Samut’s tomb is one of at least three Ramessid tombs located off a court that probably belongs to a large, as yet unexcavated, Eighteenth Dynasty tomb in the Assasif necropolis on the Theban West Bank. Its transverse hall is decorated in the Ramessid parallel register style described in the introduction (3.3). The extensive biographical inscriptions, which dominate the west half of the hall, are in striking contrast to the more traditionally Ramessid scenes of the journey to the shrine and the next world, which dominate the east half. The text registers are complementary to these scenes, centering on Samut’s relationship to the divine sphere.
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The texts fill two of three registers that wrap around the walls of the west half of the transverse hall. The main biographical text (no. 11a) begins in the upper register of the south wall, beside the tomb entrance and in front of a figure of Samut, who stands with both arms raised in adoration. The text continues onto the west and north walls of the hall, closing before a figure of Mut, who is seated in a brightly painted and decorated kiosk. A second, more fragmentary inscription (no. 11b) begins at the same point in the register directly below 11a and ends on the right half of the west wall; extensive damage to this section of wall makes it difficult to establish its exact endpoint. The lowest register on these walls bears remains of offering and agricultural scenes.
The hieroglyphs of both inscriptions are written in retrograde to face toward the goddess. The images of Samut and Mut associated with both texts are largely parallel, but with a few key differences. In front of the surviving part of Samut’s figure in the middle register is a brazier, an element not present next to his figure above. In the right half of the middle register on the west wall, traces of jars, lotus blooms, and offerings are visible between the end of the text and the image of Mut. Her pose and accoutrements match those in the register above, but the kiosk is plainer with a simple sloping roof and undecorated columns.
The uppermost text (no. 11a) is a distinctive mix of genres that departs explicitly from the traditional structures of biographical inscriptions. It begins as a “tale” of Samut’s youth set in the third person and continues with a first person deposition of property to Mut, which is then followed by prayers and a hymn to her protective power. The text in the middle register (no. 11b) seems to be a copy of a legal document in which Samut bequeaths all his property to Mut in return for a “pension.” The unusual predominance of text in the tomb prioritizes Samut’s connection to the goddess. The legal document designates his tomb as part of Mut’s domain, much as the biography dedicates his life and experience exclusively to her.
11a. Biography
South wall:
There was a man of Southern Heliopolis (Thebes), a true scribe in Thebes,
Samut was his name by his mother, called Kyky, true of voice.65
Now his god instructed him,
he taught him according to his teaching. He placed him upon the path of life,
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in order to protect his body. The god knew him as a youth, decreeing for him rich provisions. Then he (Samut) sought within himself, in order to find a protector for himself, and he found Mut at the head of the gods, Shay and Renenet with her,
a lifetime of life and breath under her authority, and all that occurs under her command. He said: Look, I am giving to her
my property and all that (I have) accrued, for I know that she is effective on my behalf, that she is uniquely excellent.
She removed anguish for me; she left me in a painful moment,66
(but) she came, the north wind before her, after I called upon her by name.
I was a poor man of her town, a vagrant in the vicinity of her city.67
I entered into her power in relation to my property, in exchange for the breath of life.
Not one of (my) family shall divide it; it is for her ka as offerings.
As for the robber who despoils,
the one who stands up to him will be under her authority. I am speaking about an official in his moment (of success), (for although) he is strong he will not attack, for that is with
Sekhmet,
the great one whose sphere of action is unknown;68
there is no servant of hers who will fall into turmoil forever and ever.
O Mut, mistress of the gods, hear my prayers: (if) a servant testifies to the efficacy of his lord, then ≠his lord rewards± him with a (long) lifetime.
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I do not make a protector for myself among men.
I [do not attach] myself to the powerful, not even my son, for I found that she [will provide for] the funeral.69
Burial, it is in your hand, unique one, for you are the Meskhenet70 [… …]
that I may be assembled as an effective mummy, after life has proceeded (to its end), being admitted […] [… …] like me,
and they (followers of Mut?) will hand over their property to you. May you keep me safe, until my end, from every evil.
Let my eyes see the rays, for you are the female sun. (Let my) ears hear without deafness,
my nose inhaling the breezes,
the ≠ways of± life flowing without weariness,7
while my throat breathes, [my mouth] functions, my lips are ready, my tongue distinguishing [taste (?)], all my [limbs (?)] being complete as (in) life,
without the disappearance (loss of function) of my body, and no [tongue (?)] having power over me,
or people harming me.
