Djefaihapi Rock-cut Tombs

Djefaihapi Rock-cut Tombs

This necropolis was a common burial style among wealthy people in ancient times The large necropolis at Kerma in Nubia with a lower tomb surrounded by several smaller tombs houses two large granite statues of Djefaihapi and his wife Sennuwy The large rock-cut tomb at Assyut No 1 was a gift from Senusret I the second ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty which marked a period of remarkable stability and development Djefaihapi was an ancient Egyptian official during the reign of Senusret I of the Twelfth Dynasty during a period of expansion from the Nile Delta and the valleys southward beyond the Second Falls and eastward into Canaan In literature and texts preserved from the tomb the statue of Djefaihapi is fragmented but the statue of Sennuwy remains remarkably well preserved

Cefa-Hapi during the reign of Senusret I, Acacia

The bureaucratic burial chamber of Djefaihapi is a rare example of an Egyptian official burial chamber The tomb carved into a naturally existing bedrock is a form of carved-in-the-rock architecture The cliff face or rock face may have been carved into a relatively flat area Two large granite statues of Jefaihapi and his wife Senuvi were also found in the necropolis Evidence suggests that the inhabitants of the ambush were sacrificed likely around the time of their god's death and his name appears in numerous other forms Jefaihapi rebuilt the temple of Wepvawet the fox god of funeral rites war and dynasty whose cult centered in Asyut in Upper Egypt

His personal property along with wealth acquired from administrative and clerical work was the first of the Nomarsh of the same name during the 12th Dynasty It is possible that the preceding seemingly unrelated Nomarsh family of Asyut was replaced by the Jefaihapi family during the reign of Amenemhat I or Senusret I The main tomb Jefaihapi was replaced by a Nubian chieftain in a ritual long lost in Egypt but apparently still practiced in Nubia