  was  consecrated  as  lector-priest  in  662-661 BCE.  Most probably, he achieved the rank of chief lector  priest  in  following  years.  He  lived  during  the  era  that  coincided  with Mentuemhet's term of office as governor of Upper Egypt, yet  the mention of any king or "Divine Adoratress" (a female relative  of  a  Nubian  king,  installed  as  religious  leader  at  Thebes)  is  noticeably absent from Petamenophis' tomb. Anthes (1937) speculated that such an omission would be more likely during a period of  foreign  rule  (during  the  rule  of  the Nubians of  the  twenty-fifth  dynasty,  rather  than  that  of  the  twenty-sixth  dynasty).  Petamenophis' name does not appear on the Saite Oracle Papyrus,  dated  to  651  BCE,  with  Mentuemhet  and  other  Theban  high  officials of the early twenty-sixth dynasty. Nor is there any other  evidence that Petamenophis lived far into the twenty-sixth dynasty.  Mentuemhet clearly did, and perhaps he was a  younger, regional  contemporary of Petamenophis.
 
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