Pennsylvania: The Life Cycle of Theban Tomb 16 in Luxor, Egypt

Lectures are FREE for ARCE members. No registration required. For more information, visit arce-pa.org or email us at info@arce-pa.org 

Lecture Information

Since 2008, the University of Memphis mission to Theban Tomb 16 has been documenting, clearing, and studying this non-royal monument located on the west bank of the Nile near Luxor, Egypt in the so-called “Valley of the Nobles”. It was originally built for a priest named Panehsy and his wife Tarenu who lived during the time of Ramesses II (ca. 1250 BCE). Their beautifully painted tomb contains interesting details related to the posthumous cult of the deified Amenhotep I and Ahmose Nefertari, as well as funerary motifs and “daily life” scenes.  The tomb was also reused for nearly 1000 years by later pharaonic-era Egyptians as their tomb. Their looted remains have provided many insights in health and mummification practices in post-New Kingdom Egypt. In this lecture we will explore Panehsy and his life, based on what is in his tomb, and the lives of the 100+ individuals who were also buried there. As part of the life cycle of the tomb, we will touch on issues such as the re-use of tombs, modern looting, and how our modern investigations can create a more holistic view of this monument.

Speaker Bio

Suzanne Onstine

Dr. Suzanne Onstine is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of Memphis. She received her B.A in Anthropology at the University of Arizona and her M.A and Ph.D. in Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations at the University of Toronto. In addition to being a co-PI for the National Science Foundation funded project “Methodology for Reconstructing Prior River Flow”, she currently directs the University of Memphis mission to Theban Tomb 16, the tomb of Panehsy in Dra abu el-Naga, Luxor and has done archaeology in Egypt for more than 25 years.  She has published many works on religion and gender in addition to various aspects of work in TT16.