Anen or Aanen was an

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

ian nobleman and official of the

Eighteenth Dynasty The Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XVIII, alternatively 18th Dynasty or Dynasty 18) is classified as the first dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt, the era in which ancient Egypt achieved the peak of its power. The Eighteenth Dynasty ...

. A priest and administrator, his period of royal service occurred largely during the reign of his brother-in-law,

Amenhotep III Amenhotep III ( , ; "Amun is satisfied"), also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great and Hellenization, Hellenized as Amenophis III, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty. According to d ...

Biography

He was the son of Yuya and Thuya and the brother of Queen

Tiye Tiye (c. 1398 BC – 1338 BC, also spelled Tye, Taia, Tiy and Tiyi) was the Great Royal Wife of the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III, mother of pharaoh Akhenaten and grandmother of pharaoh Tutankhamun; her parents were Yuya and Thuya. In 2010 ...

, the wife of Pharaoh

. Under the rule of his brother-in-law, Anen became the Chancellor of

Lower Egypt Lower Egypt ( ') is the northernmost region of Egypt, which consists of the fertile Nile Delta between Upper Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, from El Aiyat, south of modern-day Cairo, and Dahshur. Historically, the Nile River split into sev ...

, fan-bearer, Second of the Four Prophets of Amun, sem-priest of Heliopolis, Greatest of Seers, High Priest in the temple of Re-Atum. A surviving statue of Anen is now in the

Museo Egizio The Museo Egizio () or Egyptian Museum is an archaeological museum in Turin, Italy, specializing in Art of Ancient Egypt, Egyptian archaeology and anthropology. It houses List of museums of Egyptian antiquities, one of the largest collections of ...

, Turin (Inv.-No. 5484 / Cat. 1377) and a wooden shabti maybe of the same Anen is now in the Museum Meermanno (Inv.-No. 82/196), The Hague. Inscriptions on Anen's own monuments do not mention that he was Amenhotep III's brother-in-law. However, this relationship is established by a short but clear reference to him in his mother Thuya's coffin, which stated that her son Anen was the second prophet of Amun. It is likely that he died before Year 30 of Amenhotep III, since he is not mentioned in texts relating to the pharaoh's

Sed festival The Sed festival (''ḥb-sd'', Egyptian language#Egyptological pronunciation, conventional pronunciation ; also known as Heb Sed or Feast of the Tail) was an ancient Egyptian ceremony that celebrated the continued rule of a pharaoh. The name is ...

; in the last decade of Amenhotep's reign another man, Simut, took over Anen's place as Second Prophet of Amun. Simut had been Fourth Prophet of Amun previously. Anen was buried in his tomb ( TT120) in the

Necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

Sheikh Abd el-Qurna The necropolis of Sheikh Abd el-Qurna () is located on the West Bank at Thebes, Egypt, Thebes in Upper Egypt. It is part of the archaeological area of Deir el-Bahari, and named after the domed tomb of the local saint. This is the most frequently v ...

, on the west bank of the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

opposite Thebes. His son and possibly four daughters are depicted in his tomb, but their names have not survived.Dodson, Aidan and Hilton, Dylan: ''The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt.'' London 2004, pp. 144–145, 157.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anen Prophets of Amun Sem-priests Chancellors of Lower Egypt Officials of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt Priests of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt 14th-century BC clergy 14th-century BC Egyptian people