Queen Tia

Amenhotep II, 18th Dynasty

Tomb of Sennefer Plan - Nobles Tombs - Luxor, Egypt- Part X

Tombs of the Nobles, Luxor, Egypt.
Sennofer or Sennefer, Tombs of the Nobles, Luxor, Egypt.
In this delightful tomb the boxed-in effect has been broken. The 'oriental tent' atmosphere of most tombs is missing because the entire ceiling has been painted with a creeping vine. Interesting use has been made of the rough surfaces of the rock to make the grapes and vine-tendrils more realistic, and the experiment has succeeded.

Both the first small chamber and the main hall, which is supported by four pillars, have been decorated in this manner.

Sennofer (Sennefer) was the overseer of the gardens of Amon under Amenhotep II. His tomb,which was excavated only in the 20th century, was found to have mostly religious inscriptions but the condition of the frescoes is almost perfect and their freshness and

A steep flight of stairs takes us down to the first chamber, and the first representations we meet on the left-hand wall (a) show Sennefer being brought offerings from his daughter and ten priests. Circling the chamber clockwise we see on the two rear walls (b) and (c) drawings of the deceased with his wife worshiping Osiris who is represented above the doorway of the main chamber. On the right-hand wall (d) the deceased is seen entering and leaving his tomb while servants bring sacred offerings and his daughter stands behind him.

Above the doorway of the main chamber lie two representations of Anubis. Touring the chamber clockwise we come first to a scene of the deceased and his wife emerging from the tomb (c), and further along seated on a bench. On the left-hand wall at (f) are servants bringing furniture to the tomb and setting up two obelisks before the shrine. At (g) are funerary ceremonies and the nobleman himself (to the left) looks on. On the rear wall (h) the deceased and his wife are at a table of offerings while priests offer sacrifices to the dead. Further to the right (i) are scenes of the voyage to Abydos, statues of the deceased and his wife in a shrine in a boat being towed by another boat. Thus the deceased nobleman satisfied himself of favor with Osiris by showing that he had the intention of performing the sacred pilgrimage.

One of the most beautiful representations is that of the deceased and his wife in an arbour (j) praying to Osiris and Anubis. At (k) a priest clad in a leopard skin purifies them with holy water and at (l) is the scene before a table of offerings where Sennefer puts a lotus blossom to his nostrils and his wife tenderly holds his leg.

The pillars have representations of Sennefer and his wife. Perhaps the most attractive is to be found on the left-hand pillar at (m).

Luxor, Egypt

Tomb of Emunzeh Plan - Nobles Tombs - Luxor, Egypt Part VIII

Tombs of the Nobles, Luxor, Egypt.

This is the tomb of the super intendant of granaries under Thutmose III and Amenhotep II. The condition is poor due largely to damage from the family who lived in it for many years and also due to pillage by grave- robbers.

In the traverse first chamber (1) on the left-hand rear wall (a), African tribes bring tributes including gold, panther-skins, ivory and, among the animals, a small donkey clinging to the neck of a giraffe! On the right-hand wall (b) Asiatics bring weapons, jars, a carnage and white and brown horses.

On the right-hand side of the rear corridor (c) the deceased makes a tour of inspection of the produce of the estate. There is a scene of the hunt for wild animals in the desert, the chase of water-fowl .and the usual offering scenes, but unfortunately most of the wall is in bad condition. The funerary scenes are on the left-hand

wall (d).

The vaulted ceiling of the shrine is finely decorated.

Tomb of Rekhmire Plan - Tombs of the Nobles, Luxor, Egypt. Part VII

Tomb of the Nobles, Luxor, Egypt.
Rekhmire was vizier under Thutmose III and his son Amenhotep II. The tomb follows the regular style of the 18th Dynasty nobles' tombs, comprising a narrow, oblong first chamber and a long corridor opposite the entrance. But this corridor rapidly gains in height to the rear of the tomb and runs Into the rock. It was inhabited by a farming family for many years and the wall decorations have suffered at their hands. The tomb is a memorial to personal greatness and a revelation on law, taxation and numerous industries. Professor Breasted described It as "the most Important private monument of the Empire".
Rekhmire was an outstanding vizier who was entrusted with a great many duties. There was nothing, he wrote of himself in an inscription, of which he was ignorant in heaven, on earth or in any part of the underworld. One of the most important scenes in the tomb is that on the left-hand wall of the first chamber near the corner (a). It shows the interior of a court of law in which tax evaders are brought to justice by the grand vizier himself. The prisoners are led up the central aisle, witnesses wait outside and at the foot of the judgement seat are four mats with rolled papyri.
These are proof that written law existed in 1500 B.C. Messengers wait outside and others bow deeply as they enter the presence of the vizier.
Near the center of the opposite wall (b) Rekhmire performs his dual role of receiving taxes from officials who annually came with their dues, and receiving tributes from the vassal princes of Asia, the chiefs of Nubia,etc. The foreign gift-bearers are arranged in five rows: from the Land of Punt (dark skinned), from Crete (hearing vases of the distinctive Minoan type discovered on the island by Sir Arthur Evans) , from Nubia, from Syria, and men, women and children from the South. The diverse and exotic tributes range from panthers, apes and animal skins, to chariots, pearls and costly vases, to say nothing of an elephant and a bear.
The inner corridor gives an insight into the activities of the times. On the left-hand wall (c) Rekhmire supervises the delivery of corn, wine and cloth from the royal storehouses. He inspects carpenters, leather-workers, metal-workers and potters, who all came under his control. In the lower row is a somewhat damaged record for posterity of one of the most important tasks with which he was entrusted: supervising the construction of an entrance portal to the temple of Amon at Karnak. He held vigil over the manufacture of the raw material, the moulding of the bricks and their final use. Pylons and sphinxes, furniture and even household
utensils all came under his control. There are interesting scenes, to the left of the bottom row, of seated and standing statues being given final touches by the artist before polishing. The fascinating detail provides a pictorial treatise on the different industries of the times.
On the right-hand wall (d) Rekhmire may be seen at a table and there are traditional scenes of offerings before statues of the deceased, the deceased in a boat on a pond being towed by men on the bank, and a banquet with musicians and singers.

