Ipi was an
Ancient Egyptian
vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...
of the early Middle Kingdom. His only secure attestation known today is his Theban Tomb (TT315) (MMA 516).The tomb was found in the rocks of
Deir el-Bahari
Deir el-Bahari or Dayr al-Bahri ( ar, الدير البحري, al-Dayr al-Baḥrī, the Monastery of the North) is a complex of mortuary temples and tombs located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor, Egypt. This is a part of ...
overlooking the funerary complex of
Mentuhotep II
Mentuhotep II ( egy, Mn- ṯw- ḥtp, meaning "Mentu is satisfied"), also known under his prenomen Nebhepetre ( egy, Nb- ḥpt- Rˁ, meaning "The Lord of the rudder is Ra"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the sixth ruler of the Eleventh D ...
. It consisted of a great courtyard, a corridor, a chapel and a burial chamber. The corridor and chapel were found undecorated and only the burial chamber had painted decorations, religious texts and the titles and name of Ipi on its walls. The burial chamber housed a sarcophagus, sunk into the floor.
The courtyard in front of Ipi's tomb comprised the burial of the servant Meseh, where the
Heqanakht papyri
The Heqanakht papyri or Heqanakht letters (also spelled Hekanakht) are a group of papyri dating to the early Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt that were found in the tomb complex of Vizier Ipi. Their find was located in the burial chamber of a s ...
were discovered. In another chamber were found about sixty vessels and an embalming table, presumably for the mummy of Ipi.
The datation of Ipi's lifetime is disputed, but he most likely lived during the early Twelfth Dynasty.
[James P. Allen: ''The high officials of the early Middle Kingdom'', in: Nigel Strudwick, John H Taylor (editors): ''The Theban Necropolis, Past, Present and Future'', London {{ISBN, 0714122475, p. 23]
References
Viziers of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt