# Ipuki
**Ipuki** (also written Ipuky) was an ancient Egyptian chief sculptor of the 18th Dynasty who flourished under [Amenhotep III](https://www.edgepedia.org/amenhotep-iii) and is known from the Theban tomb TT181 at el-Khokha, which he shares with a fellow sculptor, Nebamun (also written Nebamon).[1](https://osirisnet.net/tombes/nobles/nebamon_ipouky181/e_nebamon_ipouky_01.htm) • [2](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18613) The tomb is dated by inscriptions bearing the royal name of Amenhotep III and by its decoration, which the [Metropolitan Museum of Art](https://www.edgepedia.org/metropolitan-museum-of-art) assigns to the reigns of Amenhotep III through Amenhotep IV/[Akhenaten](https://www.edgepedia.org/akhenaten), ca. 1390–1349 B.C.[2](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18613) • [3](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/545140)
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Subject | Ipuki (Ipuky), chief sculptor, 18th Dynasty[1](https://osirisnet.net/tombes/nobles/nebamon_ipouky181/e_nebamon_ipouky_01.htm) |
| Period | Reign of Amenhotep III into that of Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten, ca. 1390–1349 B.C.[3](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/545140) • [4](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/557772) |
| Tomb | TT181, el-Khokha, Thebes; small inverted-T tomb under 8 m deep, shared with Nebamun[5](https://laciviltaegizia.org/2024/04/26/tt181-tomba-di-ipuki-e-nebamon/) |
| Top titles | Sculptor of the Lord of the Two Lands; Supervisor of the balance of the Lord of the Two Lands; Chief sculptor in the Sacred Place[1](https://osirisnet.net/tombes/nobles/nebamon_ipouky181/e_nebamon_ipouky_01.htm) |
| Parents | Senennuter and Netermosi[5](https://laciviltaegizia.org/2024/04/26/tt181-tomba-di-ipuki-e-nebamon/) |
| Dating evidence | Royal name of Amenhotep III in a text of personal piety (Trismegistos 135026)[2](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18613) |
| First recording | 1889, by Jean Vincent Scheil under Gaston Maspero[5](https://laciviltaegizia.org/2024/04/26/tt181-tomba-di-ipuki-e-nebamon/) |
## The evidence: tomb TT181
TT181, traditionally called the tomb of the two sculptors, belongs to Nebamon and Ipuky.[1](https://osirisnet.net/tombes/nobles/nebamon_ipouky181/e_nebamon_ipouky_01.htm) It is a small, unfinished inverted-T tomb cut in poor-quality rock: from the entrance to the back wall of the longitudinal room the distance does not reach 8 m, the transverse hall measures about 4.80 m wide by just over 1 m deep, and the ceilings vary from 1.60 to about 2 m in height.[5](https://laciviltaegizia.org/2024/04/26/tt181-tomba-di-ipuki-e-nebamon/) A plaster inscription from the tomb measures 410 × 230 mm and is recorded in the *Porter–Moss* topographical bibliography (PM I, 286–289).[2](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18613)
## Titles and the work of a sculptor
The inscriptions give Ipuki the titles [Supervisor](https://www.edgepedia.org/supervisor) of the balance of the Lord of the Two Lands, Sculptor of the Lord of the Two Lands and Chief sculptor in the Sacred Place, among others.[1](https://osirisnet.net/tombes/nobles/nebamon_ipouky181/e_nebamon_ipouky_01.htm) His parents were Senennuter, who like Nebamon held the office of supervisor of the secret department of Herihermeru, and Netermosi.[5](https://laciviltaegizia.org/2024/04/26/tt181-tomba-di-ipuki-e-nebamon/)
Both men were sculptor-engravers by training, and they reached positions of responsibility that allowed them to cut and decorate a common tomb without attaining the rank of dignitaries.[1](https://osirisnet.net/tombes/nobles/nebamon_ipouky181/e_nebamon_ipouky_01.htm) According to the specialist site Semataui, Nebamun, son of Neferhat and Tjepu, specialized in modeling heads, while Ipuki modeled bodies.[6](http://www.semataui.de/NR/18.Dyn/18-09a-TT181.htm)
## Dating and chronology
A text of personal piety in TT181 is dated by the royal name of Amenhotep III (nb-mꜣꜥt-rꜥ jmn-ḥtp) and carries Trismegistos text ID 135026.[2](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18613) The Metropolitan Museum dates the tomb's decoration to Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep III–IV, ca. 1390–1349 B.C.[3](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/545140) The decoration itself supplies a terminus: work stopped abruptly, which is attributed to the succession of Amenhotep III by his son Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten and the consequent transfer of craftsmen and artists from Thebes to the new capital Akhetaton.[5](https://laciviltaegizia.org/2024/04/26/tt181-tomba-di-ipuki-e-nebamon/)
## Ipuki and Nebamun: the two owners
TT181 belongs to two sculptors, Nebamun and Ipuki.[3](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/545140) A woman named Henutneferet appears in the funeral scenes in two roles. The Metropolitan Museum's description of Wilkinson's facsimile states that at different times each man was married to her: she appears as a young woman caressing the feet of Ipuki's mummy, and much older, mourning, when Nebamun died.[3](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/545140)
Egyptologists disagree about her exact place in the family. Davies made Nebamon Henutneferet's second husband after Ipuky, while Polz's more recent hypothesis makes her Ipuky's wife and Nebamon's sister.[1](https://osirisnet.net/tombes/nobles/nebamon_ipouky181/e_nebamon_ipouky_01.htm) Semataui holds that it cannot be determined whose wife she was.[6](http://www.semataui.de/NR/18.Dyn/18-09a-TT181.htm) The disagreement remains unresolved.
