Luxor: Guide to Ancient Thebes

LUXOR A Guide to Ancient Thebes Second Edition

.Jill Kamil Photo graphs by Alista ir Duncan and George Allen Plans b y H assan Ibrahim

LONGMAN LO NDON AND NEW YORK

LONGMAN GROUP LTD London Associated companies, branches and representatives throughout the world Text © Longman Group Ltd 1973, 1976 Photographs © Middle East Archive, and, for the photograph on page 31, the publishers thank Mrs Hackforth Jones, Robert Harding Associates, who hold the copyright. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Copyright owner. First published 1973 Second edition 1976, reprinted 1977 ISBN 0-582-78065-9 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Kamil, Jill. Luxor: a guide to ancient Thebes. 1. Thebes, Egypt. 1. Title. DT73·T3K35 1976 93 2 75-4 2256 ISBN 0-582-78065-9

Printed in Hong Kong by Sherk Wah Tong Printing Press Ltd

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

J

INTRODUCTIOl\"

CHAPTER

2

THE TEMPLE OF LUXOR

Background Description

II

22

Pylon of Ramses II Court of Ramses II, Colonnade Court of Arnenhotep III Hypostyle Hall Birth Room Sanctuary of Alexander the Great

Traditionalism of Egyptian Design

CHAPTER J

Page

26

27 3° 3° 32

33 34

THE GREAT TEMPLE OF AMON AT KARNAK

Background Description First Pylon, Great Court, Shrine of Seti II Temple of Ramses III Triumphal Monument of Sheshonk I Second Pylon, Great Hypostyle Hall Third Pylon, Pavilion of Sesostris I, Central Court Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Pylons Hall of Records, Sanctuary Great Festival Temple of Thutmose III Rear Section of Temple of Arnon, Sacred Lake Southern Buildings, Karnak Cachette, Seventh to Tenth Pylons

37

38 41 42 42

48 50

53 54 56

56

Ikhnatnn T emple Project T emp le of K hon su T emple of Osiris and O pel T empl e of \I ur CH . I P T J::R 4

CH A PTE R 5

TH E ;\;ECROPOLl SI"iTROD CCTIO;\;

G rear Hypost ylc Hall Exte rior Co los si of em non

'I

UI./P T ER () T W: N EC R O PO LIS - T HE V:\ L L E Y OF TH E KI N G S

66

TH E N E C R O P O LIS\10RT UARY TE\IP L ES

Backg rou nd Mor tuar y Tem p le of Seri I (K um a ) M ortua r y T emple o f Queen Hatsch ep sut (Oc r eI Bahri) Introduction Lower and Centr al Courts Pun t Colonn ade Shrine of Harbor Birrh Colonn ade Small and Upper Courts, Sanctuary Der el Bahr i-Shaft and Cavern T he Shaft at De r el Bahri T he Cavern at O cr el Bahri M ortuary T empl e of Ramses II (The R arn as seum) Introd uction Ent rance Pylon First and Second Courts H ypostylc Hall Smaller hyposryle halls T he Port rayal of Rarnses II Mortuary T em p le o f Ramses III (:\ Ie d ine t Ha bu ) In trod uction First Pylon , First Court Second Pylon, Seco nd Court

72 72

75 79 79

Ba ckground Tomb of T'ur enkharnon (62)Q Tom b of Se ri I (17) Tom b of:\ men hote p 11(35 ) T om b of Rarn s es VI (9) T omb of Ram se s III (It) T omb of Rarn ses IX (6) T omb nf Ha rrnhab (57) T omb of T h ut m ose III (34) CH. I PTE R ;

80

10]

1° 7 II]

121 12]

126 12 9

1]1 1]1

T H E "<ECROPOLI S-TH E VALLEY O F TH E Q C EE ;\iS

82 83

84 85 85 87 88 90 90 90 92 94 94

Ba ck gr ound Tom b of Nefer- Tari (66) T omb of Amon-Hir-Khopshcf (55) T omb of Queen Tiri (52) CH , IPTF.R 8

I]] I]]

1]6 1]6

T H E NECROPOLIS- TH E T O M BS OF TH E N O I3I.ES

Background She ikh Abd cI Kuma T omb of Na kht (52 ) T omb of Ramose (55) Tom b of Khacrnhct (57) T om b of Lserh ct, fi rst P rophet (5 ') To mh of Lscrher, Royal Scr ibe (56)

1]9

I.p I.t]

146 147 148

T omb of Rekhmire (1 00) T om b of Ernunzch (l; ~ )

PLA NS AND MAPS

Page

Tom b of Am e nernh eb lil5 ) T omb of Sen nofer (rl l)

l: pper En closures T omb of \ lenna (()(J ) T omb of Inr efoqer l(0 ) To mb of Ha rmhab (7S) To mb of lneni (Enn e) (8 1) T omb of \lenkheperrasonb (86) Asasif T omb of Kh er u-ef'{r qz) O cr el Medina T om b of Scnnu rcm (36)

CfH PTER 9 TH E TE\l P L E O F D ER £ L ~I EDI:\:\

165 166

:\ile Yall ey

15

Luxor T em pl e

21 36

Ka rnak Com p lex \HI :\I TE\ IP L E OF :\ \ 10 :\ : Ar ea between Pylons 1 and 2 ~ Area between Pylons 2 and 3 5 IJ Area between Pylons .1 and 6 Pylon 6 and Sanctuary 7 Fes tival T em ple of T hurrn ose III 8 Karnak T emple : Southern Buildings T emple of Khonsu 9

40 44 51 52 55 58

62

C H A P T I' R IO CO N CL C SIO N (including wor k in progress in 1( 76 )

'0

An cient T h ebes

IfI S T OR I CA L (JfTI./ N E (including table of Ki ngs of the New Ki ngdom)

II J2

Mortuar y Tem p le of Seti I (Kuma ) Mortuary Tem ple of Hatsch ep sut (D er el Bahri ) Mo r tuary T emple of Ramses II (Ram asseu m)

.,

J'

q Medinet Habu Com p lex 15 Mortuary Temple of Ramses III Tombs o f Kings 16 Tomb o f T ut en kh a m on (62 ) 17 T omb o f Seti 1 (17) 18 Tomb of Arn enhotep II (35) I Q Tom b o f Ramses VI (9) T omb o fR amses UI (II ) 20 21 T omb o f Ra mses lX (6) 22 T om b o f Har m h a b (57) 2.1 Tomb o fThutmose III (34)

~I'U

P.\PERS

73 78 86 93 95 !OJ 112 I I:Z

122 I:Z5

128 1.10 1.10 1.12

'.

T omb of Xe fer-Tar'i (66)

25 T omb of Amon-Ilir-Khopshef (55 ) 2()

'20 7

,S z t)

30 3l oJ.:! .lJ

3.. 35

3b 37

3S 39 ..0

.. [

..'

.. 3

[34 135 [35 [38

Tomb of T i ti (52) T ombs o f the X oblcs T omb o f :'-ia kht (5' ) Tomb of R am ose (55) Tom b of Kha errrhet (57) Tom b u fU se r h e t (5 1) Tom b o f U serhet (50 ) T o mb of Rekhm ir e (100) T o m b of Emunz eh (8..) T om b of Am en emheb (85) T omb o f Sen no fer (96) T omb of ,\ I en n a (69) T omb o f Inr e foqer (60) Tomb o f H armh ab (78 ) T om b o f l nen i (8 1) Tomb of :\I enkheperrasonb (86) Tomb o f Kheru-ef {rqa ) Tomb of S ennutem (36)

154 159 160 160 16 4 16 5 166 16 7

Temple o f Der el Med ina

[7 0

References

III

CHAPTER

1

INT RODUCTIO N

14 1

I.B

14i 14i 15 0 [50 [52 [52

rhe pl an s an d m a p s :

Rden : Jll;C;S in rhe fe\! (0 the pbns arc always in fu ll 11'140 l -t: d e. hi/Ill numbe rs J nJ lett ers in hradx:s refer to points ofinte rest wn hin a parucch r plan . ( P.l ). (1J..1), for examp le, J h" ;J ~ s indica te first (l}lnr:, second p ~ Jon CH:.

Co n,'" ph ot ogr a ph : K arnak : sphin a-Iined avenu e leadin g tr om the ceremonial b n d i n ~~,,(J ~ (' In rhe rirv fll tHO ao.d th e te m ple cornprcx.

On th e easte rn bank of [he R iver :\ile, nearly seven hu ndred kilom etres so uth of Cairo , there once stood an unp rete nt io us village call ed Waser. It was no d ifferent from hun dreds of oth ers and as yet had no in kling of its destined gr owth into the pivot of a stupendou s civiliz ation . T hi s was the site of an cient T he bes and of pre sent -day L uxor. L ike peasant s all ove r Eg vpt since the beginn ing of histor y, its inh abita n ts were su per stitious . T he v lived mu ch as thev do tod ay in man y isolat ed r ural areas, in villages compo sed o f sun -·dried m ud hr ick houses sepa ra ted oy nar row lan es. Their lives were largely governed by t he cycle of the Ni le flood which they had learn ed to cha nnel and to explo it. Because its be nefi ts and its haza rds cam e with unt iri ng regularity, th e lives of th e people were simi larly rh ythm ic, follow ing an un changing soc ial patt ern . Th is en igm atic un iverse awaken ed s pec ulation in the minds of the Eg yptians long before dynastic tim es. T he prim itive dw ellers of the Ni le Valley, in Wa ser as els ewh er e, dev ised explanations, at once n aive an d del igh tfully imaginati ve, of the alternation of night and day, o f the glitter ing heave nly bodies and of all good thi ngs on earth. T he world as they saw it was created by superna t ural beings who revealed the m selves in th e heavenly bodi es. Aru m , who cre ated himsel fo ur of himselfon the top of a hill th at emerged from th e etern al ocean , brought forth four ch ildr en : Shu and Tefn ut, Keb and N ul. K eb, the god of the earth, and Nut, t he god de ss of the sky, were one. T he y were lock ed in a lover s' emb rac e , K eb beneath Nut. Sh u, representing the atmosph er e, eme rged from th e primaeval wa ters and for cibl y separated the t wo by slip pin g betwe en them and rais ing N u t aloft in hi s outstre tched arms to h er new abode . K cb and N ut were father and m oth er of fo ur diviniti es : O siris, who became asso ciated with th e N ile and the fer tile lan ds bo rdering it, Isis, Se t and N ephthys . T he grea test ph en om en on of nature, the sun , nat ur ally m ad e th e most powerful im pression on the Ni le dw el lers. Thou gh uni versall y recogni sed as th e pr in cip al heaven ly bod y, it was in ter preted

13

12 difle rentlv in different areas . The centre of th e cu lt was On (He liopoli s) where th e Sun God was known as Ra (the s?lar orb) or .-\t um (the setting; sun). Lnd er one pn e.sthood he was Khepri (the beetle) , under another Horus (the brilliant-pl um ed ha wk). It was believed tha t he sailed acr oss the heaven ly ocean U1 a boat each dav, from the pink-speck led ~a'\1l to the bl ood -red sun .set. With th e last ravs of the day he t ranslerred to a barg e th at. co':t1m~ ed the voyage rhrouzh th e netherworld . n-rnpora rily illuminatin g It S da rkness. In these prehistoric times religious bel iefs devel oped in sepa rate and indep endent ar eas. The~e was a patron deitv 10 each town or village: a dei ty to whom th e inha bitants pr ayed for guidance, help and 'courage. a deity they court ed wit h offerings, pray ers an d sacr ifices. The name s of these local dei ties bore no rese mb lance from one area to ano ther. In the linl e village of Wa set, Wast was the local goddess ; M onru was the local god of Arm anr some ten kilom etres south of Waser ; and Arnon, who was later to beco me rhe nationalgod , was at this time no more than one of the eight local deities of Ashrnounein , a distr ict of M iddle Eg ypt. In addition to the local deities evid ence exists that even from early tim es there were a grea t many generally accepted religious concepts not confined to a limi ted are a. The crocod ile for instance, the evil spirit th at dw elt in water, was known down the length of the N ile, as were dem on spi rits and lesser deities like the good god Bes who helped wom en through child birth. As time passed. com mercial and admi nistrative inte rcour se develope d and largely inc om patible beliefs no longer remained local. As a town or dist rict g-rew, so th e local deity ext en ded its jurisdictio n. The people consequen tly ado pted a new deity and erected new shrines to him whi lst ma int aining the worsh ip of their orig inal local god . Sometimes a stronger d eity managed completely to overshado w a weak er. This is what happened in Wase t, The tiny local goddess was alm ost swept aside by the strong war-god of .....rrnant, t he hawk-h eaded Mo nro . It is not sur prising that the in dependent provinces of Egy pt should have tended to wards political unity. They slowly m erged unti l two power ful states came into existence : a north ern kingd om which largely incl uded the Del ta, and a southern kingdom whic h exte n ded south to Aswan , T he rule rs of the nort hern kingdom ha d as thei r insignia rhe red croum, and th eir capital was Buto in the north-western sect ion of the Delta. The sout hern capita l was Nc kheb (EI Kab) near the mo dern town of Edfu on the lett bank of th e 'iile, and the rul er s had as t heir insignia the whit e croton. Eac h 0

state also had irs ow n natio nal emb lem : the papy rus in the north and the lotu s in the south . During the long pre - d ynasti c years whi le these two cap itals flourished independently. someti mes peacefully, someti mes clash ing in armed str ife, ancient T hebe s slum bered. When the north ern kingdo m overcame the sou thern and the two were united into a sin gle state with th e C ity of th e Sun (Heliopo lis) as its religious capita l. the peop le of an cient Thebes continued to live as did the ir fathers and their fathe rs' father s before them : a simpl e rur al existenc e where th e annu al flood was the all- impo rtant event of the year and rhe re gu lar cha nnelling of irs flow the most crea tive activitv. Little was kno wn of acti vities elsewhere . In rhe north " I enes founded the 1St Dynasty and set up his capital at M em phis. ..... frer vcars of frustrated effort toward s uni ty came th e ultimate solu tion .'The Pharaoh of Egypt was henc eforth a god . the god- king- of a single unit ed cou ntry . And not onlv was he to be recognised as di vine and worshi pped as suc h duringhis lifetime, but his cult sh ould be con tin ued for ever afte r in a mortu ary temple. With K in g Zoser we pass from the Eilrl )'Dynast ic P rrsod of the first two dy nasties (to J too-2686 B.C.) to the period of the Old King dom, exte n ding from the j rd to the 6th Dynasties (c. 26862 l S I II.C.). Z oscr , the first god - king. firm ly established .\ Iemp hite su pre macy. In his reign vessels over fifry met res long " ere constructe d for r iver traffic, the co ppe r mi nes in S inai were exploit ed, comm erce was carr ied on with the Phoenician coast, cedarwo od was im ported from J .ebanon, sla \L'S from" uhia......nd he instruc ted his gi fted ar chitec t, lmh o rep, to erect the first large s tructur e of sto ne known in histor y : the Step Py ra m id at S akkara, Bur in The bes the m ost d ramatic occurrence had been rhe adop tion of M ontu as local deity and the ere c ting of mod est shri nes to him . Then came the -lth Dy nasty and the epoch of powe rful mo narc hs whose great pyramids at Giza and D ahs hur secured them undyi ng fame : Sn efru, Kh u fu, Khafrc and Menkure. Onl y a strong and effective go vern ment suc h as th at under Khu fu could ha ve envisaged and organised. as we assu me that it did, the erection of the g-reat pyra m id of Gi za, by one hundred th ousand men over twent y year s. T his was the dev elopment of org-anised society under one cont r olling m ind and it was a peri od of unprecedented gran deur . But Thebes was hard lv affected . In the 5 th Dynasty Egypt's civiliza tion attai ned new height s. In particular her art rea ch ed a degree of per fection never known 0

Plan I : Nile Valley

befor e. Co mmerce existed with Punt on the Soma li coast. The qu arr ies of Wadi Harnmamar in the east ern des ert were opened . The be nefits were being reap ed of years of in te lligen t, singlem inded and imaginati ve administra tion . But the n som ethi ng ha ppe ned thai was to have far-reach ing co nse q uences. T he unlimi ted power enjo yed by th e Ph ara ohs was partly passed to thei r officia ls, an d the result was an inevita ble weakening of Ph aro nic pow er. In fact th e oth Dyn asty saw the local governo rs actuall y sha king themselve s free of the Ph ara oh 's yoke and estah lishing independenc e. And Theb es' Polit ical awareness was da wning at last . After the fall of the mona rchy in .\ l emphis there was a readj ustment of the scales of po wer. This was in what historians refer ro as the Firs' l ntcrmediatc Period, covering the 7t h to the lo t h Dy nas ties tr. 218120 4 0 B .C. ) . So me of t he independent kin gs in th e no rth esta b lished the mse lves at Her acleop olis and oth ers at Memphis. The disorga nisation and weakn ess of th e j th and 8th D yna sti es, which lasted for a mer e thirt y year s. ga ve way to 285 years of H er acleop olitan ru le in the oth and l oth Dynasties when some degr ee of order was rest ored . Altho ugh littl e is known about th em , the last rule rs in th e fam ily line were po wer ful monarchs. And in t he sout h po wer was seized by anot her family of monarchs, whose capi tal was Armant , neighb o ur ing Thebes . Toward, the close of th e lo th D ynas ty thi s famil y force d thei r way northwards from Thebes. L itt le by littl e the y exte nde d their authority, annexing local pr ovinces and establishing them selves until the inevitable clash wit h the r u lers of th e nor th . The stru ggle was fierce and long and res ult ed in tri um ph for the sou th . T hus, afte r almost three centuries of'feudal ism , Entef and M enr uh otep succ eede d in reuniting th e coun try . T heban su pr emacy was recog nised, trade was resumed, expa nsionist aim s were reborn . And Am on was at last introduced to Theb es, not as a local deit y, like W ast and Monru before him, but as th e nation al god . The Jl iddle K ingdom co vers the r t th and r zth Dy nas tiesf c. 2040 1j 86 B .C.) . The i rrh D ynasty was Eg ypt's mOSI pr osp erou s era since th at of th e pyram id builders. The first Ph ar aoh over the reuni ted co untry was M entuhotcp II. Amen emh cr I, whose rul e hera lded a time of gr eat bu ilding acti vit y and a lit erary and artistic revival, establish ed the rz th D ynasty. T here is hardl y a to wn in Egy pt, and T heb es is no exception , wit ho ut some trace of the bu ildi ng activities of th e Pharaohs of this dynast y. G oldsmi ths , jewellers and rel ief work ers perfected the ir skills, while architec ts

r--

1 3 0" ~

MEDITERRANEAN

i I

I

,......

50

50

'm

SEA

16 raised some o ft he mo st beaut iful temples eve r known , For some t wo hundred years Am enernher 's successors mainrained a pro sperous rule and Egyp uan in flu ence was extended abroa d : along: the Red Sea ro N u bia and Punt , around the Vled iterranean [Q Libva. Palestine and S vr ia, even to Cre te, the A.egean Islands and the mainland of G reece. But though natives ofTh'ebes the ru lers had the ir ca pital in the F ayourn. With the passin!! of the 'vliddle Ki ngd om we come ro a time of decli ne, (he Second l ntermedtat« P{'r;IIJ, cove ring the rjr h 10 (he I ; th D ynasties (c. 1786 -1567 B.C. ) . T his was the er a of the ascend ancy of the Hylrsns. Coming Ii-om the direc tion of Syria , these tri bes occu pied Egypt at the end of the i jth Dynasty and ruled for OI W 150 years unt il the 17th D ynasty. T he Egyptian prince Se kcncn rc and his son Kum osc finally rose aga inst the bru tal invade rs . Kumosc's brorhe r Ahmose establishe d the rSth D vnastv an d the .VellJ Ki ngdom, wh ich included the t Sth, n jt h and zot h D ynast ies (c. 1567 -1 085 B.C. ) . H e com pleted th e task begun by Kam ose, fina lly rid the country of the Hyksos plague and began a period of gigantic im perial expansion in West Asia and the Sudan. It was o nly now that T he bes began to dev elop. .-\s befitted a ne w capital, the expansion was slow at first but it continued with increasing m oment um unt il the one -time village was transformed int o rhe sear of a world power never before witnessed. 'vlil itary conqu ests and terr itoria l expansion went hand in hand with an art ist ic and ar chitectu ral revolution of unp ar alleled gra nde ur. Fo llo win g the accession and conq uests of Th utm ose HI , who pus hed the nort hern frontiers of the co untry to the Euphrates, booty fro m conq uered nations and tri butes from the provinces of the then known po wers pou red into the giganti c sto rehouse of T he bes. The greater part of the wealth was bestowed upon Amon who, with the aid of the now influentia l p riesthood, eme rged at last as 'Sola r Go d', 'The K ing of Go ds ', the grea t Amon-Ra . T he power of Amon was everv where in evidence, Ma gnificent templ es were bu ilt for him, elabora tely emb ellished and adorne d . It was both a duty and a pr ivilege to serve him and successive Pharaohs syste matically endeavour ed to ou tdo the ir predece ssors in the magnificence of thei r arch itectu ral an d art isti c endeavours . 'Hund red- Gated Thebes' was at th e peak of its glory. Pr imitive animal deities had long ago given way to variations of the hum an for m with an imal head s or, where the head was also hu man, adorn ed with plaited beard or cha racteristic headge ar as dist inguis hin g mar ks. Arnon-Ra himse lf was variously rep rese nte d:

as 3 ram with cu rved ho rns ; as a man wit h a ram ' 5 head : as

J

man

with a head gear 0; two upright plu mes in whose hands were a scept re as a sym bo l of po wer, and the sym bol oflife. H e was sometimes d epi cted sta nd ing, some times seated ma jestically ho ldi ng his emb lems. On ly the Ph ar aoh of Egy pt or the high priest deleg ated in h is stead were permitted into the sacr ed sanc tuarv of Amo n. or Ho lv of H olies. .-\nd on ly on cert ain da vs 0; the l ear was the deirv sho wn to the populace: carried in cxrravngan r pro cession along garla nde d thoroughfares. .-\mon gu ided the Pharaoh in civic affairs, granted him vicrory over his enemies, favoured all who served him . -\mon gave divine protection . When Arnon was dis hon oured by .-\menhot ep IV (Ikhnaron) , who worsh ipped the life-giv ing rays of the fu ll solar disc of Aron in place of the ascending sun Ra, thi s in retrospect affected T heb es hut slightly. .Altho ugh murals wer e defaced , shrines destroyed and the ima ge of Amon hacked away. his dethronement was shor tlived, T uren khamon, on succeed ing to the th rone, started the restora tion of damaged tem ples, and H arrn hah, Rarnscs I, Seti I and Ramses I I con tinued the wor k of rehuilding, reconstr ucti ng and renov ating the tem ples, to restore the reputatio n of the Kin gof Gods . D own the vears Arnon 's wealth increased cnormo uslv. H e possessed (W CI 5,000 d ivine st at ues, more than 8t ,000 slaves , vassals and serva nts, well over .p J ,000 head of catt le, .0 3 gardens and orc har ds, /)91,33+ acres of/an d , 83 ships, +6 bui lding yards and 65 cities and town s.' The arch-p riests, already wielding a growing politic al power as a re sult of their very special reinstated position, grad ually came to reg-ard them selves as the ru ling- power of the sta te. Their longawaited op portu n ity finally carne when Ikh natori's religious revolt was followed, in the zo rh Dvn astv, bv a success ion of weak ru lers. This enabled Arnon's pr iests to usu rp the throne and for a time to unite p riest hood with royalt y. T he days of Egyp tian conquest were ove r. To en de avo ur to d ate the fall of T hebe s is d ifficult. O ne could say it start ed as far back as the t8th D ynasty when Ikhnaron, the sensitive, peac e-lo ving Pha raoh who beli eved in a uni versal god , shifted the cap ital to Tel el Arnar na and failed to main tain his foreign inter ests . One cou ld date it to th e reign of Rarn scs 1I in th e 19th Dynasty when, in his co ncern to place h is armies mo re stra tegica lly for his bat tles against the H itt ites, he trans ferre d th e royal residence to Per-Rarnscs in the eastern pa n of the Delta. O r

