Relief Fragment Depicting a Kneeling Woman

This fragment of relief was part of the decoration of a statue niche in the offering chapel of Senenmut (TT 71). The hieroglyphs above the kneeling woman probably identify her as "his (Senenmut's) beloved sister Ahmose." This reconstruction of the partly missing text is reinforced by the inscription o a wooden Osiris figure dedicated to a woman named Ahmose (36.3.231) that was discovered in the debris below the chapel.

The statue niche in Senenmut's offering chapel is located high on the back wall of the axial hall. The stone in this part of the Sheikh Abd el-Qurna cemetery is not high quality, so the ancient workmen carved out a rough cavity in the wall that was then lined with fine limestone blocks (see expedition photograph 1). Numerous fragments of the niche decoration were uncovered by the Museum's Egyptian Expedition during excavations in and around the chapel. This fragment was probably part of the back wall of the niche about half way up the left side, two or more courses above the blocks that were found still in place (see expedition photograph 2). Other fragments of the niche decoration still retained substantial amounts of the original paint, but the color has almost completely vanished from this fragment which was awarded to the Museum in the division of finds.