The Fate of Sennefer and Senetnay at Karnak Temple and in the Valley of the Kings

Abstract

The ‘artists' signatures' on the statue of Sennefer and Senetnay are revealed to be additions dating to the Third Intermediate Period. A review of the circumstances of the statue's excavation at Karnak leads to reconsideration of the so-called ‘chapel of Hatshepsut’. Budge's account of the chapel's discovery is shown to be credible after all, with North Karnak proposed as its location. Finally, the arguments for the attribution of a tomb in the Valley of the Kings (KV 42) to Sennefer and his wife are analyzed, and the implications for the Valley's history in the aftermath of the New Kingdom explored.