18 one co uld see the zorh D ynast y as the tu rn in!, point, an d certain ly Rarnse s I I I and his ever -wea ken ing successors fell mo re and mor e under the voke of the pr iesthood and undo ubted lv co nt ributed to the collapse of the stare. But the real downward slope of th e g-raph , and its cont inu ed dro p, came in th e z rst Dynast y, just over on e thousand years D.C.. wh en Hrihor made Egypt an ecclesiastical sta te. Thu s began th e peri od know n by historian s as the L ate Period of the z i st to the 25t h D yn asties (t. 1085 .6 63 B.C. ). N ubia rook ad vantage of th e weakened capital 10 gain ind ependen ce. Palestine and S yria wer e lost. T he thr one was the n us ur ped by Li b van mo narchs who ruled for nearlv two hund red Years. T hev w'ere in turn ousted b y the :'\ ub ian s. Th~ gro win g Assyr ian empire adva nced on Egy p t, p lunder ing the cap ital and overt hrow ing the Nu bian rul ers..\nd th ou gh the cou ntry shoo k off the occ upy ing force s d ur ing a short- lived comeback under the kings of the 26th Dy nasty , th e Per sian s in vaded Egypt in 525 n.c. and the country became a Persian province. T hen Alexander the Gr eat marched triumphantly along th e N ile Valley to lib erate th e coun try bu t actu ally succee ded in destro ying the state 's ind ep end ent statu s once and for all. F ina lly t he Rom ans tu rned Egy pt int o a colony . Y et while T heb es was sin king- into med ioc ri ty, its conq uero rs treated it as a great city and tr ied to p reserve and em bellish it. T he \i ubians p art icular ly, hav ing assimilated th e cu ltu re of Egypt and beco m e fanati cal adh er ent s o f Am on , sou gh t to reinspire T hcban cult ure and safeguard th e city from co llapse. T he kings of the 26t h Dynasty b uilt lesser temp les to Amo n and bestowed t heir wealt h, what remain ed of it, up on him. The inva d ing arm y of Cambyses, tho ugh striking as far as U pper E gypt , actu ally did very litt le dam age to the cit y. T he rule of the Ptolernies is noted for its architec tura l activ ity and the G reeks co nsc ient io us ly endeavo ured to add to th e sp lendour of natio nal build ings afte r a priest had to ld Alexan der th at he was the son of Amon and sh ou ld revere him . The Rom an s too rep aired ru ins and bui lt temples in the t raditiona l style, each retaini ng som et hin g of the ear lier gra ndeur. But it was a losing hattie. The pas t was not to be recaptured , T he bes co uld hard ly hide its well-e arned wrinkles an d a time-weathered quality lay over th e metropolis. Willi the ad vent of th e di vine religions came syst ematic destruction . It happ ened first in the tombs an d s hrines where the earl y Chr istians hid . L at er th e " pagan " sta t ues were up root ed, sacred sanctuaries mutilated, atte m pts made to to pp le obelisks and co lossi and obl ite ra te foreve r the visages of th e ' hea then god s' . Ikh nar ori's

acts we re h alf- hearted da bb lings when com par ed with th is wholesale des truction . The city weakened and cr umb led till it was no more t han a collect ion ofvi llages, :\ 1 last, as tho ugh wishi ng to protect what remained , the d ry desert win ds b lew a ma ntle of sand over the dead city. Pa rticle settl ed fir m ly ont o par ticle , layer upon layer, until once loftv colonnades were half su bmerged in a sea of san d. Between the ela borately decorated ca pitals ch ild rens' playgrou nds sprang up . \Iud dw ell ing s were built by peasan ts alon gside sculpt ure d wall and co lum n. D o vecots were erec ted on arc hit rave and p ylon . An cient Thebes was gone. ' Luxor' was born : its name being de rived from the Ara bic El-Ok sor. ' the palaces' . S till the des tr uc tion went on . S labs from the mon um ents with thei r in valuabl e inscr iptio ns wer e torn down or redu ced to lim e. Wi nd and sun ate int o the facad es. And the N ile, risi ng and falling with t he annual flood , continued to play its part in causing ir repar able ha rm to t he t rea sur es of Amo n .

It was left to the mo dern arc heo logists, who began to filte r south wards be for e the ru m of th e 19 th ce ntury, to excava te an d int erpret for us the gol den era of Eg ypt's histor y. . Napoleon Bonapart e unloc ked t he door to the past. H IS 179 S exp ed iti on to Egy pt , while m ilitarily d isappointin g in its failu re to wre nch po litic al power fro m the Br itish , remains sign ifican t for its imp ressive archeological rese arch and for t he establishment of the l nstitut d' Fgypte in Ca iro. In fact it was to t he Institut th at t he fam ous Rosetta S lone, discovered by soldi er s d igging a tr en ch near the for t ress of S t. J ulian at Ro sett a, was sen t. T h is stone was quickly recogn ised as some sort of decree written in three scr ipts a nd thu s a possib le key to the under standi ng of th e 'p icture lan gua ge ' wh ich had been lost si nce t he days of th e Rom an occ upa tion . The bottom text was in G reek. At the top of t he stone was th e sacr ed Egy ptian 'sy m bol wri ting' , und erstood only by the priests, and in betw een t he two was the pop ular sc ript which was un der stood by the masses. H owe ver, the tex ts had to wait a fu ll twenty years, until 1822, to be deciph ered. The F renc h scholar Jean I'r a!,\Cois Charn pollion who wo rked on th em for ten years fin ally est ablish ed tha t far from th e hi eroglyphics being sym bols as was supposed, each pic tu re ac tually repres ented a ph on et ic sound which, com bined, spe lled o ut word s. Ch arnpollion co m pi led a dict ion ary of the lost langua ge. It is t han ks to him th at we have an insight int o. the anci ent religio n, the ma nn er s and the custo ms of a peopl e of

20 long ago and, above all, int o the compl ex political institutions uf a civilization that en dured for five thousand wars. For rnan v vcars exca vation was domi nated bv the Fr ench. Loret was responsible for discovering the tom bs ·of Thurrnose Ill , Amcnhotep II and Rarnscs I. His cont empo rary Belzoni, who has gone down in history as OnC of the most ruthless tomb-robbers, excavated the tom b th at surpasses all others in size and arti stic execution, that of Seti r. In tS20 he said that in his opinion there were no morc tombs 10 be fou nd in the Vallcv of the Ki ngs. The French also gave Egypt M ariette. who revealed the delicately carved reliefs of Queen Har schcpsur's voyage to the Land of Punt, and M aspero. who was in charg e of the Egyptian Depar tmen t of Antiquities for many year s. .\ s early as ,S-H Gcrman expe di tions wcre making such important tinds as thc tombs of Ramscs II and \ [ern cptah. T ben in 18j 6 Em il Bru gsch, following a local rum our , discovered the 'cache' or 'shaft' at D er el Bahri, containing a hoard of mum mies of some of Egypt's most important Pharaohs, hidden there lor safety from tom b- robbers by the priests of the 20th Dynasty. T his fantast ic discovery started an avalan che of inter est in Egyptolo gy. England' s Flinders Petr ic worked with his tcams in the mort uary temp les and in the Valley of the Ki ngs for many years . Italy's Professor Schiaparelli excavated ent husiastically in the Valley of the Queens, and T . ,\ 1. Davis, thc wealthy Ame rican who excavated on the necropo lis, said in 19 I2 what Belzon i had said befor e him, that the Valley of th e K ings was now exhaus ted. T hen came Ho ward Cart er and th e most cxrraordin arv discovcrv of all: the intact tomb of Tutcnkham on " discovered in 192i , ind icating that the revelations of ancient Thebes had only just begun . As we show in our concluding chapter, work continues today on both sides of the N ile at L uxo r.

21 Plan 2

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u\cd throug hnut for the names of Pha raohs, deiue s, etc . are rhose ado pted b~ James Brea st ed .

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40

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22 CHAPTER

23 2

THE TEMPLE OF LUXOR

BACKGR O :';",D Arncnho rcp III , the rSth Dy nasty Ph arao h an d g reat -gr andso n of the m ilitary gen ius T hutmose I II , built the tem ple of L uxor close to the banks of th e :\i1 e just so ut h of t he city . T hough by this tim e Egy ptian m ilit ary po wer was past its peak, eco no m ic co ndi tio ns wit hin th e capi ta l wer e so und . Trad e was flo uri shing with weal th pouring in from th e d istant provinces of the empire, wh ich co mprised alm ost all West Asia including Pa lestine, S yria, Phoenicia and the western part of th e E u phrates, N u bia and L ib va. Extravagant car avans brough t gold and silver, met alw ar e, ivor yand tim ber , spices for t he royal tast e and strange and exoti c animals to roam in private gardens. The tem ples we re bursting with tri butes, wall s and colum ns were en cr ust ed with ri chness and colo ur, fe asts and festivals were bo un tifu l, th e pace was br isk, the mood cont ent. Am enh o rep r uled in splendo ur with rela t ively little 10 con cern h im poliTi~ally .parr from a N ub ian revolt wh ich was q uickly qu elled . H IS ASIan su pre m acy was uncha llenged and he was confide nt th at his armies wer e st rong en o ugh to maintain his for eign em p ire. .\ t hom c his vizier s took car e of all matters of state and held the reins of pow er in t hei r ab le hands. Ad vantage was taken of slave lab our fro m 'iubia and Asia, and .\ men ho tep imbued tr ad itional architecture with new lite both bv enlarg ing and em be llishing existi ng temples and also by bu ildi ng new ones . Apart fr om the L ux or tem ple he com pleted th e te m ple to Vlui , in the grea t K arn ak tr iad (page 65), which had be en begun by his an ces to rs, giving it grace and elega nce. S ize was no d eter ren t, as can be gaug ed fro m th e statues at th e ent rance 10 his mo rt uar y tem ple on th e necro polis, now known as th e Co loss i of Mcmnon (pag e 100). . , T his was per haps th e most trouble- free time in Egy pt ian histor y. I he cou ntry was united , the nightm are rul e of th e Hyksos was no mo re than a bad memor y. T he empire was ex pa nsive, s lave lab ou r cheap, wealth abundant and Am enh o rep had every reason to be the mo st carefree of Pha raohs. He rai sed his bow to beasts and fowl

on his na ti ve soil where h is ancestors had ra ised th eirs to th e ene rnv o n alie n lands. H is wife, Q ueen T iy, was very beaur itu l and c1ea rl\' love d by the Pharaoh , as she is depicte d in nam e o r person a l\Vavs at h is side an d far mor e Ireq uen rlv tha n was usua l If" rova l " iy~s of ea rlie r ru lers. . In t he circumstances it is not sur pr ising that Arnen ho tcp, archirecr ura lly acti ve and emotio nally content, sho uld ha ve deve loped an interest in ho rt icul rure. :\ear his palace on the necr opo lis his enor mous art ificial lak c, over 1, 7 00 metres lon g and 500 wide, was sur rou nded by lu xu rian t fo liage . Bet ween the temple of Luxor and that of K arn ak he laid ou t be au tiful gar de ns, lin in c the aven ue with rams carved in sto n e, ea ch with a stat ue of hims elf" betwee n its for epa ws. T he effect m ust have b een o ne of overwhelmi ng gran deur as solemn pr ocession s a nd d azzling ce remon ies passed along th is splendid a venu e. At Karnak Am cnh orep I II co nt in ued the ne w the me in architect ure : the py lon, a huge stone tower slo pi ng inwards from the base. :\ pylon stood on each side of th e ent rance to th e temp le. T hebes was never 10 know berter ; bigger, m ayb e, bu t never bet ter .

Because the tem ple of Luxo r, like th at of K arn ak and in fact like mo st other temples th roug hout the lan d, was bui lt nor by a single architect or according [() a unifo rm plan, but reflected the ideas an d whims of many successive ru lers, it is necessar y before describ ing the first pylon , which was ac tually the last add ition to the temple, to have some ide. of ho w it developed, und er went alteration, app rop riatio n, calculated dest ruction and , fina lly, excavation. The temple was constructed on the site of a sma ll temple to Arn on bu ilt by the Ph arao hs of the t zth Dyn asty. Amen hotep III had his architects reb uild the modest or igina l sanctuary which was as always the tirst part of thc temple 10 he b uilt, renovate the surrounding cham bers and design a for ecourt of fine, slend er co lonnade s. It is this court, with its clus tered pap yru s-b ud columns, that can be seen from the Ni le and that gives the tem ple its specia l character. It was plan ned alo ng tradi tional lines. L ike all Egypt ian tem ples it had a sanctuary or Holy of Holies with su rro unding chambers. a large co lonnaded hall- the hyp ostyle hall (Plan 2 D)-and an open court (C) . ..1. second court was also plan ned but on ly the hu ge columns of the nave Were erected before the deat h of the Pha raoh. His son Amcnhotep IV, who later became kn own as Ikh naton and tran sfe r red the roval res idence to T el el Arnar na, was far too hostile toward s .\ mon to' comp lete the work. .\ t his time the templ e was on ly ' 90 metr es lon g an d 55 metres wide at its gr eates t spa n . T hr ee small gra nite shr ines, which had been erec ted by Thutmose III , stood opposite the en trance . And then came the first of a long series of changes. During the religious revolution under Amenhorep I V the temple was stripped of the images and names of the an cient deities, especially those relatin g to Amo n, who even disapp ear ed from the d ivine sign that include d the name of the Pha raoh , th e ova l cartnuchc. lkh naton ' s successor, T urenk ha mo n, tra nsfe rred th e roval residence back to Thebes. The wall reliefs of the Luxo r tem ple were inscribed with his name only to be changed again to that of his successor Harmhab. It was pr obab ly Tutenk harnon who had the walls erec ted on each side of the colu m ns of the unfin ished court ( B) and had the inn er su rfaces inscri bed with reliefs. In the rqth Dyn asty Se ti I mad e a conce rte d eff ort to cont inue the restorat ion of the wor ship of Amo n but ad ded nothing to the tem ple's ar chi tectu re. The majo r alt er ations were left to that great Pharon ic builder an d most celebrated of Egyptian kings, Rarnses II .

His .Iarge colonnaded cou rt (A ) was placed befor e the temple ot hIS ancestors and he usurped the shrines of Thurrnose II I, alter ing the rel iefs to bear h is own name . He also erected a massive pylon , two obelisks and six colossal statue s of himself ar the northern end o f the tem ple. thus forming an imp ressive ent rance to the whole complex. The tem ple was now 2(,0 metr es long. Few furt he r altera tion s took place unti l th e advent of Christianitv, when the ent ire area betwee n the sanc tuary and the hypo style hall was con' erred Into a chu rc h com plete with alta r in one of the enclosed chambers at the furt her en d. The wall re presenta tions were plastered over and wher e the plaster has fallen off we can sec a jig-saw of Christian saints and ancie n! gods. One of the cham be rs ad joining the sanctuary, which was rest ored by Alexan der the Gr eat, was inha bited by the engineer who supervised the transport ation of the pin k gra nite obe lisk from the entrance of the templ e to the Place de la Con cor de in Par is. It was the Fr ench who first start ed serio us excavation s of the Luxor temp le and who cleare d most of the med iaeval bui ld ings abou t it. The excep tion is the Mo sque of Abu eI Haga g, which has with stood

both l ime and arg um e n t and still sta nd s in t he co urt. The EI,{~ pt ian Dc partment of Antiq uities has now taken over the wor k and two of the m ost am bitio us tasks are the reconstr uction of the massi ve statues of Ram ses II at the en tran ce and th e excavalion of the pav ed causeway th at in anci ent times lin ked the Lu vor tern pic with that of K arna k. Pro tected from the elements hy layer s of firm clay, the sph in xes lining t he road arc being extracted in nearly per fect condit ion,

D E S CRIPTIO:'>: Pylon o f Ramses II ·(hc m ain ent rance 10 rhc tem ple of Luxor is by th e great Pylon Rillnses II (Plan 2 P.I ) ,~ In fron l of it are six enormo us stat ue s o f Ramses I I, t wo scaled and fo ur standi ng. Were t hese statues nor can oed from solid granite one might imagine th em to ha ve been cast fro m a pai r of moul ds . so si m ilar are t heir solid legs, firm ly im plant ed Ice r, squ are shou lde rs, clearcur feat ures and eyes looking for ward thro ugh all eterni ty . In fro nt of the seated figur es were two pink gr anite obe lisks, T he one in posit ion , now rein forced and rep aired , has its basc ado rne d with th ree p raying apes on one side, and rhe inscri ption s name Ram ses II him self JS the builder of this magni ficent tem ple erected to hono ur :\ mon, blithely over loo king the fact that he was respo nsib le o nly for add ing to th e entrance section of a temple that had stood on site to r over seven hund red vears. T he ot her o belis k now stands in Paris. ' The ou ter walls of the pylon arc em bellished with records of Ramses I I's mi litar y cam paigns, part icularl y agains t the Hittit es of Sy ria in t he fifth year of his reign , Rarn ses II was always an xio us lo r his per sonal bravery 10 be recorde d and his scu lp tors lost no lime in pand ering 10 h is vanity. O n t he western tower ( II) one can still make OUI life at the Egy ptian camp ( 10 the ril,{hl ) and th e enth ro ned Ph arao h hold ing counci l (to the left ). In th e cent re is the for tified camp wit h sh ielded soldiers and the Pharaoh hims elf das hing with his char iot int o the fra y. The easte rn tower (b) dep icts a fer ocious bail ie with Ram ses II , still in his cha riot, hurl ing ar rows at the sur ro unding enemy. D ead and wou nded lie bene ath h is feet and the enemy flee in confu sion 10 th e fort re ss of K ad esh from whence fresh troops ap pear. Ka dcsh itself is surro unded wit h bat tleme nts and the defend ing Hi tti te forces, T o the ext reme left, somewhat remote from the heal of th e

or

bat tle, the prin ce of the H ittites rnav he seen surro und ed bv h is guar ds and su pposed ly in fear o f t he 'ene my , ' ' Co urt of Ramses II , C olo n na d e Passi ng th rough th e e ntr ance pylon we enter the Court ofR amse, II (A ), to the le ft of which th e F arim ide \ l osque of Ab u eI H agag sta nds In contrast to th e sole m n ru ins of Pharo n ic Eg yp t. As recently as 1968 the luca l sheikhs, who claim that the tomb of the saint him self lies here, rook adva nt age of a q uiet tourist-free peri od , wh en man y Egy pto logis ts had esca ped fro m the summe r heat, to ad d an exten sion to the rear portion of th e m osque , bui lt, It WI ll be seen , on ever weake ni ng foundat ions, T he height of t he mosq ue above th e stone court yard ind icate s the neight 10 which t he tem ple was buried in sand , T he co urt itself is s urr o unde d by sm oot h-sh afted papyr uscolumns WIth lotus-bud capitals , S tandi ng colossi of Ra m ses II wer e p laced be tween the first ro w of co lum ns in the so uth ern ha lf. On each s ide of the doo rw ay are a further two stat ues of th e Pharaoh wroug ht in r ed and black granite. The on e On th e left h as S1..111l('<; of R am ses I I , .\ m
a fine statue of Q ueen :\efer- tari, his wife, can ed near the Pha raoh 's right leg , On the th ro ne is a rep rese nta tion of the two :\iles bind ing the sym bo ls of Upper and Lower E gypt: the lot us and papyr us plant s. .Adjoinin g the western tower of the entran ce pylon (1'./ ) is a raised pla tform com prising three cham bers. Th is was the gra nite shrin e ori gin ally bu ilt by Thutrnose I I I and resto red by Ramses II. The ch am bers were dedicated to Am on, M ur and the Moo n G od K hons u. Fou r pap yr us columns form a colon nad e on the side facing t he COUrl. T he relie fs and inscriptions whi ch adorn the walls of the court da te from the reign of Rarnses I I. They repr esem sacr ifices an d hym ns to the gods, and an Rarnses II's fam ily, his many wives and a ho rde of princes and prin ces ses ar e de picted on th e walls. The Colon nade (E) was built by Arnenho rep I I I. In th e early morning an d to war ds sunset heavy shad ows are cast between the seven pa irs of colum ns and the int erplay of ligh t has long been exp loited by pho tographers as it slams from heavy architrave to calyx capita ls and down th e slend er sha fts of the column s. T ho ugh :\ me nho tep III conceived the idea of thi s colonnade , Tutenkharn on, Ha rrnhab, Seti I, Rarn ses II and Set i II also recorded their nam es there. It was T urenkhamo n ho wever who had the walls embel lished with the reliefs representing the Great N ew Year Festival, the Opel, when the god Amon visited his southern harem . The sacred bar ges were br ou ght in sp lend id pro cession from Karn ak to the L uxor tem ple, borne on the shoul ders of whit e- robed pr iests from the tem ple to the river, and then towed upstream in a splendid and ma jest ic pro cession. T he festival took place at the height of the Nile flood an d con tinued for twent y- lour days of merry- mak ing. C nh ap pily m uch of the re lief work has been de stroyed but there is still sufficient to take us back to what mu st have been not on ly a sign ificant bu t a lavish relig ious celeb rati on . On the ri ght-hand wall starting at (c) are preparations tor the occasion , wh ich inclu de a reh earsal by dancing gir ls. T he procession begins at t he ga te of the K arnak temple (d), whic h is complete with flagstaffs and from whence white-robed priests bear the sacred barge of Arnon do wn to th e water 's edge. An ent husiastic audie nce (e) claps hand s in un ison and a t U) the boat in the water is be in g tow ed upstream by th ose on shore. A sacr ifice of slaughte red an ima ls «:) is followed by a gro up of acroba ts, and finally offerin gs are mad e to Am on, Mut and Kh onsu at the Luxor temp le (It ). O n th e opposite wall arc scenes of the ret urn procession, incl uding

30 (i) sacr ificial bull s bein g led to the scene accom pani ed by soldiers, standard- beare rs , dan cer s and neg ro slaves who ar e rouse d to frenzy b y th e pomp, the barges floating downstr eam (j) and th e final sacri fice and offerings of flowers to Amon and Mut at the Karnak temple (k). It is int er esting to learn th at H arrnhab, th e general, took advantage of the Opet to introduce himself to th e populace as the next Pharaoh of Egypt at the beginning of the roth Dynasty. On ce he had been led thro ugh the str eets by the prie sts and entered into the sacred pr ecincts of Karnak, any q uestion by th e people as to why a man of non-royal linea ge should become Pha raoh was stilled in adv ance. T he occas ion was too joyous to spo il with matters alread y decided by the high pr iests of Amo n. A fascinating cross -c ur rent in the tide of fate has led today's M uslim Mo ulid, celebrated each year during th e month of Sh aaban, closely to resemble th e Opet. M us lim sheikhs emerge from th e Mos q ue of Abu el I-Iagag bearing three sma ll sailing boat s which they place on carr iages to tra verse th e city. T he city is bedecked with flower s, and dancing and cla pping greet the pro cession .

