Funerary Cone of the Scribe Amenemopet

This cone has the impression of a stamp seal inscribed for a man named Amenemopet (Amen-em-opet) who was also known as Tjanefer (Tja-nefer). He was scribe of accounts of the grain of the god Amun and also had the title overseer of the fields. Amenemopet owned Theban tomb 297 (TT 297) which is in the Asasif area of western Thebes near the former field headquarters of the Museum's Egyptian Expedition.

In 1915, while excavating an uninscribed tomb (H 4) near TT 297, the Museum’s archaeologists uncovered five cones with the same stamped impression (this one and 15.10.2–.4, .22). Three more cones in the collection have the same stamp (09.185.12, .17, .20). The best preserved impressions are on this cone and number 15.10.2.

Hundreds of ceramic cones like this one have been found in the non-royal cemeteries of the Theban necropolis. The Museum's excavators uncovered a tomb with rows of uninscribed cones embedded along the upper edge of the facade and it seems likely that the inscribed cones were used in the same way, identifying the tomb owner by name and title. However, although a few are inscribed with the names of identifiable tomb owners like Amenemopet, most record the names of people whose tombs have not been identified.

(CHR)