Tutankhamun’s ‘Interpreter of Babylonian’ Pakana and His Memphite Tomb-Stela in Context

This paper publishes the tomb and stela of Pakana, excavated at Saqqara by the Egyptian archaeological expedition of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, 2002–2003. The stela can be dated to the post-Amarna period (reign of Tutankhamun) on stylistic grounds. The owner of the stela held two titles-of-office. He was ‘interpreter of the Lord of the Two Lands’ and ‘interpreter of the <language of> Sangar (Babylonia)’. The title ‘interpreter of Babylonian (Akkadian)’ is unique. This paper assesses the title and evaluates its implications in the context of the late 18th Dynasty. At the king’s palace, international diplomatic relations and the production of luxury goods were closely intertwined. Pakana personifies both worlds: he shares his stela with the goldsmith Paraemheb, possibly his father (Kanya alias Pakharu, ‘the Syrian’), and built his tomb chapel in a section of the North Saqqara plateau occupied by producers of luxury goods—all royal court officials.