Some Remarks on the Alleged Fall of Senmut

Abstract

Walter Federn's interests in Egyptology were manifold, and his knowledge of the discipline was encyclopaedic. He was interested in everything conceivable, but particularly in irreconcilable problems. Each time that I would send him a reprint of an article, I would receive from him after several months a lengthy, learned, and detailed commentary, questioning, discussing, sometimes approving, and sometimes disagreeing with my conclusions. These commentaries were never superficial, and never failed to impress me with his range of scholarly knowledge and his keen insights into whatever problems might be involved. For him, an unsolved problem, or a paradox, was a failure, and he never stopped working on one until a plausible solution could be found. The subject of the following remarks involves precisely the sorts of problems which Walter Federn relished. It is dedicated to his memory with fond affection.