## Decoration and technique
Because the tomb was never finished, its walls expose every stage of the painting process: broad red lines of composition stand alongside an uncoloured sketch of a musician playing the lute.[7](https://www.historyback.com/en/archeology/1001020183.html)
Recent fieldwork has applied [X-ray fluorescence](https://www.edgepedia.org/x-ray-fluorescence) spectrometry to the skin colors. The measurements show iron-based earth pigments (yellow and red earths) mixed with arsenic-based pigments, in a ratio of about 3 parts red earth to 1 part arsenic pigment for the husband's skin, and much the same for his wife with the yellow pigment varieties.[7](https://www.historyback.com/en/archeology/1001020183.html)
## Excavation, publication and condition
In 1889 Gaston Maspero authorized Father Jean Vincent Scheil to copy a summary of the tomb's scenes, from which Georges Legrain produced color plates of paintings and reliefs then still clearly legible.[5](https://laciviltaegizia.org/2024/04/26/tt181-tomba-di-ipuki-e-nebamon/) The Museo Egizio in Turin preserves photographs of 1905–1914 showing, among other scenes, craftsmen at work on the south-eastern wall of the transverse chamber.[8](https://archiviofotografico.museoegizio.it/en/archive/theban-region/khokha/tt181-tomb-of-ipuky-and-nebamun/)
Fragments of the tomb's walls are now scattered across museums in Boston, Brooklyn, Hannover, Jerusalem, Kansas, Paris (Louvre E 32660), Princeton, and Toronto.[2](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18613) According to Kampp, as reported by Semataui, the forecourt has in recent times served as a rubbish dump and toilet, and the courtyard enclosure is a modern construction.[6](http://www.semataui.de/NR/18.Dyn/18-09a-TT181.htm)
## References
1. Osirisnet, "TT181, the tomb of Nebamon and Ipuky", https://osirisnet.net/tombes/nobles/nebamon_ipouky181/e_nebamon_ipouky_01.htm
2. Personen und Namen des Mittleren Reiches (Universität Mainz), "TT 181", https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18613
3. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Charles K. Wilkinson, "Purifying and Mourning the Dead, Tomb of Nebamun and Ipuky", https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/545140
4. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nina de Garis Davies, "Relatives Bringing Offerings, Tomb of Nebamun and Ipuky", https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/557772
5. La Civiltà Egizia, "TT181 – Tomba di Ipuki e Nebamon" (2024), https://laciviltaegizia.org/2024/04/26/tt181-tomba-di-ipuki-e-nebamon/
6. Semataui, "Nebamun, Ipuki, TT 181", http://www.semataui.de/NR/18.Dyn/18-09a-TT181.htm
7. HistoryBack, "Notebook. Beginning of the study of the paintings of the tomb of Nebamon and Ipuky", https://www.historyback.com/en/archeology/1001020183.html
8. Museo Egizio Photo Archive, "TT181, Tomb of Ipuky and Nebamun, 1905-1914", https://archiviofotografico.museoegizio.it/en/archive/theban-region/khokha/tt181-tomb-of-ipuky-and-nebamun/
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Periods and civilizations › Ancient Near East, Egypt, Nubia, and the Punic world › Ancient Egypt › New Kingdom › New Kingdom: officials, priests, and private persons › New Kingdom officials and private persons: Dynasty 18*
*Initially written Sep 19, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Sep 19, 2026*
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