The Chief of the Keftiu

Angela Murock Hussein

In the Theban tomb of Menkheperreseneb, High Priest of Amun during the reign of
Thutmose III, there is a tribute procession shown in two registers1. The upper register of this
scene is famous for its depiction of Cretan bearers, identifiable by their typical Minoan dress
and hairstyles2. Leading this procession are three figures in attitudes of respect and
subservience. The first one has his head to the ground, the second is kneeling, and the third is
standing3. It seems to be a composition showing three different snapshots of the same action,
implying that all three figures go through the same motions when facing the king or his
representative, the tomb owner. The lower register in the same scene shows the same
composition heading up a similar tribute bearing procession. These genuflecting figures are
labeled as chiefs of various lands, but only four of the six captions survive. At the top from
left to right we see chiefs of Keftiu (Crete), Khatti (Hittites), Tunip (in Western Asia). The

1
Davies, N. M. and N. de G. Davies, The Tombs of Menkheperrasonb, Amenmose and Another (Nos. 86, 112, 42
and 226). London, 1933, pg. 2-9, Pl. IV and V.
2
Vercoutter, J. Lgypte et le monde gen prhellnique. Cairo, 1956, pg. 211-223 and 229-240. Wachsmann,
S. Aegeans in the Theban Tombs. Leuven, 1987, pg. 33-35. Matthus, H. Representations of Keftiu in Egyptian
Tombs and the Absolute Chronology of the Aegean Late Bronze Age. BICS (40) 1995, pg. 177-194. Rehak, P.
Aegean Breechcloths, Kilts, and the Keftiu Paintings. AJA (100) 1996, pg. 35-51. Rehak, P. "Aegean Natives
in the Theban Tomb Paintings: The Keftiu Revisited." in E.H. Cline and D. Harris-Cline eds., The Aegean and
the Orient in the Second Millennium. Liege, 1998. pg. 39-50.
3
Davies and Davies 1933, Pl. IV. Wachsmann 1987, Pl. XXXIV and XXXVII:B.
surviving bottom caption identifies the third figure as the chief of Kadesh (in Syria) 4. While
the Minoan tribute bearers have long been considered an accurate representation of these
foreign people visiting Egypt, the genuflecting image of the Chief of the Keftiu has been
largely ignored as a historical source.
Several figures of Minoan visitors to Egypt appear in Theban tombs. These Minoan
figures appear bearing tribute in tombs which all date to a narrow time period, the reign of
Thutmose III in the first half of the fifteenth century B.C. Besides the tomb of
Menkheperreseneb, these Minoans are shown on the walls of the tombs of Rekhmire,
Useramun, Senmut (co-regency of Thutmose and Hatshepsut)5. Coupled with evidence from
literature and archaeology, these images provide proof that there were official visits to the
court of Thutmose III by people from Crete, which was then at the height of its Neopalatial
period.
The Minoan figures pictured in Egyptian tombs are dressed and coiffed in a fashion
that parallels representations of young men in Minoan paintings and art. Namely, they are
depicted as copper-skinned, clean-shaven men with long black hair and multi-colored kilts. It
has long been assumed that these are somewhat reliable accounts of the appearance of Keftiu
men that came to the court and were received by the officials who owned the tombs.
However, the figure of the Chief of the Keftiu is very different from the tribute
bearers. He has short hair and a beard and is wearing a plainer kilt with a fringe or border.
These attributes all appear elsewhere in this composition and others on Syrian or Asiatic
figures6. The Asiatic appearance of this figure, labeled as a Keftiu alongside Cretan or
Keftiu bearers has puzzled scholars.
According to previous studies by Davies, Pendlebury, Vercoutter, Strange and
Wachsmann, the Chief is a mislabeled Syrian, a standard foreign type inserted by the artist
to fill out the composition alongside the more accurate Minoan (or Cypriote if one follows
Stranges view) figures in the register7. The scene of the genuflecting chiefs, according to
Wachsmann, comes from a separate image in the tomb artists repertoire than the scenes of
Minoan tribute bearers and that the scenes were grafted together. It has long been assumed
that the Chief of the Keftiu gives no accurate information as to the appearance of any
ancient Cretan, chief or no. The appellation Chief of the Keftiu was then assumed to be a
scribal error or a standard formula of foreign lands having little to do with the actual people in
the painting. According to Wainwright and Furumark, the Syrian appearance of the chief
figure supports the identification of the Keftiu homeland not with Crete but with somewhere
in western Asia, however this hypothesis fails to reconcile the appearance of
Menkheperresenebs Chief of the Keftiu with the Minoans identified as Keftiu in the tomb
of Rekhmire8.

