His tomb at Beni Hasan consists of a single rock cut offering chapel with two columns. The columns are gone by now. The walls of the chapel are painted although the paintings are today heavily faded. Within the chapel there are two shafts leading down to burial chambers, only one of them was finished. The North wall shows Khnumhotep I and his wife Zatipy standing in front of an offering table. In front of them in five registers are workmen at different tasks. In the top register a desert hunt is shown.Lashien, Mouradː Beni Hassan, Volume V, The Tomb of Khnumhotep I, pl. 71 On the same wall, Khumhotep I is again shown watching men working in the marshes.Miral Lashien, Anna-Latifa Mouradː Beni Hassan, Volume V, The Tomb of Khnumhotep I, pl. 62 The east wall is fully dedicated to battle scenes. There is shown a siege of a fortress or town. There are fighting soldiers and wrestlers.Lashien, Mouradː Beni Hassan, Volume V, The Tomb of Khnumhotep I, pls. 74-75The South wall is not well preserved and shows once Khnunhotep sitting and watching people and work as well as musicians playing music for him. A second time he is standing and is watching peasants working in the marshes.Lashien, Mouradː Beni Hassan, Volume V, The Tomb of Khnumhotep I, pl. 77-78
Biography
Khnumhotep I is the earliest known member of a powerful family of nomarchs and officials, housed in Men'at Khufu, which lasted for most of the 12th Dynasty; many of Khnumhotep's descendants were named after him, the most notable of them being his grandson Khnumhotep II, well known for his tomb's remarkable decorations. Some biographical information about Khnumhotep I came from his tomb at Beni Hasan as well as from that of his grandson Khnumhotep II. Khnumhotep's mother was a lady called Baqet whilst his father's name is unknown. His family apparently replaced an earlier family of nomarchs who were active at Men'at Khufu during the second part of the 11th Dynasty, whose members were usually named Khety or Baqet. From the inscriptions in Khnumhotep's tomb is known that early in his career he accompanied Amenemhat I in a military expedition aimed to expel a foe from Egypt. The name of this enemy is deliberately omitted in order to prevent his unintended “immortality”, but was undoubtedly one of Amenemhat's rivals for the crown, possibly Segerseni. Ultimately, Amenemhat emerged victorious over “Nubians and Asiatics” and Khnumhotep was rewarded for his loyalty with the titlecount of Men'at Khufu. Khnumhotep I later was granted other titles such as great lord of the Oryx nome, hereditary prince and count, wearer of the royal seal, sole companion, and was also in charge of an important office at Nekhen. He married a woman named Zatipy who was his main wife. Lesser wives were Herit and Heryib. From a fourth wife, the name is not preserved.Lashien, Mouradː Beni Hassan, Volume V, The Tomb of Khnumhotep I, p. 14 After Khunmhotep's death, his titles passed to his son Nakht, then to a seemingly unrelated man called Amenemhat and then again to one of his relatives, Netjernakht. Khnumhotep I also had a daughter, Baqet, herself mother of the aforementioned Khnumhotep II who inherited the title of nomarch after Netjernakht. See "Nomarchs of the Oryx nome" for further notes about his genealogy.