Court of Arnenhotep III So uth of the colon nade is th e Co urt of Amenhotep I I I (C). To the left of the en trance are three seared sta tu es of Ramses II , Amo n and M ut. The court has a double row of columns on each side an d is a fine exa mp le of th e architec t ure of Egy pt's golden age. T he columns arc of exq uis ite pro por tio n. They have clustered papyrusbu d capitals and arc in a good state of repair. The door way th rough which we have just passed was the entra nce to th e tem ple in Ame nho tep lll's reign and the sp hinx-lined avenue comme nce d from th is poin t.

Hyposryle Hall Ad joining th e cour t to the sou th is the H ypostyle Hall (D ), comprising gigantic colum ns ar rang ed in four rows of eight columns each. The hall stan ds today as a somewhat cheerless ru in, th ough the walls still have reli efs of Amenho tep I II before the T he ba n deit ies. The colum ns bear the carto uc hes of Ram ses IV, Ram scs V I, Ramses II and Se ti I, men tion ing th e repa irs carried out in th eir respecti ve reign s. To th e left of the hyposryle hall sta nds an altar bear ing Latin inscriptions ded icated to th e Emperor Aug ustus . Adjoi ning th e rear wall (to left and right ) arc twa sm all shri nes, one to M ut and

31 St atue (If Rar nscs II Temple of Lu xor.

32 one to Kh on su . T he sectio n lead ing 01'1' th e rear originally had eight columns, which were rem oved whe n the area was converted into a chur ch . T he doo rwa y to th e sanctua ry was walled into a curved recess flan ked by two grani te Cor in thi an colum ns, and the exquisite t Sth D yna st y reliefs were plaster ed over and pain ted with Chris tia n themes . In places whe re th e stucco has fallen off one can see th e re liefs of Ame nhot ep beneath.

Birth Room Several sma ll cha mbers surr ound th e sanc tuary, inc lu ding wh at has become kno wn as th e Birth Room (E) . T houg h in poor con dition th e murals ar c of special int er est beca use th ey depic t the birth of Ame nho te p II I. T he Egy ptian Ph araoh was the em bodi me nt of H orus, the son of Ra or Amo n. But he had , in ad dition, to be of direct royal lineage th rou gh his fat her and roya l consort . I f, as in the case of Amen ho tep I II , whose mother was not of royal Eg yptia n blood , his access ion was not con sidered legi tima te, he could ove rcome th is difficulty by ma rrying a sister of royal lin eage. Ame nho tep d id not do thi s. It was necessary for him th erefor e to conso lidate his mon ar ch y in othe r res pec ts . Q ueen Hatsch epsut had alrea dy sho wn him how. In her mo rtuar y tem ple she depicte d how she ru led by divi ne righ t of Amo n and was, in fact, a direct descen dant of th e Sun G od Arno n-Ra (page 82). In hi s tem ple at L uxor Ame nho te p also sho wed that he was the son of th e divin e, begotten of Amo n and born under th e protect ion of th e gods . The story of th e birth room is depict ed in three rows on th e lefthand wall (I) . F rom left to rig ht in the lower row th e god K hnum moulds two infan ts, Ame nho tep and his guardian spirit or ka, and fashio ns th em on a potter 's wheel. The goddess Isis sits op posi te . Ame nho te p's m oth er is em braced by Isis in th e pr esen ce of Amo n . In the centre row Am on is led by th e ib is-head ed god of wisdom to th e queen 's bed cham ber where he appr oac hes her to bege t th e child alr ead y m oulded by Khnum . T he pr egn an cy and confinemen t are attended by Bcs and Thoueris, th e pat ron deiti es of childbirth . After the deliver y Amo n sta nds with the child in his arms in t he presen ce of Hathor and Mut. On th e m uch -d am aged top row are th e suc kling of th e infant kin g, his gua rd ian spirits, and his presentat ion to Amo n by H oru s who promises him 'm illions of years like Ra ' . In th e corner th e gro wn Am enhotep stan ds as king. In all othe r reliefs of this cha mber Arnenhote p is blesse d by th e vario us deit ies.

33 Sanctuary of Alex ander the Great We now come to what has beco me known as the Sa nctua ry of Alexander th e Great (1/1), the area enti rely rebuilt by him . H e remo ved t he four or iginal columns and placed a shrine in their stea d. Bot h th e inner and t he outer walls have reliefs rep resenting Alexande r before Amo n and other deities. H e obliging ly left unm olested some reli efs of Amc nho tep HI before vario us T he ba n dei ties . In the sanctuary stood the gold- pla ted statu e of Amo n. T o imbue it with life eac h day th e priests of Amo n carried out a series of ritua ls. T hos e carri ed out at dawn were th e most elaborate. T he statue was first carefully clean sed . T hen it was clot hed with garme nts and anoi nted with per fum es. T he eyes were made up and pra yers were chanted . T he n just as painstakingl y the clot hing an d ma keu p were removed and the pr iest s humbly withdre w. T he cha mbers at th e rear of the temple arc of litt le sign ificance. On e to th e north has four clus tered pap yru s colum ns and three ro ws of wall reliefs show ing Arnenhotep befo re Amo n and ot her deities ; an oth er was a sanctuary with twelve columns . Co rm H( AnU'n ho ll.'(l III. L u xor Temple.

35

34 TRADITIONALISM OF EGYPTIAN DESIGN In order to appreciate mural design and execution it must be stressed that it was an age-old tradition, not an art form. The Egyptian painter or sculptor was not an independent or inspired creator. I Ic was a craftsman who was part of a team which included masons, draughtsmen, jewellers and metal-workers. They all worked anonymously. Their creations were designed not for artistic appraisal nor, apart from a few exceptions, for aesthetic purposes. They formed a factory of artisans reproducing approved traditional themes with amazing accuracy. Statues for tomb or shrine were never to be seen, except by the Pharaoh or high priest, and these had a religious function. They were believed to be infused with the divine spirit of the one portrayed. Statues of the Pharaoh in open court or temple front were placed there so that the populace could gaze on the great Pharaoh who was under the protection of the gods. Praising him and praising God were one and the same thing. Amon guided the Pharaoh and the Pharaoh guided the people. This is the reason why the Egyptian monarch was repeatedly and untiringly shown in consort with the various deities. With the help of Amon, his power was absolute. The people voiced no opinions on the one hand, while he showed no weakness on the other. He was always represented in the prime of life, in powerful, confident, unbending majesty. The Pharaoh was above hopes or pleasures, fears or sufferings. In all statues and mural portrayals he was indisputably idealised and stereotyped. The torso, legs, arms and position of the head of the Pharaohs of the passing dynasties differed little. But there were subtle differences in their physiognomies. Chephren of the 4th Dynasty for example had a decidedly more prominent lower jaw than his successor Mykerinus. And the lips and dents by the side of Ramscs II's mouth arc very different from those of Scti I, whose features are somehow finer. It has alrcadv been noted that the distinctive characteristics of Arnon, when he was not depicted as a ram with curled horns or as a man with a ram's head, were his plaited heard, his two upright plumes, his sceptre and symbol of life. The Pharaoh in turn also has charactcristics: a cobra (guardian against evil) which coiled around his forehead, and a special skirt Edling into a triangle in front, The decorated belt that held this in position was sometimes covered with beads or embroiderv and the tail of an ox (svmbol of power) was attached to it. He c~rried his sceptre, Etiquette was

appare~tly earef~lIy

observed. Religious ceremonies, jubilees and other ntuals, which grew more complex as time passed, conformed not only in general practice but in the most strict observance of rules and dress. Each detail has been brought down to us in the work of the relief sculptors. Just as traditional ceremonies and rituals continued from generation to generation with very little basic change, so did the execution of mural records of the occasions become more and more stylized. The few realistic details which made their way into the representations, even as far back as the Old Kingdom, are seen :epeatcd fr,om dynasty to dynasty, even though they are somewhat irrelevant III terms of the symbolic and primitive purpose of the work. By the t Sth Dynasty there was a knowledge of perspective and foreshortening but the relief sculptors did not try to improvise. The detail of a knee-cap, the muscles of an arm or a collar-bone were their only touches of realism. Apart from the relatively short break with tradition under I~hnaton, only the efficiency and maturity of the work changed with the years. In the Luxor temple the divine immobility of the Reconstructed head of Ramscs II (in front of I.uxor Temple)

37 portrayals of Ame nho tep I II, parti cularly whcn shown in consort with the de ities, are very little d ifferent from th ose of Ramses II some eigh t genera tions lat er. The same uniformity is found in th e Karn ak temple, whi ch spans two tho usa nd years .

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CHAPTER 3 THE GREAT TEMPLE OF AMON AT KARNAK

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The temple of Amo n at K arnak, together with its outlyi ng bu ildings, is a natural museum of ancient Egypt ian art , a blueprint of the power and glory of a golden era and a mine of histo rical info rmation . Beneath its giant architraves and bet ween bulk y column and wall re lief lie the reco rds of its growth from a modest 12th D ynasty shrine to a local deity, to a temple of splendid and unimaginable proportions dedicated to the King of Go ds, Amo n- Ra . It owes a colonnade to one Pharaoh , a pylon to another ; an insp iration her e, a whim th er e. But each has th e sole purp ose of pleasin g th e god th at would ensure th em a life lon g, powerfu l and glorio us. U nr avelling th e secrets of two th ousand years has been a major feat of Egyptology, made the more difficu lt by the fact th at archi tectural magnificence did not necessaril y run parall el with military or civic excellence. Family riva lries and kingly jealousies wer e as often th e incenti ve behi nd a con struction as creative inspir at ion . On e canno t help bein g amused for example at th e oft-re pea ted tendency of the reigning Pharaoh to alt er the royal cartouchc of a predecessor and so take the credit for all the work he accomplished . T o add to th e con fusion, some part s of the buildings were raised from di smantled shr ines or th e walls of ot her temples. In addi tio n, K arn ak had twice to end ure the degradat ion of Amo n, at the hand s of Ikhnat on and of the earl y Christian s. An idea of th e com plexity of th e task may be ga uged when we learn that in the core of Amenhotep II I' s monumental third pylon were buried at least th ree structures of earlier peri od s ; th at a valuab le historical inscription on how Kamose conq uered the the H yksos- i-a period about wh ich very litt le is known .. was found text-downwards ben eath a stat ue of Panejcm which had been buried in the foundation of the secon d pylon of Ram ses I I ; th at both Ramses I and Seti I used blocks from lkhnatori's su n temple for their large-scale addi tions to the templ e ; and tha t H arrnhab cram med his ninth pylon with thousand s of inscribed sands to ne blocks from thi s same ' here tica l' era .

39 Thutrnose I, who ascended the throne at th e beginning of the rSrh Dynasty, actuall y made the first major alterations to th e ori gin al sh ri ne. He had t wo colonnades and two pylons built (P lan 6 P..; and P-,:;). Between the latter, Hatsch cp sut, his d aughter and builder of the magnificent mortuary temple of Der el Bahri (page 75) , erected a pair of hu ge obelisks . She also made some alterations to th e side of th e sanctu ary . These wer e continued by her co-regent and successor Thutmose II 1. Tho ugh Thutmosc I II showed less interest in perpetuating his memory in impressi ve monuments than in creating an Egyptian world empire, he did bu ild a festival temple (page 54) to the rear of the sanctuary , surrounding it with a gird le- wa ll, on the in ner side of which wer e a number of sm all cham be rs . It was Amen hotep Ill, builder of th e temple of Luxor, wh o alt ered the front of Karnak temple. He raised a new pylon (Plan 5 P.Ol ) in front of that of Thutmose I, but, impressive though it must hav e been , it was to be eclipsed by th e additions of the 19th D ynasty. Ramses I erected th e second pylon during his one year in power. Then h is son, Seti I, started the construction of a huge hypostyle hall between the pylons of Ramscs I and Arnenhorep III. This work was con ti n ued by his success or Ramses II. Always going one better than his an cestors, Rarn ses II also built a second gird lewall ou ts ide that of Thutmose III and with it the Great T emple of Am on had almost recei ved its final, magn ificent form . It was now officially and justifiably styled 'T he Throne of the World'. Seti II and R arnscs I II had two sm all separate temples built in front of the gr eat com plex. In the z z nd D yna sty under the Libyan kin gs of t he Bubastides th ese were incorpor ated into a hu ge col onnaded cour t in front of th e p ylon of Ramses I. In th e 25th Dynasty Taharka the Nubian also erected som e gigantic co lum ns in thi s court. The last addition to the temple, its entrance pylon (P lan 4- P.l ), was erec te d in th e N ub ia n D yn ast y. DESCRIPTION First P ylon, Great Court, Shrine of Seti II S et i II 's two sm all o be lisks rise on a terrace facing the N ile. From thi s point we approach the te m ple of Amon betwe en a d ouble row of ram-headed sphinxes. These ha ve sun- d iscs on th e head and a statue of t he Pharaoh between th e forepaws, sh owing the Sun God as strong as a lion , as docile as a ram, and protective of the Pharaoh Rarnses II who placed them th er e. We mu st bear in mind that in

approaching the temple from t he front we actually rev erse, apart from a few except ions, the order of building. Before us rises t he m assive fi rst pylon (P lan 4- P.I ) whic h dat es from the N ub ian D yna st y and whi ch was never co m pleted . It is 113 metres wide, 43 m etres h igh and 5 m etres thick. On the doorway leading to th e Great Court is an inscription (II) recordin g the latitude and longitude of th e chi ef temples of the Phar aoh s as calculat ed by th e group of scholars accom pa n ying th e arm y of N apoleon to Eg ypt. The Gr eat Court, which was built during the zznd Dynasty, covers the massi ve area of 8,9 19 square metres. On the right it incorporates a small temple built b y Ramses II I (page 4' ) and on th e left a small shrine built by Seti II , com prising three cha mbe rs dedicated to Am on (in the centre) and to Mut and Khonsu resp ectively on ei ther side. Towards the centre of the court is the ba se of what was once a pair of pedestals for statues and behind th is is a d ouble colonnade. The five co lu m ns to the left are bein g recon str uc ted and the sing le intact colu m n to the ri gh t is inscr ib ed by Psemmetikh II of the zbth D ynast y, wh o pla ced his name over that of th e Nubian Taharka of th e 25th Dynasty. It also record s the name of Ptolemy IV . On each side of the co urt is a row of sph in xes. These flanked th e doorway wh en th e pylon at th e rear of the co ur t ( P .2) formed th e en trance to the temple in th e reign of Ram ses II. T hey wer e removed and pla ced ncar th e side walls when the ent rance was exte nded towards the Ni le. Aga ins t t he inn er wall of th e first p ylon , at (/I), are remnant s of the cr ude bri ck ramps by whi ch the sto nes were heaved int o position . The last IWO colu m ns on th is same side of the cou rt (r) provide an other interesting clue as to how the ancient Egyptians cond uc ted their work. Because th ey wer e nev er complet ed the y show that th e rou ghl y- sh ap ed sto ne s, also heaved int o posit ion on ramps, wer e sh ap ed after erection and th at the polishing and de corat ion wer e performed from th e top downwards as th e bri ck ramps wer e removed layer by layer. The grey sands tone S hrine 0/ S eti II to the le ft of th e cour t was dedi cat ed to th e K arnak triad : Am on, Mut and Kh on su . Th e cen tre sec tio n, to Amo n, is the best pr eser ved . O n th e walls ar c two different representa tions of th e deit y. Ncar th e end of th e righ t-hand wall Amon is seated in h uman form with his characteristi c headgear and with Mut and Khonsu seated behind him . On th e left-hand wall he is depi ct ed as a ram with th e su n-di sc on h is

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head and tr avelling the hea ven s in h is sacr ed barge. The Holv Triad was a co m mo n feat ure of th e gods of an cient Egy p t. At Thebes, Am on had Mut and Khonsu. At Abydos, Osi r is had hi s sister-wife Is is and th eir son H orus. At M emphis, Ptah had hi s wife Sekhmet and th eir son N efer tem . Temple of Ramses III Across th e co urt stands the Temple of R am ses III. T h is is the only temple still stand ing in the whole of E gyp t which was built on a hom ogeneou s plan by a sing le mon ar ch . The pylon which forms the entrance has now been re paired and shows, on th e left-hand tower (d), a relief of the Pharaoh weari n g th e double cro wn and holding a group of pr isoners by the hair, whil st in his other hand he raises a club to smi te th em. Amo n sta nds before him handing h im th e sword of victor y and del iver ing to him three rows of va nq uished citi es each represente d as a h um an figure risin g out of a sym bo lic fort which bear s the name of the city. O n th e righ t-hand tow er (e) th e theme is repeated b ut with the Ph araoh wearing th e crown of L ow er E gypt . L ar ge sta tues of t he Pharaoh flan k the doorway over which R arnses III rec eives the sym bol of life from Arnon. . Passing through th e entrance pylon we come to an open court surrou nde d by co vered passages on three side s, each su pported b y eight squar e pillars with stat ues of O sir is in fron t of th em. On the ter race at th e rear are four similar pilla rs and four colum ns whi ch have bud capitals. The reliefs on th e back wall of the pylon show Ramses recei vin g th e hieroglyph for ' ju bilee' from the en thro ned Am on . O n the east wall (g) is a proc ession o f standardbearers and the Pharaoh leading the pri ests who hear the sacr ed bar ges of Amon , Mut an d Khon su . T he hyp ost yle hall of th e temple o f Ram ses III has eight colu m ns wi th pap yrus-bud ca pita ls, ad joini ng whic h are th ree sh rines resp ect ively de d icated to M u t, Amon and Kh onsu . T his temple is a cam eo. Its charm is its size, its value is its ad he rence to th e tr aditional, its hi stori cal im po rt an ce is its completion according to the unadul ter ated blu ep rint of Ramses II l. Ramses I II ruled at the ta il end of a long line of imperial Ph araohs and he was the last of th e Ramessid es to ca rve a plac e for himself in hist or y. T ho ug h wealth y-having reap ed the fruits of his an cest or s' battles -··he was far fro m great, a fact th at he see ms h im self to have recogn ised by placin g h is m odest temple acro ss the axis of th e ma in str uc tur e at Karnak as th ou gh to say, "I do not wish

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43 The statue of Pancjem found bur ied in the Second Pylon of Ramses I L

to com pete' . During his 32-year re ign he fou ght three im po rtant battles, and his arc hitec t ural act ivit ies included a temple at Me di nct H abu (pa ge 92) where he recorded hi s battles, and th e ini tial co nstru ction of the temple of Khonsu (pa ge 63), whi ch was com pleted by his successors . H e also enr iche d th e temples of Mem phis and H eliop ol is b ut ended h is da ys severely cri tic ised by his conte m po raries, wh o d espi sed his weaken ed pos itio n und er th e priests of Am on.

Triumphal Monument of Sh eshonk I Retracin g our steps to th e G reat Co ur t via th e exit to th e east of R ams es Ill's cour t, we find ourselves in th e portico of the Bubasridcs (h) whi ch is embellished wit h reliefs and inscriptions of th e Ph araoh s of th e zz nd D yn asty. T he rear door of this portico leads to the T rium p hal M onumen t of S hes ho nk I, whi ch is sit ua ted on th e ou tside of th e so uthern tower of t he second pylon (i) . This scene commem or ates the victory of S hisha k of th e Bibl e over Rehob oarn , son of Solomo n the K ing of Ju dah, when So lomon 's temple was robb ed of its rich es. Ben eath Amo n is th e goddess M ut hold ing a club, bo w an d qu iver, lead ing five row s of ca ptives ca rved in per fect sy m me try . T o th e right S he sho nk is gras ping a gro up of captives by th e hair and st riking th em with his raised club . T he Biblical passages covering thi s ca m paign arc : 'And il came III pass in thcfifth year II/king R choboam, tliat Shishae king III' h:e;YPI cam e up against .lausalem: and he too]: a inay the treasures of the house oft !« L ord , and the treasures oft he leing' s house ; he eren tool: IImllY all: and he took: atnay all the shields ofgold mhich Solomon had made, ( I K ings ' 4 :25-0) c • , • And it CII mc III pass, t hat in th e fi/l h year of king R ehoboam , Shishak king of EgYPI came liP against .leY/lSalem, because th ey had tran sgressed again st the Lord, tnith t tnclu« hundred cha riot s, and threescore thousand ltorscm cn : and the people were imt hout number t ltat came mith him out (!I'EgYPI . , .' t z nd Chro, [2 : 2-3)

Second Pyl on , Great H yp ostyle Hall We return to the gre at co urt of th e temple and proceed to wards th e second pyilln, the py lon of Ramses II (P. 2 ), T he centre sectio n was or igina lly rest ored by th e Pt olemies. It is now bein g recon struct ed after the rem o val of th e blocks fro m Ikhnaton 's Sun T emple to Ato n whic h were used as filling for the co re . Just before th e pylon is a sm all vestibule flanked by t wo large statues . The on e on the left, in red granite, is of Pan ejcm , so n-i n-law of th e high pri est.

45

44 This is the statu e already mentioned (page 37) as having been found under the second pylon. The C real Hyposty!« Hall, fruit of Egy pt' s pow er and wealth and one of th e most m assive of human cr eation s, covers an area of +,983 squ are metres. T o su pport th e roof T3+ colum ns were arra nged in sixtee n rows. T he double ro w of centr al colum ns leading from th e doorway of th e second pylon eastwar ds to war ds th e sanct ua ry is higher th an t he ot hers. The smooth-shafted central co lum ns arc twenty-one metres high and are topped with cal yx capit als lar ge enough to hold one hundred sta nding men . The somew hat sq uat side colum ns ha ve bud cap itals and th e di scr epancy in heigh t is made up hy sq ua re pillars between th e steps of th e roof. The space between these pillars once held wind ows an d served to light the entire hall, revealing that the walls, th e shafts of t he colum ns, th e architrave and in fact every available space was co vered with inscriptions and re liefs . It has been stated in almo st every descripti on of thi s hall to date , hu t mu st ne vert heless be repell ed her e, that th e whole of t he cathedral of No tre D am e in Pari s co uld he com fo rt ably accommod at ed withi n its walls. T EMPLE OF AMON

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The hypostyle hall was planned and beg un by R amses I and was continu ed by his son Seti I on a scale far surpassing Arnenhotcp Ill's unfinished hypo st yle hall at Luxor. It was finally com pleted by Seti's son Ramses II. Althoug h Se ti I was responsible for the cons truction of the entire northern half of th e hall and also th e central aisle, and althou gh Ramses II huilt only the so uthern portion, it is the latter who has secur ed credit for the greater part of the work . The overall effect is awe-inspiring. Although some critics have commented on th e less-than-elegant columns at th e sides or on th e fact that ' you can't see the tre es'for for est ', its magn ificen ce is indi sputable. When N apo leon' s learned ent ourage first saw it, th e hall looked as th ough dev astated by a hurrican e. Leaning colum ns seeme d on th e verge of collapse, ma ny were already prostra te and the flag-st one s were littered with debri s, French Egyptologists working for th e D epartment of Antiq uities de vot ed th eir ene rgies to reconstruction . The work of Charles L cgrain , followed hy Ma ur ice Pill et and finall y M . H . C hevrier, who com pleted a 25year mi ssion as D irector of Works at Karn ak in J() 56, left the Great Hyposryle H all ere ct and pro ud .

