For a similar pair of reliefs from this tomb, see: C.A.R. Andrews and J. van Dijk, Objects for Eternity, Egyptian Antiquities from the W. Arnold Meijer Collection, Mainz, 2006, pp. 38-41, no. 1.24, illus. Some 60 reliefs from this tomb are now in public and private collections. The decoration of the two reliefs is simple: each has a standing figure of the tomb owner facing inwards; above him are four hieroglyphs spelling his name, Nyankhnesut. As is so often the case with high officials of the Old Kingdom, many of the titles enumerated in the tomb link him with the court and with the king personally 'confidant of the king in his every place'; some of them may be honorific rather than real titles. On the other hand, Nyankhnesut bore several priestly titles, and this may have been his chief occupation in life. Thus he was 'chief lector priest', 'sem priest', 'overseer of the secrets of heaven', and 'greatest of seers in Heliopolis', i.e. high priest of the sun god Re. The tomb appears to have been discovered around 1917 and was said to be already in ruins at that time (L.M. Berman, Catalogue of Egyptian Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland and New York, 1999, p. 135). The exact location of the tomb within the necropolis remained unknown until January 2000, when it was rediscovered by the inspectors of the Saqqara office of the Supreme Council of Antiquities close to the north-west corner of the enclosure of Sekhemkhet (A. Leahy and I. Mathieson, "The Tomb of Nyankhnesut (Re)discovered," Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, vol. 87, 2001, pp. 33-42, pls. IV-V, and K. Mahmoud, "Preliminary Report on the Tomb of Nyankhnesut at Saqqara: 1st Season of Excavation�, GÜttinger Miszellen, vol. 186, 2002, pp. 75-88). It is a fairly large mastaba measuring some 20 meters from the entrance to the rear wall of the innermost chamber; there are five rooms and a long corridor. (...)
156 EGYPTIAN AMARNA PERIOD SANDSTONE SUNK RELIEF: SERVANT GIVING HOMAGE From Karnak, XVIIIth Dynasty, reign of Akhenaten, ca. 1350-1334 BC. H. 7 1/4 in. (18.5 cm.) W. 7 in. (18 cm.) Ex Jean-Marie Talleux Collection, Grand Fort Philippe, France; V. S. collection, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 2000-2010. Published: J. Eisenberg, Art of the Ancient World, vol. IX, 1997, no. 168.
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