Fragment of painting from the tomb of Kynebu: Amenhotep I

From the tomb of Kynebu, Thebes, Egypt
20th Dynasty, around 1145 BC

Kynebu was a priest 'over the secrets of the estate of Amun'. He held office during the reign of Ramesses VIII towards the end of the New Kingdom (1550-1070 BC). Three painted fragments from the tomb decoration are now in the British Museum, depicting the god Osiris, and two royal figures who lived almost 400 years before Kynebu: king Amenhotep I and his mother, Ahmose-Nefertari.

Amenhotep I was venerated as a god, alongside Ahmose-Nefertari, throughout the New Kingdom. In particular, the inhabitants of the workmen's village of Deir el-Medina displayed reverence for the royal pair, attested on stelae, small statuary and in the decoration of their tombs. Amenhotep I is shown wearing a blue cap-wig, fronted by a uraeus, and origoinally topped with a headdress featuring ram horns and a sun-disc. In his hand he holds a crook, symbol of royalty. The king is shown wearing the classic shendjyt-kilt, and a longer see-through linen garment.