All the representations in this tomb show rhythm and free-posing, gesticulating and active figures. They are very different from the patterned group action with which we are familiar. The high premium traditionally set on balanced design was not lost. But the solid strings of people are gone, and with the break with the frieze the curtain is suddenly lifted on a picture of things as they really were: workers bending to mix mortar or squatting to carve a statue: a man who raises a bucket to his colleague's shoulder; another engrossed in carpentry; the elegant ladies of Rekhmire's household preparing for a social function with young female servants arranging their hair, anointing their limbs, bringing them jewelery. The message in these delightful murals is forceful and clear, with the dignified personage of the vizier himself towering over his subordinate sin administrative excellence.

Egypt: Tomb of Amenhotep II Plan - Valley of the Kings part IV

Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Egypt.

This tomb was excavated in1898. The attention of Loret, the French archeologist, was drawn to it by local farmers. It was a remarkable find. For one thing it was the first tomb ever opened in which the Pharaoh was found where he had been laid. Secondly, there was a windfall of mummies in a sealed-off chamber, including nine of royalty. Thirdly, the burial chamber proved to be one of the most beautiful, certainly the most original, in the entire Valley of the Kings. But more important, the tomb was nearly complete and contained a complete and unspoiled set of texts from the Book of the Dead.
The first corridors are rough and undecorated. They lead to a shaft (now bridged), a false burial chamber (J) created to confuse robbers, and finally to the actual tomb chamber (2). This is supported by six pillars and the sarcophagus of the Pharaoh lay in the crypt-like section at the rear. The mummy was festooned and garlanded and the sandstone sarcophagus was all that the grave-robbers had left . Everything else had been ruthlessly plundered.

As one enters the tomb chamber one is immediately struck by the originality and beauty of the decorations. The figures on the columns -for the most part depicting Amenhotep and the gods of the underworld - are outlined in black with only his crown, jewelery, belt and the surrounding decorations in color. The drawing is exquisitely fine and the blue roof is covered with stars. The walls are painted yellow and the traditional religious formulas are so drawn as to give the impression of papyrus texts having been pinned to the walls. There is not too much detail and the use of the pigment is beneficially restrained. As already explained, the Book of the Dead was a development of the magical formulas inscribed on the inside of the coffins of the Middle Kingdom. With the aid of these formulas the deceased would overcome the foes to his eternal
triumph in the underworld. Only with the magic inscriptions could he hope to make his heart (conscience) acceptable in the awesome presence of Osiris when it was weighed against the feather of truth; and only thus could he hope to live securely forever.
On each side of the chamber are two small rooms. Three mummies lay in the first to the right (3), and in the second (4) were nine royal mummies including Thutmose IV, Amenhotep III, Seti II and Ramses IV, Ramses V and Ramses VI. All have been taken to Cairo Museum. Not surprisingly this quickly became known as the
Safety Tomb and this is undoubtedly what the priests had intended it for. When they found that Amenhotep II's tomb had been violated they reasoned that the robbers would not return to its ravaged corridors. In fact they never did. The royal personages remained in peace for centuries.
When Loret excavated the tomb quite a controversy arose as to whether the mummy should be left on site or whether it should be removed with the others to the museum. It was finally agreed that it should remain on site but with an armed guard. Nearly three years later the tomb was rifled when, deliberately or otherwise, the backs of the guards were turned. The mummy of Amenhotep was found on the floor, in a very much poorer condition as a result of delving and prying hands in search of overlooked treasures in the folds of the cloth. There was now no question about it. The mummy of the Pharaoh was placed in Cairo Museum. The marvellous sandstone sarcophagus stands on site.