4
Davies and Davies 1933, pg. 4. Vercoutter 1956, 64-67. Strange, J. Caphtor/Keftiu: a New Investigation.
Leiden, 1980. pg. 51. Wachsmann 1987, pg. 34-35.
5
Wrezinski, W. Atlas zur altgyptischen Kulturgeschichte Vol. 1. Leipzig, 1923-1935, pg. 235. Hall, H. R. The
Keftiu Fresco in the Tomb of Senmut. BSA (10) 1903/4, pg. 154-157. Hall, H.R. An addition to the Senmut
Fresco. BSA (16) 1909/10, pg. 254-257. Davies, N. de G. The Tomb of Rech-mi-re Vol. 1. New York, 1943, pg.
18 and 22-25. Vercoutter 1956, pg. 185-200 and 279-283. Wachsmann 1987, pg. 27-37, 103-105 and 121-125.
6
For example Menkheperresenebs own tomb and that of Useramun. Davies and Davies 1933, Pl. V.
Wachsmann 1987, XXXVIII and Pl. XXXIII.
7
Davies and Davies 1933, pg. 4. Pendlebury, J. D. S. Egypt and the Aegean in the Late Bronze Age. JEA
(XVI) 1930, pg. 82. Vercoutter 1956, pg. 64-68, 283-284 and 390-391. Strange 1980, pg. 51. Wachsmann 1987,
pg. 35.
8
Wainwright, G. A. The Keftiu-People of the Egyptian Monuments. AnnLiv (VI) 1914, pg. 68. Wainwright,
G. A. Keftiu: Crete or Cilicia. JHS (LI) 1931, pg. 14. Furumark, A. The Settlement of Ialsos and Aegean
History c. 1550-1450 B.C. OpArch (6) 1950, pg. 237-238. For other possible locations associated with Keftiu
 The Keftiu, as said above, are shown in tribute processions in other Theban tombs
from the early 18th dynasty, and were clustered around the time of Hatshepsut and Thutmose
III. However, it is only in the tomb of Menkheperreseneb that this kind of image of the Chief
of the Keftiu has survived. The Chief of the Keftiu label in this type of composition
appears again in the tomb of Amenemhat, which straddles the reigns of Thutmose III and
Amenhotep II, but in this tomb, all of the foreigners in the scene are shown as identical types
which does not imply firsthand knowledge of Keftiu appearance9. The scribe of this tomb was
probably following an old formula as the caption of the scene, while the painter demonstrated
no interest in differentiating any ethnic type.
The arrangement of the three chiefs genuflecting was indeed a very common stock
composition for tomb painters of this era10.Three chiefs from three different lands and peoples
head up each register in Menkheperresenebs tomb, yet the tribute bearers that follow them
seem to be of uniform ethnicity, Cretan on the upper register, western Asian on the lower.
The foreigners that are labeled chiefs from the tomb of Menkheperreseneb are labeled
Keftiu, Khatti, Tunip, and Kadesh. The latter three are places that are recorded in the
Annals of Thutmose III and so presumably these places all had ambassadors visiting the
king11. Therefore, the tomb is likely recording historical events in which Menkheperreseneb
actually took part, rather than recording a standard formula of foreign lands.
This leaves the question: Why did the artist of Menkheperresenebs tomb use a
Syrian type as the Chief of the Keftiu, when any type could be inserted into this standard
composition? The artist took care to give individuals different cultural characteristics, unlike
in the tomb of Amenemhat, and the images of Minoans are very accurate, indeed, when
compared to images of young men in Minoan art. Why then would the Chief figure be
inaccurate? If he is Chief of the Keftiu, why not depict him like the Aegean types which
the artist used elsewhere in the tomb? This difference could be attributed to scribal error12.
Yet, the label for the Keftiu chief is in the register with the Minoan figures. Using one variety
of tribute bearers per register with three chiefs should rather be seen as shorthand. Just as each
chief is shown performing one part of the genuflecting motion, so one register of tribute
bearers, belonging to the lead chief, serves to convey the idea that each chief had a retinue of
bearers.
For a more satisfactory solution to the problem of the appearance of the Chief of the
Keftiu, we must look at Minoan iconography. In Minoan art there are three phases to the
appearance of male figures. There are very young men, with partially shaven heads, perhaps
juveniles, such as the young man on the Chieftain Rhyton or the boxing boys and the
fisherman frescoes from Thera. There are men in their prime, the most common
representations of men in Minoan art. These are individuals such as the chieftain from the
aforementioned rhyton or those shown on the bull leaper fresco and the bearers in the
procession fresco from Knossos. They have long hair and wear either codpiece kilts or kilts
with a point in the front. The men in their prime are often shown in the scenes of hunting, bull
leaping and grappling, or in procession scenes bearing gifts. Finally, there are older figures,