O Mut the great ≠who made me (?)±,
act as protection (for me), unique one,
until your perpetual protection of me (in the next world) is acknowledged,
my name enduring in […]
[…] to me protection in [seeing (?)] (when) I [saw (?)] that she is powerful (?) [in what the sun (?)] encircles …
[ca. 7 groups lost] … earth, seeing … [3 columns lost]
[ca. 10 groups lost from the next column, then traces] … [Re (?)], the one who …
[ca. 6 groups lost]
… upon [… …] to judge testimony …
[ca. 7 groups are lost, with traces, from the end of this column. There
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West wall (this section is badly damaged and I do not specify the extent of the lacunae):
[ca. 7 columns lost] … would that (?) … … evening in …
… descending from the sky […] in the … … to Mut,
that she may enable me to walk freely ≠within± …
… of her provisions, that I may act … … love, while [… appeased/offerings (?)] … … (against) his raging, appeased … … my […] in her presence.
It is good to be protected [from (?)] … … Mut (?) …
… perfection, (for I) know that [you are (?)] powerful … … great in …
… foremost of Memphis, Sekhmet, beloved of Ptah, …
… in the sky, appearing [… …] at the beginning [of the year], … … the king, established [upon his head (?)], as Neith (?) the great … [rest of column lost]
… in every first-of-the-year-festival, when (you) appear … … from within it, living on …
… mistress of [… … …] the West (?) … … as Mut [… … …] burial,
breath [of (?)] your mouth …
… [you] make it, every [nose (?)] under your authority, you open eyes …
… your rays illuminate every path [of the sky (?)] … its […], which your eye encircles (?).
I rejoice for […] your power,
inasmuch as you are greater than any god. My heart is filled with my72 mistress.
I will not fear people when I lie down for when I sleep, I have a defender.
As for the one who makes Mut a protector, no god is able to harm him,
being favored by the king of his time, as one who passes into veneration.
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As for the one who makes Mut a protector, evil will not assail him,
he will be protected every day until he joins the necropolis. As for the one who makes Mut a protector,
how perfect is his lifetime and royal favor suffuses his body —the one who places her in his heart.
As for the one who makes Mut a protector, [he] came forth from the womb favored, perfection destined for him,
on the birthing brick;73 he will achieve veneration.
As for the one who makes Mut a <protector>, how fortunate is the one who longs for her,
the god will not overthrow him, as one ignorant of (proper) speech. 11b. Legal text
The text is largely lost from column 12; I do not indicate the extent of the lacunae specifically.
South wall:
[Year …], first month of akhet, day 9,
under the Person of the Dual King, lord of the Two Lands, Usermaatre Setepenre,
son of Re, ≠Ramesses Meryamun (Ramesses II)±,
given life, for eternity and perpetuity. On this day the assessor of cattle
of the domain of Amun-Re, king of the gods, Samut, ≠called Kyky, true of voice±,
spoke thus: I give all my property and [… … … …] ≠to± Mut
and to the domain of Mut the great, lady of Asheru, [… … …]
See, I have established it as an income for [… … …] my […] and (my) old age as my contract,74
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brother± or sister,
for I entrust myself to Mut,75
the [mistress who has given (me)] the breath (of life), that she may ordain the West for me in old age, [… … … the terror (?)] of the king.
As for servants who are brought … [ca. 5 groups lost]
… to Mut in the domain of administration (?) and they … [ca. 7 groups lost]
to the domain of Mut,
and they [the twelfth column begins here and the text is very
fragmentary from this point]
… songstress of Amun … … with the servants …
… [of] Amun, in order to carry … [1 column lost, with traces]
… every […] of the army … … who build (?) …
[2 columns lost, with traces] … domain of Mut … … under the authority of … … of life …
… Mut … [3 columns lost] … Mut, while the … [3 columns lost, with traces] … all that I have done for Mut … … after resting (?) …
… old age … … Mut …
… domain of Mut … … she acted/will act for … … in front of …
West wall:
[1 column lost, with traces]
… [Mut … while the … …] upon … [3 columns lost, with traces]
… their […] dwelling in my …
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… the strong, which I made for myself … … made by the assessor of cattle, Kyky. … which they will bear …
… mistress of the gods, the lords of … [1 column lost, with traces]
… Mut …
[2 columns lost, with traces] … presented …
… in front of …
[Columns 55–59 are lost, except for traces at the end of column 59. No
more columns are visible]