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Tomb of Iti and Neferu

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Tomb of Iti and Neferu
Burial site of Iti and Neferu
LocationNorthern hill necropolis, Gebelein, Egypt
Discovered1911[1]
Excavated byVirginio Rosa[1]

The Tomb of Iti and Neferu is a semi-rock-cut Egyptian tomb from the northern necropolis of the northern hill of Gebelein, in Egypt.[1][2] The tomb belonged to Iti, "Chief of the troops" and "Treasurer of the King", and to his wife Neferu.[1] The complex is dated to the First Intermediate Period of Egypt, between 2118 and 1980 BC.[2] Most of the wall paintings and several objects from the burial equipment are kept in the Museo Egizio in Turin.[3][2]

Owners

Iti is recorded in the tomb sources as "Chief of the troops" and "Treasurer of the King".[1] Neferu, his wife, is depicted with him on the funerary stela and in some of the wall paintings from the tomb.[2][4]

History

The tomb belongs to the final phase of the First Intermediate Period and to the transition toward the Middle Kingdom of Egypt.[2]

Excavation

The tomb was discovered in 1911 by Virginio Rosa, a collaborator of Ernesto Schiaparelli, during the Italian excavations at Gebelein.[1] A photograph taken in early January 1911 documents the exterior of the tomb before the start of the work, when the bases of the fourteen pillars of the outer portico were already visible.[5] The clearance work brought to light the central part of the semi-rock-cut structure, the vault of the central chapel and some paintings of the portico in front of it.[6]

At the time of excavation the tomb had no roof and offered no protection to the paintings; before the detachment of 1914, the surfaces underwent light cleaning, initial consolidation and protection with yellow paper and fine sand.[7] Before packing and transport, the objects from the burial equipment were inventoried and photographed, often grouped together.[8]

Seven colour plates taken during the work in the tomb are preserved in the Rosa collection of the photographic archive of the Museo Egizio; their attribution to Rosa is considered probable, although the photographs may also be connected with Giovanni Marro, who was present in 1914 during the detachment of the paintings.[9]

Conservation and museum display

The paintings were detached from the tomb in 1914, consolidated for transport and transferred to Turin.[10] The detachment was carried out by Giovanni Marro and Michelangelo Pizzo following the instructions of Fabrizio Lucarini; after their transfer to Italy, Lucarini oversaw the transfer of the paintings onto permanent canvas in Florence.[11] In 1924 the detached paintings were exhibited in the cloister of the church of Sant'Apollonia in Florence, in an exhibition organized by Lucarini after the restoration.[1] Of the thirty-six paintings detached from the tomb and brought to Turin in 1924, twenty-nine were displayed at the Museo Egizio in Turin.[3]

During the reinstallation preceding the reopening of the museum in 2015, the twenty-nine fragments were the subject of multidisciplinary investigations into the execution technique, state of preservation and ancient and modern materials present on the surfaces.[12] The analyses included ultraviolet observation, infrared reflectography, false-colour imaging, FORS, FT-IR and SEM-EDX; the infrared images made it possible to identify details of the preparatory drawing and two pentimenti, while the material analyses distinguished original pigments and plasters from modern interventions, including zinc white, paraffin and alkyd resin.[12]

In 2025 the gallery devoted to the reconstruction of the tomb of Iti and Neferu was reinstalled on the basis of studies of the structure of the tomb, its fourteen pillars, comparisons with tombs of the same period and excavation photographs.[3] During the research for the reinstallation, a painting belonging to the decorative cycle of the tomb was identified in the storerooms of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the University of Turin.[3]

Description

The tomb was semi-rock-cut and opened onto a courtyard carved into the rock.[1] The façade, protected by the long portico delimited by fourteen pillars, was interrupted by eleven openings leading to as many rooms; the stretches of wall between one opening and the next were decorated.[13]

The decoration consisted of tempera paintings on straw-and-mud plaster, preserved in the Museo Egizio in Turin.[14] The paintings include richly detailed images with scenes of offering, agricultural activities, animal husbandry, grain transport, bread and beer making, animals, boats, craftsmen and armed figures.[15][16][17][18][19] One scene shows the ritual slaughter of a bovine; another shows a cow with a newborn calf and a milking scene.[20][15] Along the corridor there were scenes connected with daily life and work, including the transport and storage of grain and a carpenter's workshop.[16][17]

One wall painting shows a boat with a cabin decorated with three shields; sailors at work, jars and three monkeys are represented on the deck.[21][22] The presence of the shields on the boat cabin has been related to Iti's military title and to the role of local elites in the First Intermediate Period.[22] The scene of the transport and storage of grain has been used as a comparison for granary models and for similar representations from Gebelein, including those on the coffin of Iqer.[22]

Finds

The paintings detached from the tomb are preserved in the Museo Egizio in Turin.[14][4][15] The same provenance also includes stelae, pottery, a shell, alabaster and terracotta vessels and other objects from the burial equipment.[2][23][24][25][26][27]

Neferu's burial equipment included large terracotta jars, globular terracotta jars with lids, miniature terracotta vessels, black terracotta cylindrical jars and a cylindrical alabaster jar.[8] Another photograph of the equipment records four large terracotta jars, two terracotta cups and a terracotta bowl.[8]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "Painted tomb of Iti and Neferu". Photographic Archive of the Museo Egizio. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named ME13114
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "The reinstallation of the Iti and Neferu and Ahmose galleries". Museo Egizio. 8 July 2025. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Wall painting: the deceased and his wife; above, a list of offerings". Museo Egizio. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  5. ↑ "Painted tomb of Iti and Neferu, exterior before the start of the work". Photographic Archive of the Museo Egizio. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  6. ↑ "Tomb of Iti and Neferu before excavations began". Photographic Archive of the Museo Egizio. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  7. ↑ Madden 2022, pp. 21–22.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Grave goods of the tomb of Iti and Neferu". Photographic Archive of the Museo Egizio. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  9. ↑ Moiso & Montonati 2021, pp. 93–94.
  10. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named AF-RC0029
  11. ↑ Madden 2022, pp. 21–23.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Cardinali et al. 2019, p. 69.
  13. ↑ "Tomb of Iti and Neferu, façade of the tomb and painting with cranes". Photographic Archive of the Museo Egizio. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named ME14354-01
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 "Wall painting: cow with calf and cow milking scene". Museo Egizio. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Wall painting: transport and storing of grain". Museo Egizio. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Wall painting: woodworking scene; below, a donkey being prodded by its driver". Museo Egizio. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  18. ↑ "Wall painting: on the left, making bread and beer; on the right, the deceased and his wife receiving offerings". Museo Egizio. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  19. ↑ "Wall painting: four Nubians armed with shields". Museo Egizio. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  20. ↑ "Wall painting: below, a sacrifice; above, a coffin". Museo Egizio. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  21. ↑ "Wall painting: ship". Museo Egizio. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Montonati 2018.
  23. ↑ "Stela picturing two pairs of bowmen". Museo Egizio. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  24. ↑ "Cylindrical vase". Museo Egizio. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  25. ↑ "Jar". Museo Egizio. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  26. ↑ "Bowl". Museo Egizio. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  27. ↑ "Shell". Museo Egizio. Retrieved 29 April 2026.

Bibliography

See also

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