see Note 8; Strange 1980; Vandersleyen, C. Keftiu: a Cautionary Note. OJA (22) 2003, pg. 209-212. For the
traditional view see: Vercoutter 1956; Wachsmann 1987, pg. 93-102 and 105; Duhoux, Y. Des minoens en
Egypte? Keftiou et Les les au milieu du grand. Vert.Louvain-la-Neuve, 2003.
9
Pendlebury 1930, pg. 76, n. 4. Davies, N. de G. Foreigners in the Tomb of Amenemhab (No. 85). JEA (20)
1934, pg. 190. Vercoutter 1956, pg. 69 and 227-229. Wachsmann 1987, pg. 37-38, Pl. XLV.
10
Wachsmann 1987, pg. 35.
11
Breasted, J. H. Ancient Records of Egypt Vol. II. Chicago, 1906-7, pg. 454, 459, 463, 465, 476, 485 and 525.
12
Pendlebury 1930, pg. 82.
very often with close cropped hair and beards13. These figures have been correctly identified
as priests14.
These older men are shown associated with younger men on seals, evidently as a
dichotomy for comparison15. Priests are most often shown in fringed robes, a type of garment
that was Syrian in origin16. Sometimes these figures are even shown with Syrian axes17.
However, there are a few instances where priest figures are shown in hunting or in animal
grappling contexts as well. For this physical activity, the priests wear a short kilt with what
seems to be some kind of border, not unlike that seen on the Chief of the Keftiu from
Menkheperreseneb18. If older men shown in Minoan art wore long robes of Syrian origin and
carried Syrian axes, it stands to reason that other types of Syrian dress were available, perhaps
fashionable among older Minoan men or may have even been marks of the priests status. The
figure from Menkheperreseneb wears a kilt shown elsewhere in the tomb on Syrian type
figures and not a robe. But the robe may be for ritual in Crete, whereas a kilt was suitable for
regular activities, physical exertion or possibly travel (which a diplomatic visit to the
Egyptian court would have entailed).
A priest Minoan figure was even known on Egyptian shores. A fragment from Tell
ed-Dabaa clearly shows a short haired and bearded individual in large scale among the pieces
of Minoan style wall painting19.
Therefore, I see no reason not to consider the individual depicted in the tomb of
Menkheperreseneb a real Chief of the Keftiu as he is called in the caption. If
Menkheperresenebs scene does represent an image of a real visit to Thebes by Minoans and
an individual like the Chief of the Keftiu was leading the envoy, as I would argue he was,
what can this fact tell us?
Minoan society in the late Bronze Age was governed from what are today termed
palaces. In truth, they were much more than the royal residences that the name implies.
They were very much the focal point of ritual and probably residences of the ruling elite. The
nobility residing in the palaces, both male and female, were both the ruling and the priestly
class. What we understand as priests were the elder males of this noble class. In Minoan
iconography, aristocratic men in their prime appear to have been the Aegean types we
typically see on Theban tombs. They were depicted as they were, long haired men, wearing
one of two distinctive kilt types. The Chief of the Keftiu matches another older, aristocratic
Minoan type, but just as real as the younger men portrayed. He may have been an actual
leader to the younger men in a diplomatic trip to Thutmose IIIs court. If correct, this would
mean that this image from the tomb of Menkheperreseneb is probably the only depiction of a

