View source for Penthu

{{Short description|Ancient Egyptian royal physician}}
{{Infobox Egyptian dignitary | Style = Chief of Physicians
| Name= Penthu
| Image = Penthu depicted in Amarna Tomb 5.jpg
|Caption= A depiction of Penthu in his Amarna Tomb 
| ImageSize= 
| Predecessor= 
| Successor= 
| Dynasty= [[Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt|18th&nbsp;Dynasty]] 
| Pharaoh= [[Akhenaten]]
| Father= 
| Mother= 
| Wife=
| Children=
| Burial= [[Amarna Tomb 5]]
}}
{{Hiero|Penthu|<hiero>p:n-T-w-A51</hiero>|align=right|era=nk}}

'''Penthu''' ({{langx|egy|pnṯw}})<ref name="Ranke 1935 133">{{cite book |last1=Ranke |first1=Hermann |title=Die Ägyptischen Personennamen, Bd. 1: Verzeichnis der Namen |date=1935 |publisher=J.J. Augustin |location=Glückstadt | url= http://gizamedia.rc.fas.harvard.edu/images/MFA-images/Giza/GizaImage/full/library/ranke_personennamen_1.pdf| accessdate= 24 July 2020 |page=133}}</ref> was an [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] noble who bore the titles of sealbearer of the King of [[Lower Egypt]], the sole companion, the attendant of the Lord of the Two Lands, the favorite of the good god, king's scribe, the king's subordinate, First servant of the [[Aten]] in the mansion of the Aten in [[Akhetaten]], Chief of physicians, and chamberlain.<ref name="Davies">N. de G. Davies, The rock tombs of El-Amarna, Parts III and IV, 1905 (Reprinted 2004), The Egypt Exploration Society, {{ISBN|0-85698-160-5}}</ref> These titles alone show how powerful he would have been in [[Eighteenth Dynasty]] Egypt.{{why|date=May 2021}}

He was originally Chief Physician to [[Akhenaten]], but may have survived the upheavals of the end of the [[Amarna Period]], and served under [[Ay (pharaoh)|Ay]], after being Vizier under [[Tutankhamun]].<ref>J. Cerny: ''Hieratic Inscriptions from the Tomb of Tut'ankhamun'', Oxford 1965, S. 4 no. 26</ref> The identification of Penthu the Physician with [[Pentu]] the Vizier is not certain, however.<ref>Aiden Dodson, Amarna Sunset: Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, Ay, Horemheb, and the Egyptian Counter-Reformation, American University in Cairo Press (2009), page 79</ref>
He had a tomb constructed at [[Amarna]], [[Amarna Tomb 5]],<ref name="Davies"/> although his remains have never been identified, and he was probably never buried there.

An inscription discovered in 2004 in the [[Deir Abu Hinnis]] limestone quarry records that quarrying was being undertaken for building work on the [[Small Aten Temple]] under the authority of the king's scribe Penthu. The inscription is explicitly dated to Year 16, 3rd month of [[Season of the Inundation| Akhet]], day 15 of the reign of Akhenaten. The Penthu mentioned in the inscription is presumably the same Penthu who was the owner of Amarna Tomb 5. Due his position as a chief priest within the Aten priesthood, it is unlikely to be a coincidence that he would have been placed in charge of quarrying stone for this temple.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Van der Perre |first1=Athena |title=The Year 16 Graffito of Akhenaten in Dayr Abu Hinnis. A Contribution to the Study of the Later Years of Nefertiti |journal=Journal of Egyptian History |date=2014 |volume=7 |issue=1 |url=https://www.academia.edu/6682743/ |access-date=22 November 2023 |pages=73, 76-77}}</ref> The inscription was first published in 2012 by Athena van der Perre and established that [[Nefertiti]] was still alive in the second last year of Akhenaten's reign--his Year 16--and makes it probable she ruled Egypt as the female king [[Neferneferuaten]]--just prior to Tutankhamun's reign.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Van der Perre |first1=Athena |title=The Year 16 Graffito of Akhenaten in Dayr Abu Hinnis. A Contribution to the Study of the Later Years of Nefertiti |journal=Journal of Egyptian History |date=2014 |volume=7 |issue=1 |url=https://www.academia.edu/6682743/ |access-date=22 November 2023 |pages=72-77}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of ancient Egyptian scribes]]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Amarna Nordgräber Pentu 01.jpg|The exterior entrance to Penthu's tomb
File:Amarna Nordgräber Pentu 02.jpg|Erased figures of Akhenaten and Nefertiti from Penthu's tomb
File:Penthu%E2%80%99s_Amarna_Tomb_5_interior.jpg|An interior view of Penthu's Amarna tomb 5
</gallery>

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
{{cc|Tomb of Penthu}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061210040928/http://www.egyptsites.co.uk/middle/mallawi/amarna/northtombs.html El Amarna North Tombs]

{{Amarna Period Navigator}}
{{Ancient Egyptian medicine}}
[[Category:14th-century BC Egyptian people]]
[[Category:Ancient Egyptian scribes]]
[[Category:Ancient Egyptian physicians]]

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