47 Only one single column (the first in the sixth row) bears th e name of Rarnscs l, who started its construction in his brief two year re ign . It may be noticed that th e reli efs of Seri I (in the northern portion) ar e in flat relief and are som ewhat more delicate than the deeper, more definite ins criptions of Ramses II (in th e southern portion from th e eleventh row). Most of the reliefs depict adoration of the Theban god . Rarnses Ill , Ramses IV, Ramses VI and Ramses X J I all rec orded th eir names. On the outside of the hypostyle hall are some important historical rel iefs . These are accessible from the exit at the side or from the central court . They are portrayals of Seti I's and Ramses II's m ilitary campaigns in Asia , the like of whi ch had not been seen for two gencrations since th e expansion of the empire under Thutm osc II I. There are over sixt y metres of representation s from the spe ctacul ar charges into the foe with arrows and chariots to the ult imate presentation of pri soners of war to Amon, Mut and Khon su . Rarnscs II's campaign was against the Hittites. It is depicted on the so uthe rn wall and contains th e actual text of the tr eat y, the carlics r sur viving international non-aggr ession pact. According to the tr eaty each sta te, ha ving equal, independent status, renounced all ideas of aggression against the other. It declared that peace shou ld henceforth prevail between the two king s and all th eir dependents and reaffirmed earlier treaties existing between the two countries. A mutual defence alliance, co-operation in the humane tr eatment of di slo yal subject s and also in the extradition of political refu gee s and immi grant s, formed clauses of th e pact. It bore the title : 'The treaty mhich the great chicfofKhet a, Khetasar.Lhe ualiant , the S()/I I~f IH era si/ r, the great ch i~fo/ K hel a , the ualiant. the grandson of Se plt'!, the great clriefof K hela , the valiant, madc.Icpon a silver tablet Jill' Uscrmarr-S ctepncrc (Rams es In, the great ruler of Egypt . the re liant , the SO/l of Sc ti J, the great ruler of EgYPl , the reliant .. the grandson ofRamscs l , the grca! ruler of f;~l!.YPI, lire tralia nt .. lire good treaty III' peace and of brother/wild, selling peace bel mall them [orcucr," . W itnesses to th e treat y were a th ousand gods and goddesses of th e land of th e Hittites and a thousand gods and goddesses from the land of Egypt . The hattie scenes are similar to those on the first pylon of the temple of Luxor alr ead y described (pages 26/ 27)· Seti I' s battles took place in Lebanon, southern Palestine, and S yria , and arc depicted on t he northern wall. The series begin s on "r h f.)' /,I , Il uJ dcr and StuuloC h lu ll. 111:\ 0. J\.ha"i , hili Ill . \1 n ;l"',lr is :\ t ur'ih ili 11, Scpla l is Shuppiluil uma s

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pr- "'.n :.uX. In

l lin uc . Kh e ra..u r i..

the eastern wall (Plan 51) where (in the upper row ) Seti alights from his chariot in the wooded Lebanon. The Lebanese are obliged to cut down trees for the Pharaoh. In the lower row Seti is in battle with the bedouins of sout hern Pale stine (to the right). He dri ves his chariot, drawn by two horses, whilst firing arrows at the en em v. Confused heaps of dead and wounded lie on the ground. The fortress of Canaan, above the battlefield, is used as a hideout and the inha bitant s assist fugitives to escape int o it. On the left hand section of th e main wall (k) is the battle in Syria. In the upper row the Pharaoh advances to the front line of the attack, shooting ar ro ws that send the en em y, both charioteers and cavalry, fleeing in confusion . In the fortress which is surrounded by a moat th e inhabitants are surprisingly carved full face as they peer, from behi~d trees, Seti is also depicted hinding captives, leadmg or draggmg them. Two rows of captured Syrians arc presented to Amon, Mut and Khonsu along with valuable boot y. In the ,lower row is a .triumphal march through Palestine (left), a b~ttle . with the bedouins .of southern Pal estine and (right) the vrctorrous march from Syr ia. The border between Asia and Africa T he H ypostyle Hall, Karnak T emple. Calyx capitals of the central columns.

49 is marked by a cro codi le-i nfested canal bordered by reeds and linked by a bridge, At each end of this bridge is a fortifi ed guardhou se and , on th e home front, Scri is welcome d by groups of pri ests carryi ng garla nde d flow ers. Ca ptives and boot y are pr esented to Amo n . On th e righ t-hand wall (I) is th e battle ofK adcsh (in th e top row) , the battle against th e Libyans (in the middle row ), and the battle against th e Hittites in northern Syria (in the lower row). The defenders of Kadcsh are pierced by arrows. The Libyan s, distinguishe d by a sin gle plaited braid and feath er s, are sm itte n with th e swor d . The l litt ircs, sho t at by th e chariu tcd Ph araoh , take flight on loot , on horseb ack and in cha riot. In th e lower row , when Seti hand s his captives and th e captured vessels over to Amon, Mut and Kh onsu, th e goddess of tr uth is present. On each side of th e doo rway separating t hese two walls (k and I ) are co lossa l representations of Arnon holding several rows of captured nati on s and cit ies by cor ds and pr esent ing th e sword of vicrorv to Sc ri l. Seri ra ises his club again st a ban d of tiles whom he • dan gles by I he hair. Third Pylon, Pavilion of Sesostris I, Central Court At th e rl~a r of th e hypostyle hall is th e re co nstr ucted third p.J'lon (P ..; ) buill by Amc nhotep II I. It certai n ly needs mor e t han a littl e im agination to recon struct in t he mind 's eye the gold and silver inlay, th e flagstaffs and splendo ur of thi s one- time ent rance to th e temple. When Ame nho tep I II was con structing it he was simultan eousl y finalisin g pla ns for th e colonnaded hall at th e Luxor temple. T ogether th ey formed his most impressive ar chitectural achievem ents. Some years ago when soil dra ina ge was bein g checked to avoid th e cr um b ling of co lum ns from undermining, th e pylon was found to cont ain in its core th e ruins of temples and shrines of earli er periods. The task of extracting th e inscri bed or painted blocks deep in th e pylon's foundation , whil st pr opping up existing walls pr ior to recon struct ion, was, and still is, an e xacting one. And th e mat chi ng of th e extra cted pieces with th eir partner s in pattern an d histor y has been ext re mely tim e-con sum ing. But with th e successful rem oval and com plete re cons tr uc tion of some of the lost ma sterpieces, th ese labours have received thei r supreme reward . The Pari lion II(.'-;'csilstr is f , a i zrh Dvnastv structure erec ted fo r th e lub ilcc of th e' Pharaoh , is th e earliest struc t ure at Karn ak tod ay. Its h lods wer e rescu ed from ob scurity and reassembled just north

of the main tem ple to Am on withi n the girdle- wall, where it can be seen by spe cial permission . The walls of the pavilion are made of fine limestone, and th e reliefs, minutely and precisel y carved in high relief, are am on gst the finest to be found in Luxor. Thev sho w th e restr aint and austeri ty typical of the Middle Kin gdom when the work was unencumbered by too mu ch detail. The simple shrine consists of twenty-four colum ns and th e ped estal on which th e Amon barge was placed to let th e priestly bearers rest. It has been decided that th e orig inal site was on on e side of th e paved thoroughfare leading from Karnak temple to Luxor temple. •

50 A sh rine which can be tr aced to the reigns of Amen hotep I, T h utmose II and T hutmose IV was also foun d in the third pylon and has been recon stru cted immedia tely to the nor th of the Pavilion of Sesos tris. It is made of alabaster. Since this was a medium used mainly for statues and offeri ng-tables it is not often that we find a shrine or temple in alabaster. It is small, simple , of beautiful proporti on s and in nearl y perfect condition. On the right-hand of the inner wall is a par ticularly lovely re presentation of the Pha raoh kneeling before a table of offerings . Also extracted from Amenhote p's thi rd pylon arc finely inscribed granite blocks that mu st once have been a dramati c struc ture in red and black, built by Qu een Hat schcpsut . He r figure , carved in low relief, has not been defac ed . One cannot help wonde ring why tem ples and shrines were disman tled and used for new con struct ions. Ikhn aton 's tem ple to Aton is easily exp lained because with his passing the worsh ip of Amon was reinstated and reference to sun- worship was obliterated. But why shou ld the exq uisite temp le of Sesostr is have been hidden in a pylon ? And the temple of Hatschcpsu t ? Because she was a woman and not recogni sed as a Ph araoh of Egypt, despit e her beard , male dress and att empts to pr ove her divine or igin? Then why should the small and exq uisite alabaster shrine have been desti ned for the same fate? T he illu str ious Amen hotep the Magnificent could hardly have been sho rt of raw material. On ly one thing is certain : bu t for the conti nuous efforts of Egyptologists, par ticularly in the last fifty years, many if not all of these hidd en wonders wou ld have been lost forever. In the Cen tra l Court of the temple is the last sur vivor of four obelisks erec ted in pairs by T hutrnose I und er the faithful guida nce of his chief arc hitect, In eni, who br ought them from the granite q uarr ies of Aswan. There arc thr ee vertica l inscriptions on each face of th is obelisk: the centra l one ded icated by T hutmose I himself, the other two add itions by Ramses IV and VI.

by Thutmose I and it was plann ed to have a roof of cedar. In it stands an obelisk (Plan 6 m), the tallest known, and one of two erected by Qu een H arschepsut , who removed part of the roof of her father's colonnade to place them there. H atschepsut ' s co-regent and successor, T hutmose III, at a later date in the family feud had a wall built to hide the obelisks of his predecessor, this being a simpler expedient th an their remo val and destru ction. He also obli terated H atschepsut 's name and inserted his own as making sacrifices to Amon. T he figure of Amon himself was obliterated by Ikhnaton and rest ored by Seti I, thus pu tting an end to the vicissitudes suffered for two hundred years by the colonnade of T hutmose I. T he beautiful remaining obel isk of Hatschepsut was erected in the 16th year of her reign. It was made of a single block of pink Aswan granite of the finest qu ality. T he apex was once covered with a mixture of gold and silver. This lofty spire records the fact that it was made in seven months. It weighs something like

TEMPLE OF AMON

Plan 6

N+S E

w

CENTRAL 0

F ourth, Fifth and Six t h P yl ons We now pr oceed to a m uch ruined part of the tem ple. T he [o urt h l'ylon (P .4), bu ilt by T hutrnose I, is followed by a colonnade with a strange and interesting histor y. Within this enclosed area are clues to family feud s, pett y jealou sies and religious differe nces, to say noth ing ofPharo nic vanit y. T he colonnade was origina lly designe d

Amenhotep III

oooooolL HYPOSTYLE HALL

53 3 17,5 1 5 kilogrammes ( 700 ,000 Ibs). One cannot but i? arvel at ~he tenacit y required merel y to q uarry it, let alone to cart It to the NIle, tran sport it along its waters, disembark it and finally erect it with per fect acc uracy on a ped estal. Fo rmi ng th e rear wall of the colonna de is the ./Uih pyloll (P·s), also erected by Th utrnosc l. Passin g thro ugh it we enter Thutrnose l 's seco nd colonnade, which ori ginally comp rised twenty sixteensided columns. It is now very mu ch in ruin . On each side of the cent ral passage Thu trnosc IIi cons truc ted a pair of chambe rs and beyo nd this rises th e last and sma llest pylon , the sixth pyloll (Plan 7 P.fI) erected by Thutmose 1I I. O n each la ce of the p ylon (II) are lists of tribes of the sou th which were sub jugated by Thutrnosc Ill's army, and also th ose of S yria, which alone number 1 19 · T he conq uere d territorie s are shown as an elliptical hieroglyph character sur mo unted bv a hum an bust with arms bound behind the back . T he Syria ns are d ep icted with pointed beard s and heavy robes . In I~n? p rocessions they bear th eir tributes to be recorded by th e VIZIer.

Hall of Records, Sanctuary T he granite gateway of the sixth pylon was restored by Seti I and as we pass through it we enter what has becom e kno wn as the Hall 0.( Records of Thutmosc III. These were the state record s made by the pri ests of the temple to deta il th e so urces of gifts and booty received by th em. O f cour se, following Thutmose's militar y victo ries K arnak was now increasingly filled with gold and silver treas ures from far afield, as well as with magnificent bron ze weapons of war and furniture of ivory and ebony. The most characte ristic feature of this H all of Record s are th e two statel y granite pillars (0), one bearin g the lotu s of U pper Egypt and the ot her th e pap yru s of Lower Egypt in high relief. T hese rather un usual twin symbo ls emp hasise that the uni ty of the two land s, formed and brok en man y tim es in th eir long history , was intact in the rSth D ynasty. Beyond is the Sa nctuary (p) which comprises two cham bers . It is of pink granite and was const ruc ted by the brother of Alexander the Great, Ph ilip Arrhidae us, on th e site of an earlier chamber. T he walls are finely carved and coloure d ; the reliefs on the upper Cr own ing ceremony of Phil ip Arrhi dacus (upp er ro w). Pr iests bearing sacred bcrgc-, uf :\ muo (Iuwcr ro,,, ); S .UK1U · ar v, Ka m al.. T cmr lc

TEMPLE OF AMON

Plan 7

54

55

reaches of the wall still retain th eir colour. On the outer wall of the sanctuary on the right-hand side (q) is a superb relief in excellen t condition of Philip being crowned and presented to the gods (above) and of the festal barges of Amon being carried in priestly procession (below). On the left- hand outer wall of the sanctuary are the A //// 0/.1 Thutm ose III , depi ctin g details of the cities and tri bes subdu ed in his milit ary cam paigns. J .caving the sanctuary we come to a large open space where there arc very scanty remains of Mid dle Kin gdom structures . Beyond rises the G reat Festival T emple of T hutmosc Ill.

Grouped around the sanctuary, which comprises three cham bers, were some fifty small halls and chambers. Most lie in ruin tod ay. T o the left of the sanctuary is a chamber with four clustered pap yrus columns (r). The lower parts of the walls are decorated

or

Great Festival Temple o f Thutmose III : Plan 8 Before descr ibing this ' Most Gl oriou s of Monuments' as it was called, let us first recall th at Thutmose III was the creator of a vast Egyptian empire; in a ser ies of annals he gave full details of his seventeen cam paigns and record s of the spoils of hatti e. He was the first Egyptian Pharaoh to introdu ce military tactics, his most success ful battl e tech niqu e being th e hlit zkrieg: some 3 ,000 chariots, hidden behind a hill, sim ultaneously dashing into action with lances flying, hooves whipping up the du st , soldiers yelling. T he resulting con fusion in the enemy rank s was designed to weaken their moral e. It inevitably did. Thutm ose III was no war-monger . He never app oint ed Egyptian govern ors over the conq uered territories. In stead he gave power to the local chieftains and, moreover, started cultural relation s by bringing th e son s of the ch ieft ains to Egypt to stu dy and absorb Egyptian culture, ideology and religion before ret urn ing to their homeland s. Followin g the victories of Thutrnose I II Egypt was justifiably imbued with a feeling of national prid e, while the victor him self humbly gave thanks to Amon to the rear of the national templ e at Karnak . The Festival Temple ofThutmose III is spacious and elegant, 44 metr es wide and 10 deep . T he roof is supported by 2 0 columns in two rows and 32 sq uare pillars on the sides . One immediately notices a lack of con formity; Thutmosc ordered his worker s to taper the colum ns downwards and not up wards and to top them with peculiar inverted calyx capitals. The capital gives a sort of tent-like effect and may have been designed to assuage the Pharaoh 's thirst for ou td oor living. It was never repeated. T he effect is definitely clumsy . The reliefs on the pillars, which are short er than the columns, show T hutmose III in the presence of the gods .

TEMPLE OF AMON

Plan 8

Ruins of The Middle Kingdom

57 Granite pillars bearing the symbols of Upper and

with exotic plants and animals brought to Egypt from Syria in the 25th year of the Pharaoh's reign. It says a great deal for the character of Thutmose III that, despite his prowess as a warrior, his ability to topple the powerful Queen Hatschepsut from the throne and his vow to revenge his people for their conquest by the Hyksos, he should have found time and interest to import flowers and animals into his native land. To the right of the sanctuary is what is now known as the Alexander Room (.I). It was originally built by Thutmose III and was restored by Alexander the Great. The reliefs show Alexander, and in some instances Thutmose Ill, sacrificing to the gods. To the south of the Alexander Room is a hall with eight sixteensided columns (I). The two small chambers with columns (zz}, followed by seven other chambers, carry reliefs of Thutmose III. Rear Section of Temple of Amon, Sacred Lake Plan 3 will show that the entire portion eastwards from the fifth pylon, or in other words the rear section of the temple of Karnak, was surrounded by a girdle-wall. What remains of this is embellished with reliefs of Ramses II sacrificing to the various deities. His colonnade at the far end just outside this girdle-wall is now a jumble of ruins and beyond this is a small temple also built by him, and an ancient gateway which dates from the time of the Ptolemies. To the south of this section of Karnak is the Sacred Lake, the symbol of Nun the eternal ocean, where the priests of Amon purified themselves in the holy water. Unfortunately too few of the hewn rocks survived the years to allow of genuine restoration. The gigantic stone beetle or scarab that overlooks the lake was one of four placed there by Amenhotep I II in honour of the Sun God. Southern Buildings, Karnak Cachette, Seventh to Tenth Pylons The buildings extending southwards from the central court of the main temple of Karnak are mostly in ruin today. A brief survey will be made, however, to show the importance of the plan of reconstruction over the next ten years. A group of French architects arc under contract with the Department of Antiquities lor the complete reconstruction of the Karnak area, of which this is only one section, but perhaps the most important. Proceeding from the central court (lying between the third and fourth pylons) arc the remains of a court where there is a good view of Ramses Irs famous treaty with the Hittites, mentioned on

].0\\,<:[

Egypt, Hall of RlXnrds, Karnotk Temple

59

58 KARNAK TEMPLE - Southern Buildings

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pages 46/47, followed by the seventh pylon (P .l). T his court was the site of a temp le of the M iddle K ingdom and it was here that L egrain ext racted a fantastic nu mber of works of art from what became known as th e K arnak Cachette. Bur ied in a pit were tho usands of pieces including statu es in stone and bron ze, sphinxes and sacred an imals. The bronze items alone numb ered 17 ,00 0 . It seems that one of the Ph araohs decided to have a spring clean in the temp le and rem ove all the junk. Though most of the pieces are of little artistic mer it, the find shows that the temple could well have hou sed the 86,486 statues mentioned in the Great Ha rris Papyrus. The seventh pylon (P. l) was bui lt by Thutmose III , and facing it to the south are the rema ins of two colossal statues of him in red granite. Between th e walls un itin g th e seventh and eighth pylons, to the east, is a small shr ine dati ng also from the reign of T hutmose III. The eighth pylon (P .8) was the work of Qu een Hatschep sut and is the most ancient part of the struc ture. In fact there is very little proof of her having built this pylon, for her name was removed from the reliefs by Thutmose II. And following Ikhnaton 's removal of Reconstr ucted statu es oy Inc Eighth Pylon, Kam al Temple.

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T emple o f

Os iris and O pe t

60 all allusions to Amon, Seti I restored them, often inserting his own nam e in place of th ose of th e o lder rulers. Reconstruction of this area ma y yet su p ply the mi ssin g clues to the overlap ping reigns of th e Thutrnosidc s. In the doorway at the rear left-hand of thi s court (P lan 3 v ) is an im port ant hist ori cal relief on the left. It is the first instance in Eg yp t' s lon g history where the h igh priest, in this case Amenhotep, is depicted in the same size as the Pharaoh. Standing with ar m s uplifted, Amenhotep offers flow ers to Rarnses IX. This relief indicates the gro wth of priestly power. Faithful traditionalists of the established religion, th e pr iests of Amon had hitherto been righteous, just and devout. The power of leadership had been firml y ves ted in th e throne and they had re cognised and acce pt ed th is. Over the years howe ver their sim ple piet y had turned to mild int erest in earth ly matters, then acute inter est, and finally to intrigue and a craving for political power. The high pr iest depict ed in thi s mural makes offerings to the Pharaoh while being draped in linen by two serv an ts . A reciprocal gesture of appreciation ? Or a royal bribe ? Beyond the eighth pylon is a row of six royal personages. The best preserved are Amenhotep I (in limeston e) and Thutmose II (in red gr anite), both to the west. The ninth pylol1 (P .g) was bu ilt by Harrnhab th e one- tim e ge ne ral. When repairs start ed it was found to be filled, like its com pan ion th e t enth pylOl1 (P .I O), with blocks from Ikhnaton's te m p le to th e Sun. Together with the 40,000- odd blo cks from th is same period found beneath the hypostyle ha ll and the second p ylon , th ese number some 60 ,000 blocks and ar e valuable clues to a period abo ut whi ch th er e arc man y gaps in our know led ge. When th e first small, distinctively uniform sands to ne blo cks were dis covered in th e pylon ofRam ses II, it was at first erroneou sly assum ed th at the y had been br ough t lip-river from a dismantled temple in Tel cI Amarna, Drainage operations sub seq uen tly led to the excavation of parts of no less than sev en teen colossal st atues of Ikhnaron him self. Ikhnaton in fact had had the tem ple er ected befor e he chang ed hi s capi tal to T el cI Arnarna and whil e Thebes was witnessin g th e slow indoctrinati on of a new reli giou s con cept.

Ikhnaton Temple Project Wh at is now kn own as th e Ikhnaron T emple Pr oject was originally unde rtaken h ~' th e U n ivers ity Mu seum of Penn syl vania. Now it is subsid ised in pari hy the A n tiq uities Departm ent and in part by the

61 St atue otAm enhotc p II in KarnJl Tem ple.

Smithsonian Institution , and is the first scientific stu d y of antiq uities by computer. It entails the ex tra cti on of the blocks and th e feeding of details of their de sign, inscriptions, etc. int o a compu ter, whi ch will match the pieces and prepare the way for recon struction . Modem techniques ma y thus co nce n t rate a lifetime's work into a decade. The question is whether the bl ocks will prove to be parts of one immense temple, a worthy companion to the temple of Amon, or a com plex of man y. It is no exaggeration to say that the Ikh naton Temple Pr oject is one of the most important pieces of work bein g done in Luxor toda y. To date th ere is a gap in th e hi story of th e ar ea. Only in th e tomb of Ramose (page 14I) is th er e an oppor t uni ty to compare th e age- old tradition of artisti c ex pre ssion with th e new . r~ali sm characte ristic of Ikhnaton's time. What a drama when, within th e ver y pr ecincts of Amon 's sacred temple where he enjoyed unquestion ed dominance for gen erations, there will rise a structure from a period meant to ha ve been forev er forgotten . S ide by side with Amo n's power and su premacy will be Ikhnaton's new faith and sp~ bol , the sun, with its radiating for ce end ing in th e gesture of glvm g. The easte rn avenue of sph inx es ex te n ds from th e tenth pylon to th e Gate of Philadclphus, whi ch is e xcellently pr eser ved . T he tem ple of MUI is to th e sou th . To t he west is the tem ple ofKhonsu and the temple of O siri s adjo ins it. TEMPLE OF KHONSU

Plan 9

Temple of Osiris and Opot

Temple of Khonsu: Plan 9 The T emple of Kh on su , de d icate d to th e Moon God Khon su , son of Amon and Mur, is a cla ssical example of a New Kingdom temple. Ram ses III was responsibl e for building th e ori ginal san ctuary and erecting the walls but it was only com plete d under his succ esso rs Ramses IV, wh o contin ue d the near chambers and added a sma ll hyp ost yle hall , Ramses XII , and Hrihor, the high priest who seized th e throne at the close of th e zo th Dynast y. Hrihor added a colonnaded cour t and the entrance pylon . I n the 21 st D yna sty the temple was continued under Panejern I. The larg e pylon at the entra nc e (Plan 9 P.I) ha s representations of th e high priest and his wife making sacrifices to various Theb an deiti es. The high priest, Hrihor , stands in the position traditionally occupied by th e Pharaoh s of Egy pt. The four vertical grooves with corresponding apertu res in the ma sonry at th e front of th e pylon were used to fasten th e flagstaffs. Passin g thro ugh the centr al portal of th e pylon, decorated

Thutmosc 1' 1 in

J

If;\d tt i' lOJ I scc ru- Shll Win!! th e punishmen t ofal l c n \: m ~ co unr rics.

