The “sole friend”, “king´s attendant” for Nebhepetre Mentuhotep (II), and “supervisor of the great house”, Henenu, built an impressive funerary monument for his afterlife experience in the northern hills of Deir el-Bahari. However, Henenu combined a large list of titles with a significant series of appointments in the realms of the economy, treasure, and royal properties that were very exotic: “supervisor of what is and what is not”, “overseer of fowl that swim, fly, and land” and “supervisor of the horn, hoof, feather, and scale”. Our interest on the tomb of this individual has to do with the possibility that he lived in the last years of the Eleventh Dynasty and, for this reason, he might reveal part of the last fifteen years of the dynasty before the cofronation of Amenemhat I. Besides, an official called Hennu or Henenu is attested in inscriptions from the Wadi Hammamat, and might be the same person, who lived in the reign of Sankhare Mentuhotep (III). The excavation of this complex is led by Kelly Accetta, a North-American archaeologist that works in the British Museum and joins the team tonight.
Together with our colleague Kelly, three other members reached Luxor today: Marta Arranz, Manuel Carrillo, and Enrique Dorado. For Marta, it is a very special occasion since she joined the UAH and the Middle Kingdom Theban Project only a few weeks ago. For our forensic doctors and anthropologists, Manuel and Enrique, this experience will be the perfect occasion for applying their medical and anthropological knowledge to the human remains from the previous three seasons. Gradually, the three major teams of the project are getting in shape and ready for the next weeks of work in the Theban mountain and its necropolis.
The good news today are that we received calls from the Spanish Embassy in Cairo and the Office of International Relations at the UAH. They have supported us very much and have been able to inform us that in a couple of days at the latest we will have the necessary permissions for starting our work at Deir el-Bahari.
