Inti (Ancient Egyptian official)

Inti (fl. c. 2400 BC)^[1] was an ancient Egyptian provincial official who lived in the 5th Dynasty and who is known from his rock-cut tomb at Dishasha. The tomb is famous as it shows on one wall the siege of a Levantine fortress or town.

Inti
Burial place	Sumusta, Beni Suef, Egypt
Years active	c. 2400 BC
Spouse	Meret-Min

The siege of a Levantine fortress

Inti bears in his tomb several titles, that indicate that he was in charge of a province. The titles are typical for the 5th Dynasty and includeː overseer of commissions of the Naret-province, overseer of royal fortresses, administrator of the great estate and leader of the land.^[1] In his tomb chapel is also shown his wife, Meret-Min, but no children are mentioned for sure.^[2]

His tomb is a large complex with a chapel cut into the rocks. There are three pillars and several side rooms.^[3] The walls of the chapel are decorated with reliefs. They show daily life scenes, such as fishermen fishing,^[4] Inti traveling on a boat,^[5] or Inti and his wife at a festival.^[6]

An unusual scene in the tomb shows the siege of a Levantine town or fortess. In four register, Palestine people are depicted fighting against Egyptians. The fortress is shown as a big oval. Within the fortress are visible fights too and on the outside there is a big ladder, so that Egyptians could climb the walls of the fortress.^[7]

The tomb was first recorded and later published under Flinders Petrie.^[8] From 1991 to 1993, an Australian team of Egyptologists under Naguib Kanawati went back to Dishasha and recorded and published the tombs there again.^[9]

Literature

• Naguib Kanawati & Ann McFarlane (1993), with contributions by Nabil Charoubim, Naguib Victor and A. Salamaː Deshasha: The Tombs of Inti, Shedu and Others, (Sydney). ISBN 0-85668-617-4, pp. 15-38, plates 1-13, 23-39
• Flinders Petrie (1898)ː Deshasheh, 1897, With a chapter by F. L1. Griffith. EEF Memoir onlin