65 with reliefs of Alexander II , we ent er the Court (A) . This has four side-e xits and is surrounded on three sides by colonnades of papyrus colum ns with bud capitals form ed in double rows . Those at th e rear of the court arc on a raised ter race . There is a representation on th e right -hand wall (a) showing the main pylon of th e temple with eight, not four, flagstaffs. On the walls of the terrace Hrihor makes offerings to Amon, Mut and Khon su (Ii) . At (r ) he receives gifts from Kh on su and there arc also representation s of the sacre d bar ge. At (d) Hrihor offers flower s to an im age of M in, the god of human ferti lity. . Throu gh th e doorwa y at th e back of th e court IS th e ~ ~po st yl e hall (B) which spans th e full breadth o f th e temple. I ~e four pap yrus colum ns in th e central aisle have calyx .capltals whilst the smaller side one s ha ve bud capitals. The wall reliefs were added by Rarnses X I I and depict him sacrificing to the gods in the presence of llrihor, who later dethroned him . Th e central doo rwa y in the rear walllcads to the sanctuary (C ). The reliefs represent the Pharaoh s Ram ses IV , Ram ses X II and various deiti es. Beh ind the sanc tuary, on each side of which are small c.hamb.ers with reliefs of Ram ses IV , is a small door of th e Ptolema ic period leading to a sma ll hall (D) which has four twenty-sided columns. The reliefs mostly depi ct Rarn scs IV but th ere are .also ~o m e representation s of th e Emperor Augustus on each SIde of the en trance. There arc seve n sma ll ch ambers, decorated by Ram scs III and his su ccessor s, sur ro und ing this ha ll. . The temple of Khonsu is of special historical significance since it bear s witn ess to the transmissi on ofPharon ic power , betw een the reign s of Ram scs III and Rarn ses X II , fro m th ~ royal line. of Phar aoh s to th e pri est s of Amon . As alread y m en ~lOn ed the high priests gradu ally acquired more po litiea~ p()\~er af_ter the close of th e i Srh D ynast y. With an ever-wea kening line 0 1 Phara ?hs after Rum ses I I th ey wer e at last ab le to usurp th e th ron e. In thi s temple the name of th e high pri est ap pears in a royal cartouche for the first tim e. Temple of Osiris and Opet: Plan 9 The Tem ple of O siri s and Op et adjoin s th at of .Khonsu to the south- west. It comprises a rectangular hall which has a wellpr eserv ed ceiling resting on two Hathor-decor ated columns, a second small hall which is flanked by two rooms , and a sanctuary. The sanc tuary has representations of K ing Eu ergetes I [ before

variou s deities. A flight of steps from the sanctua ry lead s to the lower chambers of the basement and th e exit door , which once connected thi s temple with that of Khonsu . Temple of Mut Now completely in ruins, th e Temple of Mut was sur rounded on three sides by a hor seshoe-shaped lake. It was ded icated to th e consort of Amon and comprised a pair of open courts, one followin g the other, and a sanctuary surrounded by ante-chambers. The construction extended through man y generation s from Arnenhotcp III to Ptolemaic tim es. Among its many statues and murals is a grotesque figure of th e god Bes, and at least 600 statues of the war-goddess Sekhrnet in black granite. These sur ro unde d the en tire cou rt, in places packed closely in double rows.

Ar ncnhutcp II was known for his en ormo us muscular stren gth . Hi s arro ws pie rce

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66 CHA PTE R 4 TH E N ECROPOLIS INTROD UCTION

It was to the We st, where the S un Go d at the end of each day began his noct urnal journe y thro ugh th e underworld, that man also gained ad mitta nce to the her eafter. I .ife after death was a concept most deepl y. roo ted in the minds of the. ancient Eg ypt ians. Sin ce the earliest rimes they had seen the passmg of the mo rt al hody not as an end hu t as a beginn ing. Belief in th e her eafter was the fo cal point of th eir outloo k. It stim ulat ed th eir though t, their moral pr inciples and thei r art. Man, as they saw him, com prised the bod y, the spiri t (or ha), and the 1..'11 , a sort of guard ian doubl e which, thoug h hom at the same time, d id not shan: death with him . After the passing of his mortal bod y man could live again through his ku , pr ovid ed that it was nourished and surrounded bv all that was necessary for a continu ed existe nce. Hi s ha or spirit ascended to higher "sp her es and could fly arou nd the world and ret urn to the tomb, provided th at his body was pro pe rly pr eser ved . W itho ut th e bod y, in fact, th ere could be no conti nued existence. So it can rea dily he seen that the re posito ry for the dead and the manner in whid) th ey were to be interr ed were of th e utmost im portance. . h en in pre -dy nastic times th e dead , laid to rest in sim ple ova l pits surmoun ted by a pile of rubble, were cove red with a protecti ve ani mal skin am] surrounded by pot s containing food and drink, a few prim iti ve weapo ns and orn ame nts. Each slow development from th ese crude pit burials th rou gh th e mas/aha developm ent to the pyra m id proper, and its u ltimate aba ndonment in favour of rock- hew n to mbs, was a batt le to preserve the bod y. \Vhen a stone superstruct ure was placed ato p a to mb in place of the rubble, th is was beca use it was a stro ng er safeguard agai nst the eleme nt s. Wh en, in place of skin, line n cloth was used to swathe the ho dv this was becau se it afford ed better protection. Wh en the tom bs were made deeper , wh en a system of blocking entrance passages was dev ised, when funerary customs underwen t chan ge, each stage was an advanceme nt in the pro tectio n of the bo dy to allow the deceased to live again, till' ever. .

IHas/ahas, low rec tangu lar bench- like brick structures were tombs. T he ear liest comprised a sin gle b ur ial chamber hew~ deep in the gro u nd , in whi ch the deceased, placed in a wooden sarcoph agus, lay surrounded hy potter y ~ a rs filled with food , dr ink and ointments, and ches ts of weapon s and jewellery. In the funera ry roo.m huilt in the sup erstructure there was a fa lse door thro ugh which the ka could join the world of the living. In front of it was an offering table where relatives and frien ds cou ld place food and drink to sus tain the deceased in the her eafter. Si nce tom bs were regarded as th e places where the deceased would dw ell, they closely res em bled contemporary houses both inside and ou t. Naturall y, incr eased prosperi ty meant a bett er life and, since a man 's good fort une led to an increased concern to take it all with him to the hereafter, the ma st aba un derwen t transformation. It becam e larg er and more com plex, construc ted to fit each ind ivid ual's special requiremen ts. T he sarcophagus, still laid in the central cham ber of th e substructur e, stood on a platform. O ther cham bers were co nstr ucted for the funerary eq uipme nt . Ab undant food and drink mean t more susten anc e for the bod y. Perfected furn iture meant more etern al com fort. Ointments, weapons, gam es, clothing, all meant a bett er afte r-life. And since it was desirable to be sur ro unded by loved ones, cha m bers were someti mes constr ucted fo r th e wife, sons an d dau ght er s of the deceased . . But}arger tom bs and richer fun erary equ ipm ent led to increased fisk of violat ion by robbers. It is somewhat ironi cal that, whereas mu m mification was to be per fected and art and archit ecture were to rise to a high degree of soph istica tion , no secure meth od of hind ering the rob ber was ever fou nd. During fifty cent uries tom bs were violated , the ir con ten ts tak en and the hodies exposed to the clement s. T he bu rial chamber and adjoi nin g rooms for the funerary eq uipment were or iginally cons tructed first and then, after the superstructure was raised , the decease d and his belon gings were lower ed thro ugh th e roof of th e mastaha, down the pit and straight into the burial cha mb er. Wi th bigger and more elahorate tombs, however , an easier means of ent ry had to be dev ised . Access was th enceforth mad e via a sta irway from a point outside the superstru ctu re and leadi ng dir ectly und er ground to the to mb cham ber. It was hop ed that robb ers would be deterred by an elabo rate system of'blocki ng s. In ~ any mastahas dating from the latt er part of the 4th D ynasty a special room was con structed in the superstructure, separated hy a wall from the other roo ms. T his was the st at ue house , now known

68 by th e Arab ic na me of serdab or cellar, where a sta t ue or statues of the tomb's owner were placed. It was consi dered as th e scat for his ka and th er e were slits in th e interve ning wall whic h enabled th e ka to sec th e light of da y, watch th e offe ring ce remo nies and en joy th e sce nt of th e burning ince nse . T he slits th em sel ves were known as the eyes oft he lea-h ouse, In th is way the de ceased , lying underground in his tomb cham her, had his ka supervi sing the offering cer emonies on his behalf. But how could he be sure that future generations of hi s relat ives would co ntin ue to bring him food and drink? T o ensure co nti n ued nourishment he had himself represented on the to mb walls in the act of recei ving sacrificial offerings. These representat ions of food and dr ink wer e bcIieved to serve him in place of th e real t hin g. Not su rprisi ng ly this was only on e step away from believing t hat an ything depicted on th e walls of a tom h was as good as th e real t hing : a we ll-s toc ked far myard, healthy cattle, a large house and garden, numerou s ser vants. Royal tombs were or igin ally lar ge brick mastabas. In fact the Step Pyr am id of Sakkara, th e first stone hu ild ing in hi st ory, started as a mastaba and grew to its cha racte ristic proportions as a result of successive ad ditions. Then ceforth the tombs of the head of state ste ad ily surpassed the tom bs of the people in size and magn ificence . In time th e steps were filled in and th e outer casing was mad e smoo th until th e full pyr amid form develop ed . These were vast sto ne struc t ures, design ed in geo me t rical sim plicity, to safeg uard the bod y of the deceased Pharaoh . To th e cast of each pyram id was a mortuary temple where a priesthoo d cond ucted ri tuals and m aintained th e tom h com plex . t\ cove re d causeway connec ted it with a valley temple whic h stoo d at the foot of th e plateau . T he pyram ids, of wh ich the gre at 4th Dyna sty Pyram id of K h ufu (C heops) at Gi za is the m ost fam ou s, failed to safeguard the bodi es of th e Ph araohs. T ho ugh som e of th ese vast str uctures stand as imperishable landm arks, they were probably rob bed as early as th e uncert ain period following th e fall of the monarch y at M emphis in the 6th D ynasty. Yet, surprisingly, for over six centu ries, until T h urmosc I came to t he thron e in the t Sth Dynas ty, the py ram id co ntin ued to be the to m b constructed for the royalt y of Egy pt. Amc nho rcp I was the first P ha raoh to break with the an cie nt custom . H e saw th at th e du rable pyramids had failed to safeguard th e bodies of his an cest ors, that blind alleys and hidden cha m her s neve r fooled a ro bber. Now he atte m pted secrecy to give him th e ete rna l sec uri ty he craved . For his tom b he chose a site high

on th e hills south of the Valley of the Ki ngs and b uilt his mo rt uary tem ple in th e valley. Hi s successor, T hut mose I, follo wed his innovat ion of separa ting th e burial cha m ber from th e m ortuary temple, be ing th e first Ph ar aoh to construct his tomb in the Valley of th e Kin gs. Hi s arch itect In en i excava ted it throu gh solid ro ck across a precipitous valley , and record ed for po sterit y on a stele in his tom b that he car ri ed ou t his Pharaoh's request ' no one seein g and no one hearing'. H is mortuary tem ple was bu ilt at the edge of th e ver dant valley on th e west bank of the N ile. Thu s, he bel ieved, could his cult be contin ued whil e his ac tual res ting pla ce was unknown. This preced ent was followe d. The Ph araoh s th at succeeded T hutmose I in the i Sth, i oth and zoth D yn ast ies contin ued to d ig the ir tombs deep in th e sterile valley which is now kno wn as th e Va lley of the K ings. Royal co nsor ts and child ren from the roth D yna sty were buried at a se parate site, the Valley of the Q uems. Nobleme n had th eir to m bs du g at vario us ceme teries amo ng th e footh ills of the ran ge. This is th e Theban necr opolis, the City oft he Dead. It was not EI F~ dI Y J Ca na l runs parallel with th e Nil e, at Lux or

alwa vs as lifeless as we sec it toda y. At one time beside each mo rtua ry te m ple t he re wer e dw ellin gs for the pri ests and sta b les for th e sacrificial animals. Near bv were th e gua rd ho uses and granaries eac h with its supe ri ntende nt . S~IITo u n d.i ng o r in fron t of each temple were lakes, gro ves and beau tifull y laid-out garde ns . A lar ge community of labour er s and craftsmen were engaged on t he building, the decorating , the making of statue and sar cop ha gus, and , of course, on the very specialised job of pre pari n~ th e deceas.ed for th e her eafter : mummification . The ru ins of this communit y have heen excava ted near th e temple of Der el M ed ina . So me -+0,000 pieces of pottery and scra ps of pap yru s give fascin~t i ng revela tions of the art ists and art isans who lived the re. The village com prised abo ut eig hty fam ilies, each posse ssing a sn~ all , un iform . and sparely furnished house. They worked. un de r a st n~ t sys tem ~ t ad mi nist ra tion and th e peopl e were classified acco rding to t he ir work. T he design ers and scri bes were consi de red super ior to th e artis ts, pai nte rs" and dra ugh tsm en. The q uarrymen and. mason s nat ur ally came abov e th e port ers, d igger s and mortar mi xers . At the bottom of the scale were the watch men and refreshm ent carr iers. At the top, in charge of the wh ole comm unity, were t~e Di recto r of W or ks and th e vario us for em en im mediately un de r his control. Atte nda nce was str ictly marked and an abse nt worker had to acco unt for himself. The wr itten exc uses have surv ived th e centu ries. O ne had to ' visit rnv mothe r- in-law' . Anot her had to get urge nt suppl ies fro m th e marker . Illn ess was a freq uent exc use . T he scan da ls, q uar rels and co mplai nts of th e w()r kers\~ere all recor~ed . On one occa sion a co mplaint reac hed th e au tho rities that a chair, a box and a mi rr or were m issing fro m th e tom b of a worker. H e descri bed them in det ail. A chec k was made . No thing was foun d . BUI when Br uye re, leadi ng th e F rench Egyp tol~g i c a l ~: xp e~ it i on, was exca vating t he area he found the three described pieces tn.one of the sma ll tombs in th e surroun ding cliffs where the dead at the village were b ur icd ! T here were also complaints of a mor e serious nature, as for examp le the bac klog of sa lari~s whic h led t(~ the famo us. Revolution «[t hc zo thi z tst Dyu ust ics, written on papyn and recor dtn~ that the au t ho ri ties failed to give allowances to the peo ple of the vlll a~e for two m onth s. Payme nt norm ally came regularl y each month m t.he form of charcoal, d ried m eat , fish, ban dages and cloth, along wit h mat er ials for th eir work . W hen th e carava n failed to t urn up t he village rs stage d a revolt and attem pted to send represe nta tives in

pro te st to Thehes . T hey were sto pped fro m crossing the river. H owever, t hey d id finally send the O mdah (he adma n) of the village to spea k on th eir be half and were co nseq uently prom ised thei r salaries wit hin a wee k. The men of the village were all skilled wor kers . Those th at toiled in the Vallev of the K ings for ten day st retches slept in mak eshift she lte rs in a "m ount ain pass ab ove the village unt il the ir term of work was over. On the ir return they had ample time to enjo y scu lpting at leisure, making jeweller y, household objec ts ~nd statues of their o wn guardian deity, H ath or , to whom they built a small shri ne . One village resident , K ha, a draughtsm an who rose to th e position of arch itect , placed in his tomb a selection of fll r~it ure which ap pea rs unused . It is doubtful wheth er he aet ua.lly en joyed these luxuries in his ho me . They were evide ntly placed In his tom b . that they might ensure him a be tter after-~i fc . It is strange to note tha t now here on the Fhe ban necropolis have th e rui ns of a mumm ificati on centre yet been fou nd .

73 CHAPTER 5 THE NECROPOLIS MORT UARY TEMPLES

Plan II MORTUARY TEMPLE OF SETI I (KURNA)

B ACKGRO U ND As we have seen, the reignin g Ph ara oh was th e em bodiment of th e Sun Go d and the G od of the Imperial Age, When he died and Arno n cast his prot ective shield over his successo r, the cult of the deceased Phar aoh was continued in his mortu ary temple, which was also dedi cated to Amo n. The largest of th ese temples, th at of Ame nhorep III, is no more ; alit ha t rem ain arc the twin statu es known as th e Colossi of M ernn on seated in solit ary isolation in the plain. T he mortuary templ e of Scti I at K uma contains some of the most exquisite relief work on the Th cban necropolis. The mos t beaut iful, Queen H atschepsut's at Ocr el Bahri, lies slightly inland from the semi-circle along th e valley's edge. The Rarnasseum of Ram scs II is a page in hist or y, and M edi net Habu, the nam e given to a group of buildings begun in th e i Sth D ynasty and contin uing to Rom an times, incl udes a splend id temp le built by Ram ses I II on th e same pattern as th e Ram asseum. MORT UARY TEMPLE OF S ETl 1 (K UR N A) : Plan I I Seti I was the Pharaoh who fou ght against th e Libyans, Syrians and H ittites in an effort to win back the em pire of Thutmosc Ill. He succeeded in reconq uering territor ies spreading from Mesopotamia to th e island of Cy prus and carr ied home vast treasur es to adorn his temples, hath th is one at Kuma and the mar vellous one at Abydos. Set i enco ur aged art and arc hitect ure, and his two templ es with out doubt hold some of the most exq uisite relief work in the enti re N ile Valley. Whil st approaching this i qrh Dyna sty mortuary temple it would he as well to remember th at the execution of funer ary art was inheri ted from long-establi shed tr aditi ons and was considered sacre d. Simi lar th emes and unvarying treatment followed from one dynasty to the next, the onl y real di fference lying in th e competen ce of its exec ution. It is here th at the real value o f th is temple lies. The

Second Court (destroyed )

/ Second Py lo n

(destroyed)

75

74 reliefs show that craftsmanship had reached a remarkable stage of maturity . There is little doubt that the artists in Seti's rei gn were aware (;f foreshortening and knew how to cope with it. Yet the y int erpreted their figures as did th e art ists of th e Old Kingdom , n ever v io l.u in g the pattern of est ablished art. They merely eoncc n rratc d their efforts on preci se and refined detail. . Th is te m ple, apart hom being co nstr ucted to con n n ue the. Cl~lt of the deceased Pharaoh and to honour Arnon , was also bu ilt III reverent m emory of Seti 's fath er , Rarnses I, who di ed b efor e co ns tr uc t ing a temple of his own . It was not c0l1!P~eted hy ? et i I but hy hi s son, Ramses I I, who s up p lied th e missmg reliefs and in scription s. . Of t he o r iginal len gth of som e I 58 m etre~
en

sunken, cru d er reli efs of Ramses I I, who en ters the temple (to the right) and offers incense to Amon, Mut and Khonsu ~ to the I ~ft ) . Beyond the h yp ost yle hall is the s~ lletllary (B) .whlch has fo.ur simple sq uare pillars, and the decorations on th e SIde walls depi ct Seti I offering incense before the barge of Amon . The base of Am on 's sac re d bar ge still stan ds here. The cham bers be yond are in rum . In the ri ght-hand div ision of the temple is a. long ~all of Ral1!ses II (C) . Again we can com pare these sunken reliefs WIth those of the main hu ilding . They are clearly far inferior work. . On the corres pon d ing left-hand di vision of th e temple IS a sm all shrine constructed by Ramses I (D) and probably usurped by Rarnses I I. Adj oining it are three chambers. In th e middle one. (i) Seti offers incense to the barge of Amon and, on th e rear wall , IS a stele shaped like a door, to Ramses II, wh o appears in Osiris form presided over by Isi s as a hawk. The two .flan king chambers have reliefs dating from Ramses II and show him before th e deities.

MORTUARY TEMPLE OF QUEEN HATSCHEPSUT (DER EL BAHRI): Plan 12 Introduction Framed by stee p cliffs and poised in elegant relief, stands the temple of D el' el Bahri. Justly deserving its name ' Most Splendid of All', it was the in spiration of the beautiful Queen Makere Hatschcpsut, daughter of Thutmose I. What str ikes one. first w ~ e n approaching this temple is its unity with nature. Far from being belittled by the star k purity of the cliffs behind, the temple was so de signed that th e cliffs form a backcloth . . Hatschepsut, whose ro yal lineage to. th e Great Ro yal Wl~e Ahrnose made h er th e only lawful hell' among Thutmosc I s ch ildren , hi s sons being by minor wives, was pre v ent ~d by her sex from succeedin g as Pharaoh. She con sequen tly married her halfbrother Thutmose II. During his rei gn and her subseq uen t coregency with Thutmose III she retained pow er in her ca pab le hands. To appreciate the temple of Del' eI Bahri one m~ st k~ow a little of the ch arac ter of the beautiful woman who conceived It. She was indisputably iro n - willed and not willing to let th e fact that she was a woman stand in her way . She assumed a throne name - M akere. She wore a royal shirt and ceremonial beard, th e badges of kingship.

