QH31 was made for Sarenput II, also called Nubkaurenakht. Sarenput II was the son of Khema and Satethotep and succeeded his father as the leading local official of Elephantine. His recorded titles include nomarch, overseer of the prophets of Khnum of Elephantine and commander of the frontier garrison of the Southern Lands. The second name Nubkaurenakht was connected with Amenemhat II by the Polychrome Hieroglyph Research Project, which glosses it as meaning "Amenemhat is strong".
Representation of Sarenput II in the corridor of QH31.
Excavation and documentation
Interior of QH31 in 1914; wall paintings in the second chamber are visible at the back.
The Museo Egizio Turin Photo Archive holds nine photographs of QH31 made in 1914 during Schiaparelli's excavations at Qubbet el-Hawa. The photographs document the entrance, the interior of the tomb, the paintings in the second chamber and wall paintings on which preparatory grid lines are visible.
Since 2008, the archaeological project of the University of Jaén has worked in the necropolis of Qubbet el-Hawa. In 2015, the project expanded its research aims to Twelfth Dynasty funerary shafts, including those of Sarenput I (QH36), QH32, Sarenput II (QH31) and Heqaib II (QH30). During archaeological works in the tomb of Sarenput II in 2019, polychrome fragments of small inscribed boxes were found, and Antonio Morales was assigned their study and translation.
Museo Egizio Photo Archive, 1914
Painting on the west side of the second chamber.
South side of the second chamber, with visible preparatory grid lines.
North side of the second chamber, with visible preparatory grid lines.
Description
Decorated niche in QH31.
The QH31 funerary complex, like the other hypogea in the necropolis of Qubbet el-Hawa, was excavated directly into the rock. A geochemical study of the chapel describes several architectural elements as probably made independently from the in situ excavation and then placed in the complex as part of the funerary design. These elements include three pairs of Osirian statues in the corridor, four pillars in the offering chamber and slabs used to construct the sanctuary of the tomb owner's statue.
The tomb includes interior rooms with painted decoration documented in the photographs from Schiaparelli's 1914 excavations. The second chamber preserves paintings on the back wall, while paintings on the south and north sides show visible preparatory grid lines on the decorated surface. Non-invasive analyses carried out in 2018 on elements of the chapel, including Osirian statues and materials from the sanctuary, indicated the use of sandstone similar to that of the local rock of the necropolis.
Entrance to the rock-cut tomb of Sarenput II at Qubbet el-Hawa.
Interior corridor of the rock-cut tomb of Sarenput II.
Decorated pillars in QH31.
Representation of Sarenput II in the corridor of QH31.
Jiménez-Serrano, Alejandro; Sánchez-León, Juan Carlos (2016). "Ipi, a new governor of Elephantine under Amenemhat II". Chronique d'Égypte. 91 (181): 5–13. doi:10.1484/J.CDE.5.111739.
Alba Gómez, José M. (2021). "The Funerary Chambers of Sarenput II and the Destruction of His Outer Coffin". In Jiménez-Serrano, Alejandro; Morales, Antonio J. (eds.). Middle Kingdom Palace Culture and Its Echoes in the Provinces. Leiden and Boston: Brill. pp.16–44. doi:10.1163/9789004442825_003. ISBN978-90-04-44281-8.
