Discovery of the inscriptions of Khnumhotep III

In 2001, the mission of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, which was working at Dahshur, re-excavated the mastaba of the Twelfth Dynasty court official Khnumhotep III. He was high steward and vizier, and therefore one of the leading officials at the royal court under Senusret III (c.1874-1855 BC) and perhaps under Amenemhat III (c.1855-1808 BC). Decorated tomb chapels are often the main source of evidence about officials in most periods of Egyptian history, but – in stark contrast to the Old and New Kingdoms – not much is known about the court officials of the Middle Kingdom. The evidence we have is based only on stelae, scarabs, and statues, as very few of their tombs have yet