77 S he proved her right to th e th ron e in numerou s relie fs of her di vine bi rth, Once l Iatsch ep su t had secu red her right to the th ron e she em barked on th e building of temples and monuments and also on the restorati on of damaged sanc tua ries. This was perhap s especi ally import ant to her since she cou ld hardl y record her nam e in history through mili tary conquest and sought to do so through arch itectural magnificen ce. The ohelisks she had erected in Karnak temple (page 51) were so placed th at the glitteri ng tip s should ' inundate the Two L and s just as it ap pears in the hor izon of heaven' . And she plann ed her m ortuar y temple to be no less specta cula r. H er arch itect Sc nrnur, wh ilst d rawin g ins pi ra tion from th e adjacent J rrh D yn ast y tem p le of the Ph ar aoh s Mc ntu ho rcp II and I II , carried it o ut on a very m uch larger sca le. Ado pting th e idea of th e terr ace and addi ng an extra tier , he mad e suc h imposi ng use of it th at he deserve s special cre dit. l lc d esign ed a terr aced sanc t uary com prising court s, one abo ve th e othe r with connec ting incl ine d plan es at th e cent re. Shrin es wer e ded icat ed to H ath or and An ubis and ch am bers devoted to th e c ult of th e queen and her parents . It was a labour of love, for Senmu t, who first entered the service of H atschepsut as tu tor to her daugh ter Nefrure, had ambitions and abili ties th at took him high on the ladder of success. lie not o nly ended with no fewer than forty titles but cond uc ted him sel f as a member of the ro yal fam ily, enjoyi ng privileges and prerogat ives never hefor e enjo yed by a m an of humble birth. H e was I Iat sch cpsut's supporter and lov er and doubtless also her political ad viser. H e was also gra nted a privilege accord ed to no official before or after : th at of co ns tr uct ing his tomb near th e mortuar y temple of his mon arch . H at sch cp su r had t wo tombs. H er bod y was found in neither. The first she had du g in th e Valley of th e K ings where all m ember s of the royal fam ily were laid to rest in th e i Sth Dy nasty. T he second , after she became monarch , was in the Ta ker Zeid Valley, south of Del' el Bah ri an d overlooking the Valle y of t he 'Kings. The former tom b was so designed th at th e corr idors, burrowed 2 13 met res be nea th th e barrier hill , sho uld lead to th e tomb cham ber itself directl y be neath th e mortu ar y temple. It was as th ou gh , whi le wishing to construct her tomb in th e roya l valley, she wanted at th e same ti me to con form to the ancient prac tice of linking the tom b with the mo rt uary temple. Sh e neve r achieved her goal. Bad rock or other causes led to th e passage bein g contin ued in a swe rve ()8 met res belo w gro und le vel and th en aba ndoned . It is devoid of

re lief and insc riptio n and, ap art from lim estone slabs rela ting cha pte rs from the Book of th e Dead in red and black sketch form , is a rather path eti c an d cru de passage. In her red sandstone sarco phagus th e bod y of her father T hutrnose I had been laid to rest , un til th e pr iests of th e zoth Dynas ty rem oved his mumm y to th e shaft of D el' el Bahri (page 84) for safe keeping . In fact Hatschepsu r's sarcophagus had been enlarged to receiv e his body. Wh y was T hutmose I laid to rest in his daughter's tom h ? Because his own had already been used by T hu tm ose II, who died prematurely after a short co- regency with H at sch cp sut. And H at schep sut 's mumm y ? It prob abl y suffered th e same fate as her statues and rep resentations in murals. For, whe n T hurmose III finally asserte d himself and expelled her from t he th ron e, his years of frus trated energy swelled fort h in a campaign of dest ru ction whe n he ob literated fro m eve ry temp le througho ut th e land , but from De l' cI Bahr i in particular, ever y reference to the fema le Ph ar aoh . L ater, wh en Ikhnaton rem oved refer en ces to Amo n from the temp les of Egypt , t he inscriptions of D el' el Bahr i were furth er muti late d. Ra m ses II ende avoured to restore th em but the wor k-

The Mortuary Temple of Queen I Iatschcpsut

31

Dcr cl Hahn

79 Plan 12 MORTUARY TEMPLE OF HATSCHEPSUT (Der el Bahri)

S+N W

E

S . Colonnade

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manship was inferior. And in thi s cond ition the beaut iful temple remained, with only minor alterations takin g place unt il C hristian monks set up a convent th ere. Sad ly, but un derstandably, they too scraped the walls and added to the overall desecration . Two of the learned members of N apoleon's expedition to Egypt in 1798 first made the temple ofDer el Bahri known to the mod ern world, releasing part of it from its sandy em brace. C ham pollion was responsible for de ciphering th e hieroglyphi cs and att empting to unra vel the famil y feud. Mariet te interpreted the picturesqu e reliefs of th e Voyage to Punt. In 1894 the Egy ptian Exploratio n Fund started to exhume the tem ple properly but the ir work was not completed for nine years. Some of the colonnades were roo fed in and certain other necessary alt erati ons were carri ed out to pr eserve th e rema inin g reliefs and co lonnades. For sever al years now a Pol ish team has been excavating an d recon structing the temple. In 1969 they unearthed a small temple bu ilt by Thutmose I II to the left of th e upper terra ce of Hat schepsu r's tem ple and parallel with the rock-hewn inner cham bers. 1n 1970 th ey un earthed what at first appeared to be another terrace but has since been described as a pr otective roof to the rear of th e temple to safeguard against fallin g rock .

Lower and Central C ourts We ascend th e temple of Der cI Bahri from the lamer court where two colonnades have been rest ored . These com prise twent y-tw o colum ns on each side arra nged in double rows. In the southern colonnade is a scene sho wing two obelisks bei ng tran sported by water (those Harschepsur had erected at Karnak). The first row shows them on the de ck of the barge and below a trumpeter leads a gro up of archer s to the inauguration ceremon y. Passing bet ween th e two colonnad es we come to th e central court (Plan 12 A ), which lead s to the upper terra ce. We are now faced with two fam ous colonnades . On the left (B) is the Co lonnade of the E xped ition to Punt. On the right (C) is the Birth Colonnade .

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Punt Colonnade The Punt Colon nade commemo ra tes an ex pedition ordered by Qu een Hatsch cp sut to the Land of Punt (in the East Africa i Soma lia ar ea) to bring back myrrh and ince nse tr ees \ 0 be plant ed on the terraces of the templ e. The relief tells us that Amo n him self ordered the expedi tion and it appea rs th at Hat sch epsu t not on ly car ried out the divine will bu t mad e th e exped ition a ma jor mission .

80 On the southern wall (II) we can see the village in Punt where the houses ar e constructed over water with ladders leading up to the entrances . We can see the mayor of the city, the inhabitant s, the gr azing catt le and even th e village dog. The Egyptian en voy and his en to urage arc greeted in welcome and are sho wn pr esenting merch andi se for barter . T he fat, deformed qu een of Punt is there. T he hieroglyphi cs relat e tha t this illu stri ous monar ch tra velled by donkey and, with obvio us wit, the artists have sho wn the little donk ey itself. Throu ghout the span of Egypti an histor y, from predyna st ic times to th e fall of the empire, it was not oft en that deformed or ph ysically hand icapped persons were scu lpt ed or drawn . The few that were belonged to the earl ier dvnastics and were peopl e of the lower class es. The portrayal of the qu een of Punt suffering from th e swollen legs of elep hantiasis, and without even a royal carr iage for transport, makes one feel that neither llarsch cp sur nor her arti st s had mu ch resp ect for her. On the back wall at (b) the Egypt ian fleet sets sail, arri ves in Punt and we sec the tran sportation of the ince nse tr ees planted in small tubs (top row) and on board the vessel (lower row ). These will be carried back to Dcr cI Bahri, there to be planted in the court. In ta ct th e roots ar c still on site to thi s d ay. On e ca n no t hut feel, di vine will notwithstanding, that more than a littl e of H at sch cpsur 's whim and fancy went into the elaboration of the who le mi ssion. In a joyo us representation at th e centre of the long hack wall (c) th e queen (defaced) can be seen offering the fruits of her exped ition to Amo n: incen se tree s, wild game , catt le, clectrum and bows. The whole mural speak s of su ccess and pleasure.

Shrine of Hathor T o the left of th e Co lonnade of Punt stands th e S hrine of Hathor ( D) . It h,IS two roofed-in colo nnades with Hath or colum ns leading to th e shrine itself whi ch com p rises three cha m hers, one beh ind the ot her , and each with seve ral recesses. In the colonnaded court is a large sacrificial scene on the southern wall (If) showing a boat containing the l luthor-cow with Qu een Hatschepsut drinking from the udde r. On the rear western wall is a representat ion of Thutmose II (re placing Ha rschcpsu t) ha ving his hand licked hy the Harhor -cow. In the first cham her k) Harschepsut or Thutm ose III is represent ed with several of the deities. The colour is exce llen t, especi ally on th e ceiling wh ich is decorated with stars on a blue sky. The

81 l larhor colum n from 'he S hn nc of Hatho r, J Jcr d nahri

seco nd room ( f) sho ws Hatschcpsu t (scrape d) making offerings to Harhor. who stands on the sacr ed barge beneath th e canopy . This is a reliefof unusual beauty. Ehi, so n of Horus, is th e little nude boy who holds a sistrum in front of th e queen . The third room (g) has an unusual pointed ro of and th e wall reliefs sho w Hatschepsut (on each of the sid e wall s) drinking from the udder of the cow, Hathor, with Amon stand ing before them . On the back wall is another particularly bea ut iful relief of Harschepsut stand ing between Hathor and Amon with the latt er holding before her face th e h iero glyph sym bo l of life .

Birth Colonnade T he Birth Colonnade corres po nds exactly to th e Punt Col onnad e. As alre ady m entioned, it was const ru cted to allay con cern abo ut l l urschcpsur's right to th e throne. The th eory of di vine orig in was above dis cu ssion, let alone di spute, and thi s is shown in a scene of the ram -h eaded Khnum shaping} latschcpsut and her ka on the pott er 's wheel (Ii) under in structions from Am on who has impr egnated the queen mother. Am ong the particularly fine representations is that of th e queen mother Ahrnose (I), full with child . She radiates joy and sta nds dignified in her pregn ancy, smiling a sm ile of su prem e contentment as she is led to th e birth room . U nfort unately most of the scene in whi ch Amo n and the queen mother arc borne to the heav en s by two god desses seated on a lion-headed couch, is badly damaged. But the gro tes q ue figure of th e god Bcs can be seen in th e lower row (j) . In the scene of th e act ual birth the qu een moth er sits on a cha ir whi ch is pla ced on a co uch held aloft by various gods . This in turn sta nds upon an other co uch also su pported by gods. The queen mother has a retinue of femal e attendants . l lathor then pr esents I Iarschepsut to Amon and the t welve kas of th e divine child ar e su ckled by twelve goddesses (k) . H atschepsut and her ka have been erase d but in th e scene at the end of the wall (I) they pass th rough th e hands of vari o us goddesses who record th e divine birth . Hatschepsur 's mother is shown in the presen ce of the ibis-headed Thoth, the ram-head ed Khnum and the frog-h ead ed H ekel. She also con ver ses with Amon wh o tell s her tha t he r daughter shall exerci se kin gsh ip throughou t th e land . By depi ct ing l la tschepsut as a boy and by rep eating the theme of Amon layin g a hand of ble ssing on her shoulde r, the most important prejudices against her rul e are ove rcome.

Srnall and U p p er Courts, Sanctuary . . To th e right of the Birth Colonnade is a sma ll court (E) c?mpn sm g twel ve sixtee n- sided col umns in three rows, and leading to th e chapel of Anubis, which has three chambers. The walls (!f the c~ >u rt ha ve exce llently preserved reliefs, th ou gh represcntanon s 01 th e queen have all been damaged . On the righ~-hand ~vall (II!) ~bove th e small re cess is a scene of th e monarch making a wine-offeri ng to the hawk-head ed Sakal'is, god of the dead. On the rear wall offerings are made to Amon (to th e left) and Anubis (to the right) with the . sacrificial gifts heaped up before each . The ifppa Court (F) was the part of the temple that suffered most seve rely at the hands of the Christian monks. It has been closed to vi s~tors for more than a year for reconstructi on . It includes a sm all vestibu le leading to on e of the few altars (C ) to com e down to us from antiquity on their original sites, and to a sacrificial hall (H) with reliefs ad orning the walls. At th e back of th e court are a number of small recesses, some lar ger than others, and th e cent ral recess lead s int o th e sanc tuarv itself whi ch was cut directl y into the cliff ba cking the temple. Th~ granite portal formin g the entrance dates from the time of the Ptolemies. The S anctuary (1) comprises three cha m bers. The first two have vaulted ceilings and adj oining recesses. In the first cham ber IS a scen e (on th e upper rea ch es of the right-hand wall) ofHat sch ep su ~ , Thutmose III and th eir little dau ghter, Princess Ran ofru , sacrificing to the barge of Amon. Behind th em are the qu een 's father Thutmose I with his wife Ahmose and th eir littl e dau ghter Bitnofru. A sim ilar sce ne, som ewhat damaged , is represented on the left-hand wall with Thutrnose III kn eeling. In th e inner room of the san ctuary the reliefs show a marked deterioration from the worthy representations in the reign of H atschepsut . This room was restored by Euergetes I I. As already mentioned , Hatschepsut's mummy was never found. It was nei ther in the tomb she constructed in the Valley of the Kings, nor in the one excavated south of the mortuary temple, nor in the shaft at Del' el Bahri, nor in the tomb of Arnenhorcp II , the ' Safety Tomb' . Whether she was poi soned that .Thutmos~ .I ll mi ght take over th e thron e, stabbed by her lover , killed by officials jealou s of Senmut's favour, or died a natural death rem ains a matter for spe culation .

85 DE R EL B AHRI-SH AFT AND C A VE RN T h e Shaft at Der el Ba hri In 1881 a twelve metre shaft was excava ted at th e foot of the precip itou s cliffs to the north of D er el Bahri . It was found to con tain no less than forty m um m ies of Egypt 's anci ent monarch s, all of which now lie in the Egyptian M use um in Ca iro. T he story of this di scover y goes back to I S70' when various anti q ue ob jects began to ap pear on th e market at L uxor , slowly at first but with a steadi ly increasing flow . O bvio usly some royal tomb was being ran sacked . Enq uir ics -v-some subtle, some other wise yielded no thi ng. Although th e felaheen of Kuma were clearl y involved it was also ab unda nt ly clear that they intended to kee p q uiet. When fu nera ry statuettes of King Panejem followed the flow of imp ortant papyri on the ma rket the Directo r of Antiq uities , Si r G asto n Maspero, redou bled his eflor ts in searc h of a solu tion. The only substan tial clu e seemed to lead to a prom inent antiq uities merch ant , Abd cI Rasool Ahmed . Yet even when his sullen silence was bro ken and he agreed to a cross-ex amination, it led nowhe re. H is talent for den ial was masterl y. And, since he was suc h a respected citizen with so man y suppo rters who could vouch for h is honesty and innoce nce , there was complete deadlock. Iron ically enough it was a fami ly ri valr y tha t led to his betrayal. H is eldest b rother finally led Emile Br ugsch, in the absence of Maspero, to the site . A sha ft was found in one of the coves of th e range of hills separating th e Valley of the K ings from Der eI Bahri. In the words of Maspero himself it was : ' A catacomb crammed wit h Pharaoh s !' It included some of th e most famo us kings of th e i Sth and 19th D ynasties such as Amenhotep I, T hutm ose II, Thutmose III , Seti I, Rarnses II and Ram ses II I. On e of the mummies was that of Sekcncn re, an Egyptian prince d uri ng th e tim e of the H yksos. Mu mmifi catio n had been carried out only after some decomposi tio n had set in and it show ed th at he had met an extr emely violent de ath; his jaw was cr ushed and there were signs of thre e othe r blows, each of which could ha ve been fatal, on the head. Merne pta h, th ou gh t by some scholars to be th e Pharao h of th e Exodus , was m issing . Drowned in the Red Sea ? M any thou gh t so until , some eightee n years later, his mummy turned up wit h twelve oth ers in th e tom b of Arncnhotcp I I, where th ey had also been hidden by th e priests for-safety. T hese hid ing- places represe nt a pathetic last att empt to safe-

guard the bodi es of Eg ypt's deceased P haraohs from robbery. That the hidden Valley of the K ings was no safer th an the hu ge pyram ids was quickly ma de evident. And when the country experienced Ikhn aton 's reform ation , tomb -robbing became a free- for-all, especially in the desolate Valley of th e Kings, and with every indication of official conniv ance. At the beginning of the rot h D ynasty Harm hab issued instru ctions for the reb uria l of T hutmose IV. H is successors Seri I and Ramses II endeavoure d to enforc e better security hut the situa tion became worse as cen tral aut hori tv lapsed un der- the later Ra mess ides and violation of th e buri ,~l places was resumed. T he temptatio n in the form of pure b ullion alone was more th an eno ugh to turn desire into an epid emic of greed. One has only to see the solid gold coffin, gold statuettes, shrines and jewellery of T ute nkha mon, who was th e younges t and one of th e least im po rt ant of the Pharaohs of Egypt , to have some idea of the lost treasures of the necrop olis. Whe n ro bber s were caug ht in ancient tim es they were duly tried and puni sh ed . T wo pap yr i, known as the Ab bott and Am her st papyri after th eir discoverers, not only confir m this but give details of the tr ansp ortation of the mummies to the obs cure shaft at D er el Bahri. No less than sixty pr iests and offi cials of the necro polis were arrested at th e time for comp licity in th e desecration of th e tombs. Abd el Rasool was merely the tail end of a long histor y of pillage. The Cavern at Der el Bahri Befor e leaving De r el Bah ri, menti on mu st be made of a cavern situa ted on an elevate d moun tain ledge above the mortuary temp le. Thou gh it is not easily accessible, reference is made to it because it was used b y th e work ers on the templ e as a rest ing- place and the walls are covered with sketch es and spare-ti me doodles. T hey depicted the ir desp ised overseer in several unflatter ing and somewhat cr ude activ ities and arc valuable as being amo ngst the few examples of free individual expression. In th ese sketches the artist not th e art isan was at work and the th eme was entir ely his own. MORT UAR Y T EMPL E O F R AMSE S II (T H E R AMASS E UM ) : Plan 13 Introdu ction This magnificent mortuary temple is unfortuna tely half in ruin . It compares in bot h cons tru ction and qu ality of material with the mortuar y temple of Seri I at K um a bu t not in the art istic execution

86 Pl an 13 MORTUARY T E M PL E OF RAMSES II (RAMASSEUM)

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of the murals. The design is simple for a New Kin gdom structure and th ough Ramses' son Merneptah, and his successor Rarnscs II I, made some additions th ey were minimal and d id not detract from Rarnses II 's origina l architectural conception. Ramses II developed what can only be described as an extra ordinary building activity during his 67-ye ar reign . H e en joyed having his state sculptors dep ict him repeated ly and th ere is hardl y a pylon, hall or chamber in the temples of Egypt that does not bear his name. Hi s monument s, mostl y massive, spread from Memp his and He liopolis to Abyd os and Thebes, apa rt from th ose in th e heart of N ubia . His image is also perpetuated in gigantic det ail in the rocks of Asia. On e ean imagine with what joy his sculptors presented ostentatious project s that they were sure would he accepted. The image of Rarnses II is more ind elibly projected into the modern age than any oth er. His favourite th eme was his famo us alliance with the Kin g of the Hittites. It is in fact depicted on the great pylon that form s the eastern entrance to th e Rarnasseum . This campaign was the Pharaoh's only really im port ant one in Asia over some fifteen years, th ough he was also responsible for suppressing some N ubian revolts and carrying ou t a cam paign in Libya. The ent ire structure of the Rarnasseurn within the gird le- wall measures approximately 275 metr es by 168 metres , th ough a large porti on consi sted of sub sidiary bu ildings and storerooms.

Entrance P yl on T he murals on the inn er sur faces of the entrance pylon show , on th e northern tower (a) towards the centre of the wall (lower rows), the Egyptian army on the march with infantry and charioteers. T he Egyptian camp is shown abo ve them with a rampart of shields. T his is a lively scene with th e chariots dr awn up in long lines and heavy baggage- waggons with the ir teams nearb y. Som e of the unh arne ssed horse s are being foddered. Some of the soldiers converse with one another. On e drinks from a wineskin. Two others quarrel. The scene to the right of this same tower shows Ramscs II seated on his th rone taking cou nsel with his princes who stand before him . Below him is a row of captur ed spies being beaten to extract information . On the sout hern tower (b) the act ual attack is shown. The entire left-hand side of the pylon shows th e battle of K adesh (as depi cred also on the pylon of Luxor temple, page 26) : Ramses I I dashes into batt le in his chariot, dead and wounded cover the ground , oth er s

88 retreat in confusion only to fall headlong into the Orontes, the Hittites take re fuge in their fortress. The reliefs on ~he right-han? half of the tower show the Pharaoh grasping enemies by the hair whilst smiting them .

First and Second Courts The first court of the Ramasseurn ( A) is mostly in ruin . Towards th e rear, before th e ancient western gate, lie the remains of ~vhat was once a colossus of the king and one of the most enormous pieces of stone ever shaped to such perfe ction (c). Th is massive statue, or rather the remains of the ches t, upper arm, foot , etc., shows work of superb craftsmanship even to the final polish. Wh en the French expedition under Napoleon visited Egypt careful measurements were made of the various remaining part s and it was estimated that the statue' s total hei ght must have been over seventeen metres and its weight over on e thou sand tons . In other words this granite statu e not onl v exceeded in size the Colossi of Memnon (page 100) , but also most of the statues of Ramscs' ancestors. Its tran sportation from th e granite q uarries of Aswan in one piece is almo st impossi?le to conceive. Hatschepsut 's obelisk s at Karnak were only one thud of t he weight. O n passing the colossal remains we enter the second court (B), which is in a much better state of preservation . It has colonnades on all four sides, tho se to the rear on a terrace. Facing the c~u rt are sta tues of Osiris and the representations on th e column shaft~ sho~v Ram ses II sacrificing to the de ities. This court was the one Identified with th e Augustan historian Diodoru s' description of th e "Tomb of Osymandyas'. 'Osymandyas' may be explained as a corrupt form of U ser- ma- re, one of the names of Rarnses II. The two colossal monoliths of th e king (d), which mu st once have towered over th e pylons of the Ramasscurn, inspired Shelley to write his famous poem O.z)'/1/l/ndias. In th is court arc well pr eser ved scenes of the battle of Kad esh (e). Rarnscs II dashes into battle (lower row). He is depicted larger than his men , and the enem y, mostl y dead and wounded , lie in heaps on the ground . The fortress of Kadesh , surrou~ded by a moat , divides a group of the enem y from the battlefield. 1 hese mel!, far from preparing th ems elves for hattie, arc lending a hand t~) th eir dr own ing com panions. Though this mural has been considered by some as a pretentious interpretation, there is no doubt th.at.the complexity of the com position shows d~vel?pment and SOphls~lca­ tion . The indi vidual figures, howe ver , indicate marked det eriora-

tion from the expressive detail of the murals of Seti I 's mortuary temple. Hi gher on the wall (e) are scenes from the Festival of the God Min which was celebrated when the Pharaoh came to the throne . The priests, who stand to the side of the king and await a procession headed by other priests carrying images of the royal ancestors, let forth four birds to carry the royal tidings to the four corners of the earth. Further to the right the Pharaoh cuts a sheaf with a sickle for presenting to the god. Murals portraying such festivals are immensely effective . The artists' ability to depict battle action is less so in view ofthe stylized treatment of the human form . At the back of the court are some stairs, and on the rear wall to the left are three rows of relief work. The bottom row depicts Ramses II as a family man with his eleven sons . The middle row (left) shows the hawk-headed Montu holding the hierogl yph for life before the king 's face and (right) the king kneels before the Theban triad while Thorh, who is behind him, writes his years on a palmleaf. In the top row he is making a sacrifice to Ptah and offerin g incense to Min .

