Iunmin I
Encyclopedia
Iunmin was a vizier
Vizier (Ancient Egypt)
The vizier was the highest official in Ancient Egypt to serve the king, or pharaoh during the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms. Vizier is the generally accepted rendering of ancient Egyptian tjati, tjaty etc, among Egyptologists...

 from the Fourth dynasty of Egypt
Fourth dynasty of Egypt
The fourth dynasty of ancient Egypt is characterized as a "golden age" of the Old Kingdom. Dynasty IV lasted from ca. 2613 to 2494 BC...

. He was possibly a son of king Khafre. He served as vizier towards the end of the dynasty, possibly during the reign of his brother Menkaure.

Tomb

The tomb of Iunmin is known as G 8080 (= LG 92), located in the Central Field
Central Field, Giza
The Central Field is located to the east of Khafre's causeway and extends to the pyramid town of Queen Khentkaus I. One of the main excavators of the central field is Selim Hassan. The central field is located at the site of some large stone quarries that provided the stones for the construction of...

 which is part of the Giza Necropolis. The name of his wife Khamerernebti is recorded in the tomb. The lintel at the entrance of the tomb contains offering texts and the name and titles of Iunmin.

The tomb was excavated from the rock of the western cliff, while the chapel and facade were made of limestone. The entrance hall opens up on the right into a small antechamber which contains two uninscribed false doors. In front of the false doors are two burial shafts (1547 and 1632).

From the entrance hall one can move further into the tomb and to the entrance to the outer chapel. To the left of the outer chapel is a passage which leads to a serdab
Serdab
A serdab , literally meaning "cold water", which became a loan word in Persian for 'cellar') is an ancient Egyptian tomb structure that served as a chamber for the Ka statue of a deceased individual. Used during the Old Kingdom, the serdab was a sealed chamber with a small slit or hole to allow the...

which may have contained wooden statues in the past as traces of decayed wood was found. In the floor another shaft (1551) was dug.

From the outer chapel a door leads to the inner chapel. The inner chapel contains two pillars. To the left is a chamber with another burial shaft (1550), while to the right there is a room with an offering table. Behind the pillars is another small chamber with two more burial shafts (1549 and 1687).

Decoration

The pillared hall contains a scene showing Iunmin and his wife Khamerenebty before a table of offerings. Iunmin is called the hereditary prince, chief justice and vizier, greatest of the five in the temple of Thoth
Thoth
Thoth was considered one of the more important deities of the Egyptian pantheon. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a baboon, animals sacred to him. His feminine counterpart was Seshat...

, and the King's Son Iunmin.

Burial shafts

  • 1547 - The shaft opens up to a burial chamber containing a sarcophagus of white limestone. The sarcophagus was empty.
  • 1632 - The shaft opens up to a burial chamber. A box was hewn out of the floor and covered with a limestone slab meant to serve as a sarcophagus lid. The chamber was empty.
  • 1550 - The shaft opens up to a burial chamber with the box of a sarcophagus dug out of the floor. The earth in the shaft contained decomposed bones.
  • 1551 - Shaft opens up to a simple rock hewn chamber. Nothing was found.
  • 1549 - Shaft opens up into a burial chamber, but nothing was found.
  • 1687 - Shaft opens up to a simple rock hewn chamber. Disturbed human bones were found in this chamber.
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