13
Corpus der minoischen und mykenischen Siegel I. Berlin, 1964, no. 5. Corpus der minoischen und
mykenischen Siegel Bd. II.3. Berlin, 1984, nos. 13 and 196. Corpus der minoischen und mykenischen Siegel VIII.
Berlin, 1966, no. 110. Corpus der minoischen und mykenischen Siegel XI. Berlin, 1988, no. 18.
14
Evans, A. J. The Palace of Minos. Vol. IV, London, 1921-1936, pg. 397-419. Marinatos, N. Minoan Religion.
Columbia, 1993, pg. 128-134.
15
Marinatos 1993, pg. 133-134. Corpus der minoischen und mykenischen Siegel X. Berlin, 1980, nos. 268 and
278.
16
Marinatos 1993, pg. 127-128. Evans 1921-1936, fig. 342, 343 and 336. Corpus der minoischen und
mykenischen Siegel I Suppl. Berlin, 1982, no. 113. CMS II.3, no. 147.
17
Evans 1921-1936, Vol. IV, fig. 343. CMS I, no. 225. CMS II.3, nos. 147 and 198. Corpus der minoischen und
mykenischen Siegel II.8. Berlin, 2002, no. 258.
18
Evans 1921-1936, Vol. III, fig. 59. CMS I, no. 89. Corpus der minoischen und mykenischen Siegel II.6. Berlin,
1999, no. 21.
19
Bietak, M. and N. Marinatos, The Minoan Wall Paintings from Avaris. gypten und Levante (V) 1995, pg.
55, fig. 7 and 8.
real Minoan individual that we can identify and associate with an actual historical event, the
diplomatic visit of Thutmose III by a group of Minoan nobles20.
If we can accept the historicity of tribute processions, like Menkheperresenebs, one
final question may be raised from these images of Minoans in Theban tombs. In other
procession registers in this and similar tombs from the same reign, women are shown, for
example the Syrian women from the tomb being discussed as well as that of Useramun21. We
know that Thutmose III had at least three wives from Western Asia22. Around the same time,
women that were notable to Egyptians were depicted as a part of standard procession scenes,
for example the Queen of Punt from Deir el-Bahri. However, women are absent from all
Egyptian scenes of Minoan people. Some, like Hankey, would argue for Minoan women
visiting the Egyptian court and even a possible dynastic marriage between an Egyptian king
and a Minoan woman23. Still, if this were the case it leaves a question: Would not the women
in their colorful Minoan clothes (possibly bare breasted) have been of interest to Egyptian
artists?
The evidence that a Minoan woman did go to Egypt in the reign of Thutmose III is in
the form of the large griffin depicted on fresco fragments from Tell ed-Dabaa24. The griffin is
in monumental scale and is considered to be a part of a similar composition to that of the
throne room at Knossos, which had painted griffins flanking the throne for a priestess/goddess
personage. Such a griffin at Tell ed-Dabaa is thought to imply a similar throne and therefore
the presence of the Minoan priestess in Egypt.
However, Minoan priests were associated with griffins as well, usually shown
controlling the griffins on a leash25. The bearded priest figure from Tell ed-Dabaa probably
belongs to the same fresco composition as the griffin26. Additionally, we have no evidence of
a throne in Tell ed-Dabaa or the Minoan rituals involving the priestess/goddess personage
that should accompany it. The historical images in Menkhepperresenebs tomb at least, argue
against any Minoan women having visited the court of Thutmose III.

20
On the wider historical value of Theban tombs: Panagiotopoulos, D. Keftiu in Context: Theban Tomb-
Paintings as a Historical Source. OJA (20) 2001, pg. 263-283. Duhoux 2003, pg. 184-188.
21
Wachsmann 1987, Pl. XXXIIIB and XXXVIIIB.
22
Lilyquist, C. The Tomb of Three Foreign Wives of Thutmose III. New York, 2004.
23
Hankey, V. A Theban Battle-axe. Minerva (3/4) 1993, pg. 13-14. Manfred Bietak, the excavator of Dabaa
cautiously raised this possibility. Bietak, M. Minoan Wall Paintings Unearthed at Ancient Avaris. Egyptian
Archaeology (2) 1992, pg. 26-28. Bietak, M. Connections Between Egypt and the Minoan World New Results
from Tell el-Daba/Avaris. in Egypt, the Aegean and the Levant Interconnections in the Second Milennium BC.
W. V. Davies and L. Schofield (eds.) London, 1995, pg. 24-26. However, the connection between the priest
figure from Dabaa and the griffin has been noticed: Bietak and Marinatos 1995, pg. 55-57 and 60.
24
Bietak, M., J. Dorner, I. Hein and P. Janosi, Neue Grabungsergebnisse aus Tell el-Daba und Ezbet Helmi in
stlichen Nildelta 1989-1991. gypten und Levante (IV) 1994, pg. 52-54, Pl. 21.A. Bietak 1995, pg. 24, Pl. 4.3.
Bietak and Marinatos 1995, pg. 60.
25
Marinatos 1993, pg. 132. CMS I, no. 128 and 223. CMS X, no. 268.
26
Bietak and Marinatos 1995, pg. 55.