Nebwenenef was

High Priest of Amun The High Priest of Amun or First Prophet of Amun ('' ḥm nṯr tpj n jmn'') was the highest-ranking priest in the priesthood of the ancient Egyptian god Amun. The first high priests of Amun appear in the New Kingdom of Egypt, at the beginnin ...

at the beginning of the reign of

Ramesses II Ramesses II (sometimes written Ramses or Rameses) (; , , ; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was an Pharaoh, Egyptian pharaoh. He was the third ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth Dynasty. Along with Thutmose III of th ...

during the 19th Dynasty. Prior to that, Nebwenenef had served as High Priest of

Anhur In Ancient Egyptian mythology, Onuris (also known as Onouris, Anhur, Anhuret, Han-Her, Inhert) was a god of war who was worshipped in the Egyptian area of Abydos, and particularly in Thinis. Myths told that he had brought his wife, Mehit, who wa ...

and High Priest of

Hathor Hathor (, , , Meroitic language, Meroitic: ') was a major ancient Egyptian deities, goddess in ancient Egyptian religion who played a wide variety of roles. As a sky deity, she was the mother or consort of the sky god Horus and the sun god R ...

during the reign of

Seti I Menmaatre Seti I (or Sethos I in Greek language, Greek) was the second pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom period, ruling or 1290 BC to 1279 BC. He was the son of Ramesses I and Sitre, and th ...

and possibly even earlier.

Titles

In his tomb (TT157) a large number of titles are recorded as being held by Nebwenenef: * High Priest of

Amun Amun was a major ancient Egyptian deity who appears as a member of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad. Amun was attested from the Old Kingdom together with his wife Amunet. His oracle in Siwa Oasis, located in Western Egypt near the Libyan Desert, r ...

* High Priest of

* Superintendent of the double treasury of silver and gold (of Amun) * Superintendent of the granary * Chief of Works and Chief of all the craftsmen in Thebes * Superintendent of Prophets of all Gods, to his South (as far) as Heriheramun, and to his North, (as far) as Thinis * Noble * Count * God's Father * Chief of Secrets in heaven, earth and the Netherworld(?) * Dignitary for the People * Chief of Seers, pure of hands in Thebes * Superintendent of the Prophets of South and North Egypt * Chief of Secrets in Southern Heliopolis (Thebes)

Family

Nebwenenef's wife was named Takhat. She held the titles of Chief of the Harem of

, Sistrum Player of

Mut Mut (; also transliterated as Maut and Mout) was a mother goddess worshipped in ancient Egypt. Her name means ''mother'' in the ancient Egyptian language. Mut had many different aspects and attributes that changed and evolved greatly over th ...

, Chief of the Harem of

and Songstress of

Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

named Basa dated to the 22nd or 23rd dynasty records a detailed genealogy claiming that Basa is a direct descendant of Nebwenenef. The text states that Nebwenenef was the son of the First Prophet of Hathor,

overseer of the cattle The Overseer of cattle () was an Ancient Egyptian official position, during the New Kingdom. Role The ''Onomasticon of Amenope'', which lays out the arrangement of Egypt's administration in the Ramesside period, lists the overseer of cattle as one ...

, overseer of the fields, overseer of the granary, Sematawy (I). The text goes on to list further ancestors holding the title First Prophets of Hathor: Sa-en-Hathor (II), Amenhotep, Sa-Hathor (I) and Nefer. The genealogy provides the names the long line of High Priests of Hathor referred to in the Theban Tomb.

Life

Before being appointed High Priest of Amun, Nebwenenef was High Priest of Hathor at

Dendera Dendera ( ''Dandarah''; ; Bohairic ; Sahidic ), also spelled ''Denderah'', ancient Iunet 𓉺𓈖𓏏𓊖 “jwn.t”, Tentyris,(Arabic: Ewan-t إيوان-ة ), or Tentyra is a small town and former bishopric in Egypt situated on the west bank of ...

and High Priest of Anhur at Thinis. After his appointment as High Priest of Amun in year 1 of

, his son Sematawy became High Priest of Hathor. This post had apparently always been held by his family according to an inscription: After the announcement King

gave him two gold signet rings and an electrum

staff of office A staff of office is a staff, the carrying of which often denotes an official's position, a social rank or a degree of social prestige. Apart from the #Eccleasiastical use, ecclesiastical and #Ceremonial, ceremonial usages mentioned below, ther ...

. All at once Nebwenenef had been promoted to High priest of Amun, Superintendent of the double treasury of silver and gold (of Amun), superintendent of the granary, Chief of Works and Chief of all the craftsmen in Thebes. A royal envoy was dispatched to announce Nebwenenef's promotion throughout the land.

Tomb

Nebwenenef was buried in the Theban Tomb TT157 is located in

Dra' Abu el-Naga' The necropolis of Draʻ Abu el-Naga () is located on the West Bank of the Nile at Thebes, Egypt, just by the entrance of the dry bay that leads up to Deir el-Bahari and north of the necropolis of el-Assasif. The necropolis is located near the Va ...

, part of the

Theban Necropolis The Theban Necropolis () is a necropolis on the west bank of the Nile, opposite Thebes, Egypt, Thebes (Luxor) in Upper Egypt. It was used for ritual burials for much of the Ancient Egypt, Pharaonic period, especially during the New Kingdom of Egyp ...

, 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 to

Luxor Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt. Luxor had a population of 263,109 in 2020, with an area of approximately and is the capital of the Luxor Governorate. It is among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited c ...

.Porter, Bertha and Moss, Rosalind: ''Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Statues, Reliefs and Paintings Volume I: The Theban Necropolis, Part I. Private Tombs'', Griffith Institute. Oxford 1970, 266–268, Nebwenenef is shown in his tomb followed by a fan-bearer appearing before

and Queen Nefertari in a palace window. Nebwenenef is being appointed as High priest of Amun (year 1 of Rameses II). Nebwenenef's wife, named Takhat, is depicted in the tomb. She held the titles of Chief of the Harem of

, Sistrum Player of

, Chief of the Harem of

and Songstress of

the mighty. Nebwenenef had a son Sematawy (II) and a daughter named Hathor. Sematawy (II) succeeded his father as High Priest of Hathor. Hathor held the title of Chief of the Harem of Hathor, Lady of Dendera. A sister of Nebwenenef named Irytnofret is also depicted on the tomb. In the 19th century the tomb was recorded by Lepsius (LD Text iii, p 239). The tomb had been excavated since 1970 by a team from the University of Pennsylvania under the leadership of Dr. Lanny Bell. Since 2002 the Universities of Heidelberg and Leipzig have joined in the work on Nebwenenef's tomb. Nebwenenef Title

Mortuary temple

Nebwenenef was also the owner of a mortuary temple at Thebes. Nebwenenef is one of only a select group of commoners who were allowed to construct a temple there. A plan of the temple, as well as some photographs of stelae and foundation deposits, can be found on Digitalegypt (University College London). Mortuary Temple of Nebwenenef
/ref>

References

{{authority control Theban high priests of Amun People of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt 13th-century BC clergy Ramesses II Hathor