Qeniherkhepeshef, an ancient Egyptian scribe

Qeniherkhepeshef lived at Deir el-Medina under the Ramesside kings Ramesses II and Sety II, in approximately 1200 BC. He was the adopted son of the 'Scribe of the Tomb', Ramose, and succeeded him to office. Qeniherkhepeshef's title indicates that he worked on the tomb of the king and his scrawling and almost illegible handwriting has been identified on several ostraka and papyri.

It seems that Qeniherkhepeshef was neither conscientious nor likeable. There are two accusations of bribery against him and there is also evidence that he used men from the work gang to carry out private work for him during official working hours. What is more, he tried to use his office to get these men to work for free.

Qeniherkhepeshef seems to have had pretensions to learning and fragments of his library have been preserved. This includes a Dream Book for interpreting dreams, on the back of which Qeniherkhepeshef had written parts of the hymn of Ramesses II relating his victory at the Battle of Kadesh. The collection was passed on to his wife, Naunakhte, at his death. She survived her husband by at least fifty years, remarried and had eight children.