Sesenebnef 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 ''chief

lector priest A lector priest was a priest in ancient Egypt who recited spells and hymns during temple rituals and official ceremonies. Such priests also sold their services to laymen, reciting texts during private apotropaic rituals or at funerals.Ritner, Rob ...

'' of the

Thirteenth Dynasty The Thirteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty XIII) was a series of rulers from approximately 1803 BC until approximately 1649 BC, i.e. for 154 years. It is often classified as the final dynasty of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, Middle ...

, around 1750 BC. He is mainly known from his tomb at

Lisht Lisht or el-Lisht () is an Egyptian village located south of Cairo. It is the site of Middle Kingdom royal and elite burials, including two pyramids built by Amenemhat I and Senusret I. The two main pyramids were surrounded by smaller pyramids of ...

, which was excavated around 1900. The tomb was found looted but still contained the remains of two wooden coffins, one placed inside the other. The remains of the coffins were found in a poor state of preservation. Therefore, the inscriptions on the coffin were copied and the coffins were left on the site. These texts belong to the longest

religious text Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

s of the late Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt.J. P. Allen: ''Coffin Texts from Lisht'', In: ''The World of the Coffin Texts, Proceedings of the Symposium, held on the occasion of the 100th birthday of Adriaan de Buck, Leiden, December 17–19, 1992'', Leiden 1996, p. 15 Many spells on the coffins are only known from the

Book of the Dead The ''Book of the Dead'' is the name given to an Ancient Egyptian funerary texts, ancient Egyptian funerary text generally written on papyrus and used from the beginning of the New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom (around 1550 BC) to around 50 BC ...

which dates several hundred years later.

References

Literature

*MM.J.-E. Gautier, G. Jéquier: ''Mémoire sur les Fouilles de Licht'' (Cairo, 1902), p. 74-77, plates XVI-XXV {{authority control People of the Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt Ancient Egyptian priests