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90 Hypostyle Hall The Hypostyle Hall (C), which follows a small flight of stairs at the centre back of the court, is markedlv similar to the one at Karnak. Both have three aisles, the taller columns at the centre with calyx capitals and the lower ones at the sides with bud capitals. As at Karnak the difference in height is made up bv a wall with openings for light. The hypostyle hall of the Ram~sseum is less cumbersome than that of Karnak. The columns appear more graceful and better proportioned. Throughout the hall the representations depict Ramses II in battle. This time the troops with ladders storm the fortress of Zapur (g. lower row). The Pharaoh dashes Into the thick of battle in his chariot (to the left), leaving the enemy In flight or scattered on the ground. To the right the attacking Egyptians scale the fortress on ladders and push up to the walls under the protection of storming-sheds and shields. The sons of the Pharaoh took part and proved themselves worthy of their heroic father. Each is identifiable by his name engraved beside him. On the western walls (h) and (i) the sons of Ramses II are shown (in the lower rows). Above them (at h) the Pharaoh is followed by a goddess in the presence of Amon and M ut. Above the princes (at i) he 1S depicted before Amon and Khonsu with the lion-headed Sekhmet behind him. Smaller hypostyle halls Beyond the hypostyle hall arc two smaller hypostyle halls falling one behind the other in the middle of the remaining chambers which spread backwards and sidewards from the few standing walls. The first (D) has astrological representations on the roof and on the eastern walls (j) and (/::) priests bear the sacred boats of Amon, Mut and Khonsu, each decorated with the head of its god. On the rear right-hand wall (I) Ramses is seated beneath the sacred tree ofHeliopolis, on the leaves of which his names are being written by Arum, who is seated on a throne to the left, with a goddess and Thoth to the right. The second hypostyle hall (E) is mostly in ruin. It has some sacrificial representations including a scene (Ill) of Ramscs burning incense to Prah and the lion-headed Sckhrnct. The Portrayal of Ramses II When looking at the murals of the Ramasseum, recording the wars of conquest and aggrandisement, one cannot help recognising this

as a very early form of mass persuasion. On no monument wall co~umn or pylon, is there a record of a single governmental setback, neither through Internal ferment nor through military defeat. The Pharaoh IS always ~ hero. His chronicles arc always glorious. And none are. more glonous than those of Ramses II. According to his royal scribe, Pentaur, when he and his chariot driver were separated from the army and. ho,?elessly surrounded by the enemy, the fearless Ramses II S1X times charged the foe single-handed. He hewed them. down. with his sword and trampled them under the wheels of hIS chanot. According to Pentaur Ramses overthrew 2,5 0 ? enemy chariots, scattered 100,000 warriors and drove the rest Into the water! Ramses Irs feats on the home front do not have to be exaggerated. They stand today as proof of his abilities. He was the Pharaoh who dug out the heart of a mountain at Abu Simbel in orde~ to fashion within it a great hall and no less than fifteen spacious chambers. He faced the hollowed construction with four carved colossi that, even i~ a seated positi~n, tower to a height of 20 metres. Ramses II will always remam a central figure in Statues of Osiris in the second court of the Ramasseum

93 Egyp tian history and one that can be forgiven for claiming full cr edit, here and th ere, for work begun by his ancestors .

Plan 14 MEDINET HABU COMPLEX

MORT U ARY T EMPLE OF R AMS ES III (ME D INET H AB U ) Introduction Me dinc t H abu is the nam e given by the early Christians to a gro up of bu ildi ngs dating fro m th e beginning of the i Sth D ynasty and continui ng right th rou gh to Rom an times . T he orig inal struc ture was bu ilt by Arncn hote p I and was ad ded to by H at sch epsut and Thu trnosc III who for me d it into a sm all, grac eful tem ple (P lan 14 A) . Rams es I II built an unusual en trance structure (B ) which took the place of the regu lar entra nce pylon and por tals of stone . This str uct ure is known as th e Pavilion, th e nam e give n by th e F rench scho lars acco mpanying Napoleon . Rarnses III also bui lt a splendid mort uary te m p le (C) which is one of the best examples of th e smaller type of sanctuaries of th e time . Un der th e Pto1cmies an d the Romans the temple was enlarged and the complex elaborated . M uch of it came to grief following th e rise of Christianity . A churc h was in fact b uilt in the main court. We enter the Mcdine t H abu complex th rough the pavilion . In front of it are two sma ll watc h-towers and a battl em ent of elevated masonr y. It has two upper stor ies cont ain ing several sma ll apartmen ts. Passing th ro ugh the end gateway we enter an ou ter court. The i Sth D ynast y Tem ple, beg un by Arne nho tep I and add ed to b y H atsch epsut and Thutmose I II during th eir co-regency, lies to th e right. It was com plete d d ur ing the latter's sole monar ch y and bear s tr aces of d rastic alte ratio n bv both Thutmose II and II I, who scrap ed off all the qu een 's orig inal reliefs, especially in the inn er ch ambers. Restorations were made by IIarmhab and Seti I to th e figur es of th e deities defac ed by Ikh naton . T he ancient gro und plan was drasticallv alt ered in Pt olem aic an d Rom an times and littl e of it is dis tinguishable today . To the left is a sma ll sh ri ne of Ame nerta is (D) , the moth er- in-law of Pscmrnct ikh I, and furthe r back is the main tem ple of Ram ses II I. T he mortuary temple of Rams es III at Medinet Habu was bui lt on exac tly the sam e plan as the Rama sseum . T he pain t on th e reliefs is well preserved, in some places in nearl y per fect condi tion . T his tem p le grew th ro ugh successive years and, as the cam paigns

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94 of Rarnses were grap hic ally recorded with its growth, his mil itar y exploits can be followed st ep by step from the rear , or in other words from his last m ilitary campaign on the foremost pylon, backward s in tim e.

F irst P yl on, Fi rs t Court T he f irst pylon (Plan 15 P. l) is covered on bot h sides with represen tations and inscriptio ns reco rding Ramses Ill's victory over the Libyans in the 11 th year of his reign . On the right-hand tower (a) the Pha rao h stands before Amon (to the right) in th e trad itional pose of dan glin g enemies by the hair whilst smiting th em wit h a club . T he captured lands - circular forts inscribed with the name of the city and mou n ted on bound enem ies -c- are handed to him by the hawk -headed Mon tu. Betw een the groo ves for the flagstaffs (to the left) is a simi lar sce ne on a smaller scale, and below it is a long poetic description in exagge ra ted lan guage of th e great victory. At the foot of the pylon Amon is seated (to the left) with Pta h standing behind hi m ins cribing the Pharaoh's nam e on a palm- leaf. The Pharaoh kneels befo re Amon and recei ves from him the hier oglyphs for 'jubilee of the rei gn ' su spe nded on a palm- branch . T hoth writes the kings years on the leaves of th e tr ee . The left- hand tower of the entrance pylon repea ts these scenes and inscript ions. Passing through the central portal, which is emb ellish ed with representa t ions of R arn scs I II wor ship ping th e various deitie s, we enter the first court (A ) and view an in ter est ing representation on the in ner side of the first pylon (b). This is also of th e Libyan campaign . The me rcenari es who took part ar c reco gnis ab le by their round helmets ornamented with horn s. The chariotcd Pharaoh charges and overthrows the enemy . This court is flanked by covered colonnades, those to th e right with colossal statues of the kin g as Os iris in front of each . T he scenes on the side walls re peat the victorious war themes and th e tr ium phant return of the king with his captives to att end the Great Feast of Amon . Second P ylon, Secon d Court At thc back of thc court is thc second pyloll ( P.2) recording th e Pharaoh 's battles in the eighth year of his re ign , On the left -hand tower (r) he leads three row s of pri soners to Amon and Mut. T hese prison ers do not have beard s, whic h usu ally denote Asian peop les, hU I wear ca ps adorne d with feath ers and aprons decorated with tassels. T he right-ha nd lower (d ) has a long series of inscripti ons

Plan 15 MORTUARY TEMPLE OF RAMSES III (MEDINET HABU)

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Second Pylon uf the Te mp le o f Ramscs III at Mcdinct Habu.

recordi ng Ram ses' military tr iumph over ' the Great League of Sea- Peoples' . An inclined plan e lead s us thro ugh the granite gateway of th e second pylon and int o th e second cour t (B) , which was th e area conv ert ed into a ch urc h. It was fully cleared of remna nts of the C hrist ian per iod in 1895 an d thi s proved to be one instance where we can th ank th e early Chris tians for preser ving rath er tha n destr oying. For it is due to th eir having covered th e original representation s with mud, to avoid distracting the congregation no doub t, that th ey arc in such good cond ition toda y. This cour t is an almost exact re plica of the seco nd cou rt of the Rarn asscum , bot h in arch itectur al layout and in th e relief dr awings. On the back walls of the colonnades are sce nes from the life of th e Pharaoh includi ng importan t festiva ls and warlike deed s. On the rig ht-hand side of the court (u pper rows) are scenes from the Grea t Fes tiva l of th e Go d Min . As in the mural of the Ram asscum, th er e is a lovely representation inclu d ing trumpeters, dr ummers and castane t player s. At (e) th e Ph araoh is borne on a richlydecor ated litter with a canopy from the palace, led hy pr iests and soldiers and followed by his sons and courti ers. At the head of the line (upper row) are a trumpeter and a drummer and in th e lower row castane t players. At (j) the king sacrifices before th e image of M in and offe rs incense. Then comes a scene of the sacred procession : it star ts on th e right-hand wall at (g) and conti nues rou nd the corne r to (11). S tud ying th e scene from left to righ t, we sec priests, flank ed by fan-hear ers ; the pri ests carry the image of Mi n on a litt er. Next more priests with the sacred caskets. T hen come the Pharaoh , the sacred wh ite bu ll of M in, priests, the qu een and a procession of priests in two rows carry ing sta ndards and images of the Pharaoh and his an cestor s. F urther to the righ t the Pharao h awaits the procession and the pr iests allow four birds to fly to th e four corne rs of the earth to carr y the royal tidi ngs. At (i) the Pharaoh cuts a sheaf of corn with his sickle in th e pr esence of priests and his qu een (above). The white bull again ap pears in front of th e Phara oh an d benea th is a series of images of royal ancestors. At (j) th e Phar aoh is show n offering ince nse to the god M in as he stands ben eath a canopy. T he colonnade on the left-hand side of the court has scenes from the Fest ival of Ptah- Sokaris in the upp er rows, and th e mu ch more int erestin g war reliefs in the lower divisions on the wall, starti ng with th e inn er wall of the second pylon (k) . The first scene shows the Pharaoh attacking th e Libyans with his charioteers as he shoot s

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99 wit h hi s bow an d th e infa nt ry flee in all di rect ion s. T he mercenaries arc in th e lower row . The second sc ene sho ws him return ing fro m battle with th ree row s of fettered L ib yan s before him and two fanb ear er s behind . The th ird sce ne show's him lead ing h is pr ison er s of war before Am on and Mut. These are t he mes we hav e m et before, part icularl y on th e first p ylon of Rarnscs II I's little te~ple in ~h e co urt of Ka rna k (page +1), but with th e add iti on of an m t er~stIn.g sce ne in the co rner (I). T his shows the Ph ar aoh t urning In hIS char iot to receive four row s of pri son er s of war fro m, amongs t oth er notable s, his own so ns. Ha nds and phalluses (un circum cised) of the slain arc co un ted . T he rea r wa lls of th e ter race (m) and (II) ha ve three ro ws of rep resentations . In th e two upper ro ws t he P~ araoh is shown .worsh ip pi ng va rio us de iti es. The lowest ro w depi ct s th e royal prmces and princesses.

Great H ypostylc Hall T he Great H ypost yle Ii all follows . T he rool: ~vas ori~inally syPpo rted b y twenty-four co lu m ns in six rows of. lour, WIth. the eight co lum ns fo rming th e doub le central row considerably thicker th an th e othe rs . The wall reli efs sh ow Ra m ses III in the presence of various d eiti es. Adjo in ing eac h side of the hypostylc hall arc a series of ch am bers which sto red costl y je wel s, m usical in strum ents, etc . Rarn scs II I was th e last of the grea t Ph ar aoh s an d also th e wea.lt h ies t . .\ s he offers th e fr u its of ear lier co nquests, co up led With his ow n, to Arnon one can sec that th is is no exaggera tion. In cham b er (0) he pr esen ts Amon with papyru s-h olders in the form of lions wit h 1he Ph ar aoh 's h ead or kn eel ing figures of th e Pharaoh . In chamber (/1 ) cos tly vesse ls, wi t h lid s of ram s' , hawks' , or Ph ar aohs' .heads , are h anded to Am on. Cham be r (if) sh ows t he Ph araoh hand ing Am on sacks of preciou s stones and in (r ) cost ly tabl e-services, harps, silver lead an d orna me n ts . Again, in cham be r (s) he oilers heaps of gold and o the r pr ecious m et al.s to Amo n. T~e .c ham bers to .the r igh t of th e h yp osr ylc hall co n ta m m ostl y sacrificial sce nes b el ore the var ious d eities. Beyond th e h yp ost ylc hall ar c t hr ee sm aller eha m be ~s (C , f) ? nd F) . T he first t wo ha ve eigh t col um ns each and the third h.as four pi llars. The surro u nd ing cha m bers are dedicate d to di fferent deitie s. E xteri or On the outside of th e temple the re ar c importan t h istorical reliefs

com mem ora ti ng th e wars of Rarnses I I I. T hose on the wes te rn wall (t) have sce nes of the Pharaoh's b attle again st the N ub ians . The actual bat tle sce ne, th e tr iumphal procession with capti ves and the pr esentati on to Amo n, ar e sho wn . The no rthe rn wall ha s te n sce n es from the war s against th e Libyans and a naval victory over a northern people. T he naval battle (at /I) is an ex trem ely animated representation : ha ving alig h te d from his char iot th e Ph ara oh sho ots agains t the hostile fleet. Before him are arc he rs . Above h im , in the form of a vult ure, h overs th e go d dess of L ower Egy pt. O ne enem y sh ip ha s capsized an d the Egyp ti an vessels -distinguishable by a lion's head on th e prow-s-are stee re d by m en with lar ge oa rs whil st th e rest of the cre w ro w fro m bench es. T here are b ou nd cap tives inside th e sh ip. O the rs appear in th e lower row. The northern wall (at v) has scen es fr om th e Syria n wars in cluding the storm in g ofa fortress and the presentation of prisoners to Amon and Khonsu . Ther e is little doubt that these r eli efs show a declin e in art istic ability . T he pain sta kin g d et ail of Set i I's rel iefs is lost. T hese arc cru de r in ex ecution and the com po sition is som ewha t lackadai sical Ramscs II I pr esent s wine to the deit ies. Scene from his Mortu ar y Tem ple at M cdin cr Habu

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100 compared to the relief work of the rSth Dynasty. There is, however, one relief that reflects artistic inheritance from earlier times. This is the hunt for deer, wild bull and wild asses in a marshy area, and it can be seen on the southern wall on the back of the first pylon (r»). The Pharaoh has already slain one bull which lies on the ground. Others escape into the thicket and the artist has endeavoured to create depth by showing the bull hiding between the rushes. As a three-dimensional approach it is extremely effective. On the southern wall (at x) is a festival calendar which includes a list of appointed sacrifices dating from Ramses Ill's accession to the throne.

COLOSSI OF MEMNON Two massive statues, sadly weathered by time and now of no artistic merit, sit in stately isolation in the fertile lower valley of the necropolis. They once formed an impressive entrance to the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III and are solitary relics of his golden era. The mortuary temple itself was probably destroyed by royal vandals ofthe ruth Dynasty: Ramses II and hisson Merneptah apparently had no scruples about pillaging the most awe-inspiring temple on the necropolis in order to build one for themselves. These two statues rise to a height of twenty metres above the plain. They were made of sandstone under the supervision of the Pharaoh's chief architect, Amenhotep son of Hapu, who transported them from the quarries on eight barges along the Nile during the annual flood. The one on the left is in a better state of repair' and shows Amenhotep III seated and flanked by his mother Mctarnwa and his wife Tiy. A third figure between the legs has been destroyed. On each side of the scat arc representations of two Nile-gods winding the papyrus and lotus, symbols of Lower and Upper Egypt, round the hieroglyph for 'unite'. The Colossi of Memnon were so named by the Romans who believed them to be statues of the legendary son of Aurora, goddess of the dawn. Memnon had slain Anrilochus during the Trojan War the latter being the valiant son of Nestor -vand had himself finallv fallen at the hand of Achilles. The first visitors to the necropolis during the Roman epoch interpreted the strange sounds they heard emerging from the statues at dawn each day as Memnon greeting his mother Aurora. The myth grew and tourists flocked to see and hear for themselves. The number of Greek and Latin inscriptions, in both prose and verse, on the legs of the statues, attest to each having heard

101 the sound for himself. Some said it was a musical note, others a trumpet blast. Others still said that they could hear voices chanting, or the sound of an angry god. It was a great tourist attraction. The curious were subsequently followed by the eminent. Physicists carne-and exploded the myth utterly. It was, they said, the contracting of the stone during the cool nights following expansion during the day that caused a splitting off of particles from the surface. Be that as it may the sound completely stopped when, in the time of Septimius Severus, the Colossi were repaired and some of the holes were filled in. It has never been heard since.

The Colossi of Mcmnon

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102 TOMBS OF THE KING

CHAPTER 6 THE NECROPOLIS THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS

BACKGROUND

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Toufl st , w lSh'ng to _" lef tomb s t~1 4 re clo ~ "..ey ob' . ,n ptIlm , u ion to do sa lmm the Int9'8" OI of Al'lllq"u i. ,

The Valley of th e Kings, oth er wise known as B iban el M il/ilk, is situ ated about two mil es inland from the edge of the valley. A tarmac road makes the distan ce seem short. Before its construction a visitor had a sense of the arid remoteness of the site chose n by the Pharaohs of the rSth, roth and zoth Dy nasties for th eir tombs. There are over sixty in the valley. The Pha raohs of the N ew Kingdom , as alread y explained, chose to separate th eir tombs from their mortuary temples as a safeguard against pillage, and to burrow through solid rock in an effort to ensure eternal seclusion. T he actual tomb design was relatively uniform, differi ng only in length and in the n umber of chambers. There were usua lly three corridors, one following the oth er , leadin g to th e inner chambers. High up on the walls of the second corridor were some times oblong recesses for the recepti on of the furn iture and effec ts of the deceased . Altern at ively other recesses or chambers were pro vided at the end of th e third corr idor for the same purpose. At the end of the th ird cor rido r was a door leadin g to an ante-c ha mber; the main hall or tomb cham ber lay beyond . The roof of th e to mb chamber was often sup por ted by pilla;s and small cham bers led off it. In th e centre or to the rear was a cry pt containing the sarco phagus, usually of red sandsto ne. A shaft, sometimes dro pping to a depth of over six metres, was a feature of several tom bs. Wheth er thi s was designed to discou rage possib le grave - robbers from pr oceedi ng furth er is not sure, though there are positi ve ind ications that this was th eir purp ose ; for exam ple, the represe n tatio ns on the upp er walls of the pit sha ft were usually left unfini shed with th e outer frame of decorat ion missing, whereas th e chambe rs beyond the shaft were fully decorat ed . Another th eory is that the sha ft was for th e d rain age of rain -wat er ; thou gh rain is not common in Egy pt th e tomb design ers may well have take n precautions against th e possibility of see page. The conce rn of the Pharaoh was not with his death , which was

104 inevitable, but that his journey to the hereafter should be as s~ooth as possible. There was no apprehension, no fear. Man continued lite afte r death in mu ch the same manner as he had lived on earth, so long as the nece ssities for his exist ence were provided, safeguards were taken to prevent his body from decay, and the religious formu lae were scrupulously followed . . In the Middle Kingdom the religious formulae by which the dead were to triumph had been record ed both insid e and outside the sarcophagus . Gradually th e texts were elaborated and scrolls of papyrus were placed in the coffin as well. Enl arged over the years the se gradually became uniform and th e nucleus of what has become known as th e Book ofthe Dead. The rock-hewn passages and chambers represent stages in th e journey to the underworld, which was. supposedly di vided ~nto twelve hours or caverns. The deceased sailed through them at night in the boat of the Sun God ---in fact actually absorbed by him and rep resentations on the tirst corridors of the tombs often show th e ram-headed Sun God surrounded bv his retinu e who are stand ing in a boat and temporarily bringing light to the places he -travcrscs, As they pass from one leg of the journey to another they have to go through massiv e gates, each guarded by huge serpents. These chapters of the formula are known as the Book ofthe Gates. The forward corridors were generall y devot ed to Prais es ofRahymns 10 be sung and illustrations of the cerem onies to be pertC;rmed before th~ statue of the deceased Pharaoh to imbue it with eternal life. And finallv the decea sed rea ched the judgement scat of O siris, King of the U ~ d e r worl d . Osiris, the creator of law and agri culture, had once ruled on earth. With his wife and sister Isis at his side he had been a just and much loved ruler who was slain by his jealou s brother Set. Set, as th e myth goes, con spired against Osiris and at a banquet I?ersuaded him to ente r a che st which was then scaled and thrown IOta th e N ile. It was carried down to the sea. The broken-hearted Isis wandered far and wide in tortured miser y seekin g the bod y of her loved one. Accompanied on her sad mission by the godd ess N ephthys she eventually found the bod y entangled in a tamarisk bu sh in the marshes of th e delta . She hid th e bod y, but Set, out boar -huntin g, found it and cut it into fourteen pieces , scatt eri ng it in all directions . Isis cont in ued her mission, collected the pieces (at each spot a monument was erected, which accounts for the widespread myth) and sou ght the help of the jackal-god Anubis, who became god of embalmment, to prepare it for the netherworld .

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While he carried out her orders Isis wept and pray ed and drew near her dead lord 'making a shadow with her pinions and causing a wind with her wings . . . raising the weary limbs of the silenthearted (dead), receiving his seed, and bringing forth an heir .. .' 1 Isis , the myth continues, raised her son Horus in the marshes until he was strong enough to avenge his fath er's death by slaying Set. He then set out to seek his father and raise him from the dead. The risen Osiris, however, could no longer reign in the kingdom on earth and now became ki"b of the underworld where , with Isis still at his side, he ruled below with the same justice as he had exercised above. H orus took over the throne of his father on earth. On the walls of the tomb chamber, or in the rear corridors, arc dramatic representations of the dan gers carefully guarded against : enem ies withdrawing the breath from the nostrils of the deceased; water bursting into flame as he drinks; foes robbing him of his throne, his organs and , worst of all, his very name , which would thus depri ve him fore ver of his identity. The tombs in the Valley of the Kings, which are guidebooks to the hereafter, give us an insight into the hopes, expectations and fears of the living Pharaoh . Verv soon after his coronation he must have ordered the construction of these usuall y vast complexes. His artists mad e initial sketches on th e walls. Hi s arti sans began to turn out the 403 Shataabti (little statues bearing th e implements of labour and usuall y put in big wooden boxes in th e tomb to save the Pharaoh from tedi ous work in the hereafter). Funerary furniture was designed and made. And since secrecy was vital, only the worker s from the cit y at Ocr el Medina (pages 7017I) toiled on the tombs and only the Pharaoh himself and the high priests knew the actual site . It is probable that the priests actually possessed an architectural plan or blu eprint for the construction of tombs in the valley. Though none has ever been found , one cann ot believe that a people capable of placin g an obelisk of solid granite upri ght on a small rectangular base, of planning irrigation canals, and, with their obsession for accuracy, of dividing the year nearly 4000 years B.c. -into 365 da ys and thus forming the basis of the calendar we use today, that such a people would hazard a guess about that most vital decision : wher e to dig a Pharaoh 's tomb. Admittedly the first corridor of the tomb of Ram ses III actually breaks through into another tomb -that of Arnen-mesis, one of the pretenders to the throne at the end of th e roth D ynasty-s-and is consequentl y diverted and continued to the right . While th is might indicate the Ij ames Breasted, Tilt' Dawn (~r Cll rrw rnu. Charles Sc ribner, H'47.

