# TT48
TT 48 is a tomb at Khokha in the Theban necropolis, built for the official Amenemhat called Surer and dated by inscription to the reign of [Amenhotep III](https://www.edgepedia.org/amenhotep-iii) of the 18th Dynasty.[1](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18545) The tomb is cataloged in Porter and Moss's *Topographical Bibliography* I, 87–91, under find group TT 48.[1](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18545)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Subject | TT 48, an 18th-Dynasty private tomb at Khokha in the Theban necropolis[1](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18545) |
| Owner | Amenemhat called Surer (Egyptian *jmn-m-ḥꜣt/srr*)[1](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18545) |
| Date | Reign of Amenhotep III, dated by the royal name *nb-mꜣꜥt-rꜥ jmn-ḥtp* in the tomb's inscriptions[1](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18545) |
| Find group | A gray-granite statue and a red-granite kneeling statue with double scene, both dated to Amenhotep III[2](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/23110) |
| Principal publication | Säve-Söderbergh 1957, *Four Eighteenth Dynasty Tombs*, pp. 33–49, pls XXX–LXXI[1](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18545) |
| Further documentation | Helck 1958a; Kampp 1996, 248–251; Eichler 2000; Bayer 2014 (Dok. 53)[1](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18545) |
## The owner: Amenemhat called Surer
The tomb's owner is named in its inscriptions as Amenemhat, with the short name or byname Surer (Egyptian *jmn-m-ḥꜣt/srr*); the prosopographical database of the Persons and Names of the Middle Kingdom and early New Kingdom project at [Johannes Gutenberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/johannes-gutenberg)-Universität Mainz accepts this dossier as the tomb's owner.[1](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18545)
**Surer's titulary** combines courtly, scribal, priestly, and estate-administrative ranks.[1](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18545) In the transliteration used by the PNM record it comprises:
- *jrj-pꜥt* (hereditary noble) and *ḥꜣtj-ꜥ* (count);
- *ḫtmw bjtj* (royal sealer) and *smr wꜥtj* (sole friend);
- three "chief of secrets" offices, *ḥrj sštꜣ m ḥwt-nṯr* (chief of secrets of the temple), *ḥrj sštꜣ n pr-nsw* (chief of secrets of the palace) and *ḥrj sštꜣ m mdw-nṯr* (chief of secrets in the sacred words), together with *rḫ štꜣ nb n ꜥḥ* (one who knows the secrets of the entire palace) and *ḥrj-tp n pr dwꜣjjt* (chief in the house of the morning);
- *sš nsw* and *sš nsw mꜣꜥ* (royal scribe, true royal scribe);
- *jmj-rꜣ ꜣḥwt n jmn* (overseer of the fields of Amun);
- *jmj-rꜣ pr wr n nsw* (chief steward of the king) and *ṯꜣjj ḫw ḥr wnmj n nsw* (fan-bearer on the king's right).[1](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18545)
## Date and chronology
The PNM record dates TT 48 to Amenhotep III on the basis of the royal name *nb-mꜣꜥt-rꜥ jmn-ḥtp* written in the tomb's hieroglyphic formulae.[1](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18545) Both statues in the tomb's find group carry the same royal dating, *nb-mꜣꜥt-rꜥ jmn-ḥtp*, so the tomb and its statuary belong to a single reign.[2](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/23110)
## Associated statuary and finds
The find group attached to TT 48 comprises two statues, both provenanced to Khokha and both dated to Amenhotep III.[2](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/23110)
One is a red-granite kneeling statue of a man with double scene, cataloged in Porter and Moss I, 81. It was published by Säve-Söderbergh in 1957 (p. 34, pl. LXVIII A, C) and listed by Helck in 1958a (p. 1906, no. 699).[2](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/23110) Its text names the owner as *srr* (Surer) with the titles *sš nsw* (royal scribe) and *ṯꜣjj ḫw ḥr wnmj (n) nsw* (fan-bearer on the king's right), the same titulary core that appears on the tomb's walls.[2](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/23110) The second statue in the group is of gray granite, likewise dated to Amenhotep III by the same royal name.[2](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/23110)
## Excavation and publication history
The tomb's principal scholarly publication is Torgny Säve-Söderbergh's *Four Eighteenth Dynasty Tombs* of 1957, where TT 48's texts occupy pages 33–49 with plates XXX–LXXI.[1](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18545)
Further documentation followed in a steady sequence: Helck's 1958a register; Friederike Kampp's 1996 study of the Theban necropolis, which records the tomb's architectural position on pp. 248–251; Eichler's 2000 work; and Bayer 2014, which lists the tomb as Dokument 53.[1](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18545) C. K. Wilkinson's drawings and Hill's 1983 publication also record the tomb's decoration.[1](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18545)
## TT 48 among the tombs of Amenhotep III's officials
The clearest point of comparison supplied by the evidence is TT 55, the tomb of the vizier [Ramose](https://www.edgepedia.org/ramose-vizier), which lies at the foot of the hill of Sheikh Abd el-Qurnah not far from the [Ramesseum](https://www.edgepedia.org/ramesseum), the mortuary temple of [Ramesses II](https://www.edgepedia.org/ramesses-ii).[3](https://osirisnet.net/tombes/nobles/ramose55/e_ramose55_01.htm) Ramose's tomb owes its special importance to its documentation of the funerary changes from Amenhotep III to Amenhotep IV, the reign that saw the Amarna revolution in art and religion.[3](https://osirisnet.net/tombes/nobles/ramose55/e_ramose55_01.htm)
TT 48's dating is fixed wholly within Amenhotep III's reign by the royal name in its own formulae and on both of its statues.[1](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18545) • [2](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/23110)
## State of knowledge
The texts, titles, and statuary of TT 48 are documented, and published, principally in Säve-Söderbergh 1957 and in the PNM records that consolidate that publication with later bibliography.[1](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18545) • [2](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/23110) The tomb's walls also preserve a *ḥtp-dj-nswt* offering formula in the script dated by the royal name of Amenhotep III, the text type through which the tomb's dating is secured.[1](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18545)
## References
1. [TT 48 | Persons and Names of the Middle Kingdom and early New Kingdom (PNM, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz)](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/18545)
2. [TT 48 red-granite statue with double scene | PNM, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz](https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/6/inscription/23110)
3. [TT55, the tomb of Ramose, Vizier of Egypt (Osirisnet)](https://osirisnet.net/tombes/nobles/ramose55/e_ramose55_01.htm)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Places and geography › Ancient and historical places › Cities and sites of the ancient Near East, Egypt, and Nubia › Ancient Egypt › New Kingdom: cities, sites, and monuments › New Kingdom: royal and private tombs › Tombs of Sheikh Abd el-Qurna and el-Khokha › Tombs at el-Khokha, Asasif, and Qurnet Murai*
*Initially written Sep 19, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Sep 19, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license