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Menkheperraw, son of HPA and King Khakheperraw Paynedjem I and Queen Duat-Hathor
Henuttauy, discounting the ephemeral Djedkhonsjuefankh, became HPA upon the death
of his elder half-brother, Masahartj in 1046/45. Paynedjem I, the father of both, continued
to reign as King Khakheperraw for a further 9 or ten years (until at least 1037/36).
It was during this period that the daughter of Masahartj and a Chantress of Amun,
Tayuheret (?), Isetemkheb B (Asetemakhbjt), died. Her unique leather funerary baldachin
(Cairo National Museum JE-26276) was unquestionably made for her at that time as its
inscriptions on the top state that HPA Masahartj was dead and the cartouches of the
ruling king, Khakheperraw Paynedjem mery-Amun adorn the sides bearing her name
and title. We suggest that you click on the baldachin index above. It is the only known
object of its kind worldwide. Unfortunately it is partially in deplorable condition (the top
which only my colleague Sergej V. Ivanov and I have seen in human memory). CESRAS
was able to obtain the permission of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of the A.R.E. in
May 2011 to dismount, conserve, and restore the baldachin; then came the revolution.
We sincerely hope that when order is restored in Egypt our permission will still be valid.
Due to the fragile nature of the material (thin goat-skin 3000 years old cutout and sewn in
complicated patterns) and its size ca 15 square metres of surface when dismounted, it is
a very sensitive and ultimate test of conservation/restoration skills. We have those skills
and our qualifications were investigated and approved by the (old) SCA. Now we can
only sit and hope...
Menkheperraw's principle wife was a royal princess, Isetemkheb C (Asetemakhbjt),
daughter of the King of Lower Egypt in Tanis, Akheperraw sotep en Amun Psusennes I
and a secondary wife Wiay.
As far as is known, HPA Menkheperraw and Isetemkheb C had three children: Smendes,
Paynedjem and Isetemkheb D.
On the death of his father, Smendes became HPA Smendes II, a shadowy figure of whom
little is known. His pontificate was short 997/96-993/92 and insignificant. Nothing is known
of his burial or those of his wives. However, with a secondary wife Tenthendjhuty, he
had a daughter, Nesykhonsw, who became the niece-wife and favorite of his brother and
successor, HPA Paynedjem II. It was for her and for himself only that TT320, later the
Royal Cache, was prepared, not as a collective family tomb. ERL/CESRAS/04. Feb. 2012
It was during the ca. 50 year pontificate of HPA and later "king" Menkheperraw that the
family Dynasty of Payankh reached its peak. However we have no traces of his or his
wife's (Isetemkheb C) burial(s), no coffins, no mummy, no uschebti...absolutely nothing.