(l . 100,

106 absen ce of an y blueprint it may equally be the exception that proves th e rule. What a sad tum of fate that, despite the remoteness of the site, enforced secrecy, complexity of structure and diversion shafts, the tombs were robhed from ea rliest times ! In fact they were probahly penetrated soon after they were sealed . Lust for gold, though th e m ain , was not th e onl y reason for their violation . The sacr ed corri do rs were also pen etrated hy en em ies of the Ph araoh wh o want ed to pr event him from continuing his rule in the hereafter. There has been vic iou s mutilation of som e of the mummies . Ram ses VI, for exam ple, when unwrapped after having heen found hidden in the tomb of Arnenhotep II, was d iscovered to have been literally hack ed to pieces. On th e sar cophagi of Scri I and Ramscs I I ar e rec ords of a cent ury and a hal f of persistent effort by the pri ests to safe guard the ro val mummies. Ramses II was first taken from his own tomb to th at of his fath er Seti I. Later he was hidden in the tomh of Queen Inhapi . And finally he was placed in the sh aft at Ocr el Bahri. In th eir haste to rewrap and hide the mummies, th e priests sometimes failed to take the necessary precautions; in the wrappings of Rarn ses I the bod y of an old lad y was found! This was no isolated instance. As we pas s alon g th e corridors of the violate d tombs we wonder to what happy st ro ke of fortune we owe th e preservat ion of on e sing le tomb left intact. We wonder wh y th e first robbers of Tutcnkhamon's tornb i-and th er e ar e ind ica tio ns that it had been op en ed and re- sealed . never went hack to com plete the job, When Rarn ses VI had his tomb constr uc ted above th at of Tutenkhamon the rubble undouhtedl y fell and obliterated the latter's, but tha t was over a ce ntu ry lat er. Whatever the rea son , it is thanks to the pr eser vat ion of th e tomb of Tutcnkharnon that we kn ow the story of th e lavish splendour, th e artist ic merit and th e able craftsmansh ip of the i Sth D yna st y. And if this was the tomb of Egypt's younges t, and on e of its least sign ificant monarch s, what unimaginable tr easures mu st ha ve been stolen from the tombs of Am cnhotep th e M agnificent, Rarnses II who loved size and splendour, Se ti I who en cou raged an artistic revi val, and Rarnscs I I I who was known as the 'Wealthiest of Pharaoh s' .

107 TOMB OF TUTENKHAMON (62) : Plan 16 Tutenkhamon was the young Pharaoh who succeeded Ikhnaton towards the end of the r8th Dynasty. During his nine year rule he restored Thebes as the capital and start ed th e restoration of the wor ship of Am on . Apart from this all we know of him is that he met a sudden end . Egyptologists did not seem worried that his tomb had ne ver been found. If there were a tomb, th ey reasoned , it would probabl y be poor in content. In an y case th e notable Ame rican archeologist D avis had said that th e Valle y of th e Kings had lon g since yielded all that it had to yield. L ord Carnarvon, the wealthy En glishm an with a passion for ancient Egypt, thought otherwise. H e was convinced not only that there was a tomb but that th ere was a great possibility of its bein g intact . Howard Carter, in charge of th e team, toiled year after year in th e desert of the necrop olis, as keen and dedicated as Ca rn arvon was convinced . For th ese two , one fruitless year merely built up hop e for the next. After six seasons, during which time it was estimated th at some 200 ,000 tons of rubble were mo ved, IIoward Carter was finally forced to accept the fact that his predecessor had probably been right and t hat the vall ey had no tomb to yield. It was a depressing decision and one that he could not bring himself to take. For there was on e last , very remote po ssibility : the site immediately ben eath the tomb of Ramses V I. It was cove red with rough ly-constructed workmens' hu ts. On inst ru ctions fro m Carter his men set ab out demoli shing th em . It was 1922. At the bottom of the steps was the doorway of a tomb . As yet it was too early to tell whose, but the seals seemed intact. Cables were sent to Lord Carn arvon in England whil e preparations were made for the op ening. Whatever had been exp ected, or hoped for , there is no doubt that the tomb's ac tua l contents surpassed th e wild est dr eam s. Wh en we gaze at the contents whi ch now lie in Cairo Museum we can almost feel th e agon y of suspense, exhilaration and utter amazement that must have over whelme d th e first to see th e fabul ou s tr easures. The opening was att ended by Lord Ca rn arvo n himself, who unhappily never lived to see th e full richness of th e contents of the tomb, as well as by Lady Eve lyn Herbert , Professor Breasted and Dr Alan G ardener. The tomb proved to be sm all, but packed to bursting with furn iture, em ble m s, u tensils, ornaments, bows , arrows and walking- st ick s. Co m forts for th e Ph araoh in th e hereafter included a fly-whisk trimmed with ostrich feathers and a cam p- bed folde d

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109 in th ree parts. There were neckl ets, pendants, rings and car-rings, to say nothing of the shrines and sarcophagi. According to Carter , who spent ten years cataloguing th e cont ents, the re were 171 ob jects in th e first room alone . Wh en he had made a sma ll open ing in the door of the tomb chamb er, he had been faced with what appeared to be a wall of solid go ld. It turned out to be an enormo us gilded shrine within which, one after another , lay no less than thr ee other s. W ithin these were a ston e sarc ophagus and three mummy coffi ns. The one holding the Ph araoh 's remains was in solid gold and alone weighed 2,488 .8 Ibs. Whilst the world pr ess was focussed on T hebes it was not surprising th at one imaginative journalist sho uld attribute the death of Lord Ca rn arvo n to 'The Pharaoh's cursc-va sting from a mosquito entom bed for centuries' . It added spice to an already fermenting excit ement and a grow ing tourist trad e. Vend ors ;1I1d photographers had a he yday in the sacr ed valley, while for gers were turning out 'anti qui ties' whol esale. The mummy was found to be res plende nt in gold, with a solid gold mask on th e head . There were b racelets , chains, collars, gold beads and neck lets of pr ecious and semi-precious stone s, engraved scarabs and garlands of flowers. Onl y the inn er mummy case, which contained the Pharaoh 's mumm y, has been left on site . T he rest are in the Cairo Mu seum . But ;t is as well to bear these tr easures in mind as we enter thi s, the smallest tomb in the Vallev of the K ings, for the walls of the first chamber (Plan )() A) which measure a mere eight by four metr es, are shockingly bare. Bare, too , are the walls of the small ann ex (B) which contained vessels and contain ers for oils, baskets of fruit and seed, wine jars and potter y, ~ ll dec orated in alabaster, ebony, turq uoise, gold, lapis-la zuli and Ivory. The onl y chamber with decorated walls is the burial chamber itself (C). The paintings are in almost perfe ct cond ition. T he religious scenes and inscriptions retain the vivid colour of the day th ey were painted . There are full-len gth figu res on thr ee of the walls standing beneath a dark band which represents the sky. T he wall on the left (a) has represen tations from the Book of the Dead . On e is immediately struck by the proportion of the figures, which appear top-heavy. This was of course a characteri stic of th e Ama rna period . Questions spring to the mind . Wh y sho uld the walls, apart from the tomb cham ber, ha ve been so de void of decoration when it was believed to be imp erative for every stage of the journe y to th e

110

III underw orld to be faithfully followed ? Wh y were the contents placed in th e disorder indi cated in the photographs taken just after the opening of the tomb ? And how could so vast an array of splend id provisions have been completed in the short span of nine years during which th e boy-kin g rul ed ? Would a young mon arch have been an ything but sur e that time was in his favour ? The provisions for the her eafter can be easily explained. Tutenkhamon was th e last in th e famil y line and his tomb was filled not merel y with his own bu t with family treasu res. Ma ny of the pieces had been taken from th e royal temples of Td cl Amarna . The pr iceless royal throne in Cairo Museum, for exampl e, shows the young king being anointed by his wife against a background of the life-giving Aton, symbol of his father-i n-law's heresy. So even though Tutenkh amon had completely ren oun ced th e teachings of Ikhnaton he carri ed his symbols to his grave. Many of the glazed vases and sceptres clearl y originated in the other capital. In addition some of the funerary ob jects were proved to have been made, not for Tutenkhamon , but for Sernenekh-Ka-Rc, Ikhn aron 's son-in-law and co-regent. T hese included one of the larger shrines, some of th e mummy ornaments and the miniature canopi c coffins which had for some reason been usurped and used in Turenkhamen ' s tomb . T he disorder is und oub tedly ind icative of hurry, as is the lack of decora tion on the tomb walls. It is clear th at the young king met a sudden death and was buri ed in haste. Murder ? Suic ide ? U nt il 1969 the mummy revealed no secrets. But th e result s of an ant hro pological and skeletal examination of the Pharaoh's mumm y, carried out by th e Departments of Anatomy of Cairo and L iverp ool Univers ities, are now at hand and it appears tha t death could have been caused by a blow on the head . Nea rly half a century ago Howard Carter had said th at th ere was a ' scab' on the Pharaoh's head. Now Professor Harri son of Liverpool Un iversity claims that the unusual thinness of the outer skull of the mummy could have resulted from a haemorrhage beneath th e memb ranes overlying the bra in. The X-ray examination has ruled out th e theory that Tutenkhamon d ied of tuber culosis. If the young Pharaoh pro ves to have been murdered after all, it raises another question. Wh o was guilty ? Was it his tu tor Eye , who coveted his young wife and probably marri ed her after Tutenkhamon 's death ? Or was it Gen eral Harrnhab who had designs on the throne and actually succeeded in seizing it from the blue-blo ods at the beginning of th e roth D ynasty ?

112

113

Plan 17 TOMB OF SETI I u

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TOMB OF SETI I (17): Plan 17 This is a classical tomb th at far sur passes all others in the Valley of th e K ings both in size and in the artistic executio n of the sculpt ur ed walls. Ever y inch of wall space of its en tire 100 metre length is covered with represent ati ons which were carr ied out by th e finest cr aftsmen . Gio vanni Belzoni, who discovered the tomb in 1817, was a cir cus strong man who ori ginally came to Egy pt to market an irrigation pump he had design ed in Eng land. The pr oject fell through but he arrange d the successful tr an sportation of th e colossal head of Ram ses II from the Rama sseum to the Brit ish Museum in London, and by the standa rds of th e day he was forthwith an archeo logist ! He turned his energies to th e Valley of the Kings and made th is remarkable find just one year later. W hen th e T urkish officials in Egy pt heard of the discovery they straigh tway mad e for the tomb, bent on the delightful thought of acquiring pricel ess treasure. Down the corrido rs th ey went, ran sacking every corne r only to find to their disappointment that the tomb contained no more th an an em pty sarcophagus . A steep flight of stairs leads to the entrance of Seti's tomb which is covered with sacre d texts along its fu ll len gth from th e highest reac hes down to th e bed rock. The first corri dor ( / ) is carved in high relief. O n the left-hand wall (0) the sun- d isc bearin g a scara b, and th e ram-headed Sun G od can be seen between a serpent , a crocodile and two cows' heads. T he texts which start on th e left arc contin ued to th e right (b). T he roof is pain ted with flying vultures. The second corri do r (2), which is staircased, has th irt y-seven forms of the Sun God depi cted on th e upper part of the recesses on both sides. As we de scend to the th ird corridor, M aar, goddess of truth , faces us with outstretched wings above th e doorwa y (r) . Isis is represe nted on the left-h and side (d), and Nephthys on the right (e), and they both kneel on the hierogl yph for 'gold' and place th eir hands upon a seal ring. Above th em, on each side of the corri dor, th e jackal-go d Anubis can be seen. The wall reliefs here ha ve not been completed b ut we can see the outlines in black, th e mast er's touch in red, and th e accu racy with which th e relief is carved from th e bot tom up ward s. Pr oceed ing beneath Maa t with her outstretched wings we pass into the th ird corridor (3), which has dr amatic repr esen tations of the fifth hour of night from the fifth cha pter of the Book of the De ad. Towards the middle of the left-hand wall (f) the sun-boat (damaged) is dr iven through th e neth erworld by seven gods and

114

115

A",r rolng lC:l1 figur es on the roof ofthe burial rha m ber 01 Scli 1\ Tom b

seven goddesses and in front of it march four gods and the goddes s Isis. On th e ri ght-hand wall (g) th e Sun God and his retinu e ar e dr awn through a land inhabited by dem on s and mon sters (top and bott om row s) and we see a serpent with three head s, wings and human legs. But the S un G od is safe, drawn by Horu s and Thoth (middle row) who carry an eye as a protection against evil. The ceiling is black ened from the candles of the early Christians who hid in th e tomb . From the third corrido r onwards the qu ality of th e colour on th e reliefs is su perb. We now come to a small ante- chamber (4). The walls, both to lett and right, show th e Pharaoh betw een Harrnachi s and Isis offering wine to Hathor. \Ve no w ente r a sq uare cham ber with four pillar s (s) . O n th e pillars themselves the Pharaoh is shown before the var ious deiti es : Isis and N ephthys the sister - wife and the sist er of Osiris, Harbor the goddess of joy and love who was also the godde ss of D end er a to whom th e cow was sacred, Se lket the goddes s to whom th e scorpion was sacred, Horu s the uni versal Sun Go d, and Harsicsis and Harrnach es who wer e special forms of H oru s ; also of course Anubis, the jackal-god of embalming. T he walls, especiall y those at the side s, have marvellou s representations of the sun tr avellin g th rough th e fou rth region of the unde rworld . On th e rear wall (Iz) Osiris is ent hro ned before H ath or while the Ph arao h is led int o his pr esen ce by th e hawk-headed Horu s. Th is is a super b mural wit h intricate de tail and rich colour. N ear the corn er of the left-hand wall (i ) th e four chief races of men know n at th e time stand before H oru s : th ese are Egyptian s, Asia tics with pointed bear ds and coloured ap ron s, four negroes and four Libyans with feath ers on their head s and tattooed bod ies. The chamber (6), situated to th e right and entered via a narrow flight of ste ps, was never com pleted . Whether this was becau se it was discovered that th e walls were of inferior mater ial, or as a bli nd to m islead grave- ro bbe rs, is not known, but the sket ches on th e walls are bold and com pelling and show th e tou ch of a master craftsma n. The original sket ch was done in red . T he cor rections in black were pr ob abl y the work of th e sen ior ar tist , after which th e carvers took over. The left-h and wall (j) shows the journ ey during the ninth hour of th e und erworld : the sacred co w, ram , b ird and human head guar ding the pr ocession agains t the fiery serpen ts. On the rear-wall (k) is th e tenth hour with the hawk joining the pro tecti ve deities and th e spirits carr ying arrow s and lances. O n th e right- hand wall (I) is th e eleventh hour with the con dem ned in th e

117

116 Unfinis hed rclu-f work in the T omb of Sct i I (Cham ber 6)

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lower row . The enemies of the Sun God are being burned under the supervision of the hawk-headed Horus in strange furnaces, whilst fire-breathing goddesses stand watch with sword s. We retrace our steps to the chamber of pillar s (s), to the left of which a stairway, carefully concealed by the builders of the tomb, descends to the fourth corridor (7). To the left of this corridor (m) is a figure of the Pharaoh (destroyed) seated at an offering table. Above him hovers a hawk and before him stands a priest . We descend a few more steps int o a small corridor (8) which is deco rated with texts of the ceremonies performed before the statue of th e deceased Pha raoh in order that he may eat and drink in the here after. On the right-hand wall (II) is a list of offerings, The ante-chamber (9) is decorated with the gods of the dead including Anubis, Isis, Hathor, Harsiesis and Osiris. Fin ally we come to a large hall ( / 0). Here a slight inclin e with steps at the sides takes us to the mummy-shaft, which comprises two portions. The front portion has pillars and the rear portion a vaulted ceiling . It was in the front section that the alab aster sarcophagus of th e Pha raoh stood when the tomb was discovered . It was made out of a single piece of alabaster, carv ed to a thickness of two inches and with the exq uisite reliefs filled in with blue paste . This magnificent piece is comparable only to the alaba ster vase found in T utenkhamon's tomb which is today in th e Cairo Museum. The mummy, which was one of those found at Der el Bahri , is in the same museum . The sarcophagus lies in th e Soane Mu seum in L ond on . When Belzoni, who was commissioned to tran spor t it, took it to the Briti sh Museum, the tru stees considered the price set too high and the trea sur e was without a bu yer until 1824 when Sir John Soane paid £2,000 for it. The decorations on the walls of the pillar ed port ion of the hall show th e journey through th e first region of the und erworld on the left entrance-wall (0) and through the fourth region of the underworld on the left-hand wall (p). In a small recess at the end of this wall (q) is a beauti ful representation of Anubis perform ing th e opening-o f- the-mouth ceremony before Osir is. On the right-hand entrance wall (r) and the right-hand wall (s) are repr esentations of the journey through the second region of the unde rworld . The vaulted ceiling has been painted with astrological figures. From early tim es, of course, the Egypt ians had mapped Ollt the heavens, identified some of the fixed stars and were able to determine th e positions of oth ers. This ceiling is unu sual in that it has not been painted in the familiar balanced, repeti tive form .

118

119 Adjoining the tomb chamber are four side-rooms. The first one on the right (I I) has the text of a myth that concern s the rebellion of mankind against th e Sun G od, th eir punishm ent and final rescue. On th e rear wall is a magn ificent relief of the heavenl y cow of th e myth supported by Shu, the god of the atm osphere, and bearin g on its back two boats of th e sun. The chamber on the left (12) has a shelf decorated with a corni ce running round the th ree main walls. It contains mor e dramatic repre sen tations of th e Pharaoh's progress through various provinces, safeguarded by the spells of Isis, th e sacred Ib is and th e ostrich feather - symbol of justice and truth . Sp irit s and demons (left-hand wall (I), m iddl e row) greet th e procession . The foes of Osiris are beh eaded by a lion-headed god (top row), and dwellin gs of the deceased gods and spir its open th eir door s as th e Sun G od approaches (rear wall (u), middle row ), showing the dead restor ed to life, and serpents with heads of genii of the dead upon their backs, or with swords in the ir hands, rising in unison to annihilate the foes of the Sun Go d at the end of th e journ ey. The Pharaoh will overcome. With th e help of the Sun God the doors of the hereafter arc open to him . He will enter with his valuables and possessions ; with the ab ility to eat and dr ink ; and imbu ed with life so as to reign again . This is his ultimate hope. Some nine years ago Sh eikh Abdel Rasool, a descendant of th e Rasool family of Der el Bah ri fame , told the Antiquities D epa rtment that he conside red it his duty to share with th em an intelligence th at had come down by word of mouth for generations : th at bevond the burial chamber in the tomb of Seti I was another ch; mber. Although such an exte nsion beyond the burial chamber would be compl etely irr egular, excavations were nevertheless en thusiastically commenced in the hope that if th ere were such a chamber it would con tain some of th e funerary furni ture of th e deceased. A passage soon app eared and continued on a steep decline . The walls bore no decor ation. Nearly ninety metres were du g befor e work had to be abandoned for th e more pressing task of salvaging the T em ple of Abu Simbcl from the rising waters of Lake Nasser. Work has never been resumed on th e passage and it is unlik ely that it ever will be. For one thing th ere is no ind ication as to how deep it will go; and for another , the disposal of th e debris would require some 250 workm en passing with th eir load s throu gh the

121

120 From the Book of the Dead , T omh or Scri I.

priceless corridors of Seti's tomb . Apart from th is the humidity and th e lack of oxygen would be major difficulties and alre ad y, as a result of the excavations so far carried out, fissure s have appeared in the bur ial chamber. Since this is the only tomb which has such an extension, migh t it not be the work of robbers ? On the other hand, each side of the sloping corridor has steps, which were typi cal of the period and certainly not something that robbers would have wasted time on .

TOMB OF AMENHOTEP II (35) : Plan 18 This tomb was excavated in 1898. The attention of Loret, th e prominent Fr ench archeologist, was drawn to it by local/elaheen . 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 wind fall of mummies in a sealed-off chamber, including nin e of ro yalt y. Thirdly, the burial chamber pro ved to be one of the most beauti ful, certainly th e most original, in the entire Valley of the K ings. But more important, the tomb was nearl y complete and contained a complete and un spoiled set of texts from the Book of the Dead. The first corridors are rou gh and und ecorat ed. 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 su pporte d by six pillars and the sarcophagus of the Pharaoh lay in the crypt-like section at the rear. The mummy was festo oned and garla nded and the sands tone sarcophagus was all that the graverobbers had left. E ver ything else had been ruthlessly plundered . As one enters the tomb chamber one is imm ediately struck by th e originality and beauty of the decoration s. The figur es on th e columns -e-for the most part depicting Amenhotep and the gods of the underwor ld -s-ar e outlined in blaek with only his crown, jeweller y, belt and th e surrounding decorations in colour. The drawing is exquisitel y fine and the blu e roof is covered with stars. The walls are painted yellow and th e traditional religious formu lae are so drawn as to give the impression of papyrus texts hav ing been pinn ed to the walls. There is not too much deta il and the use of the pigment is beneficially restrained . As already expla ined, the Book of the Dead was a development of th e magical formulae inscribed on th e insi de of the coffins of th e Middle Kingdom . With the aid of these formulae the deceased would overcome th e foes to his eternal triumph in the underworld . Onl y with the magic inscript ion s could he hope to make his heart (cons cience ) acceptable in the awesome

12 3

122 Burial Chamber of the To mb of Amenhute p 11.

prese nce of Osiris whe n it was weighed against th e feather of truth ; an d on ly thus cou ld he ho pe to live sec urely foreve r. On eac h side of th e cham ber are two small room s. T hree mummies lay in th e first to th e right ( 1), and in the second (4) wer e n ine roya l mummies including T hutmose I V, Ame nho tep III, Seti II an d Ram ses I V, V and V I. All have been taken to Cairo Museum . No t surprisingly thi s qu ickl y became known as th e S afety Tomb and th is is undoubtedl y what the priests had int ended it fo r. W hen th ey found th at Am enhot ep II's to m b had been violated th ey reasoned t hat th e ro bbers wou ld not ret urn to its ravaged co rri do rs. In fact th ey ne ver did . The roya l pers onages rem ained in peace for cen turies. When L or et excava ted th e tom b qu ite a con trove rsy aro se as to whether th e mumm y shou ld be left on site or whether it sho uld be rem o ved with the othe rs to th e mu seum . It was finally agreed tha t it sh ould remai n on site but with an armed g uar d. Ne arly three years lat er the tom b was rifled when , del ibe rately or otherwi se, th e backs of th e gua rds were turned . The mumm y of Arncnhot cp was

TOMB OF AMENHOTEP II

Plan 18

12

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found on th e floor , in a very m uch poorer con dition as a res ult of de lving and pr ying hands in search of overlooked treasures in th e folds of th e cloth. T he re was now no qu estion about it. T he mummy of the Ph araoh was placed in Ca iro M useum . The mar vellou s sandstone sarco phag us stands on site. TOMB OF RAMSES VI (9) : P la n 19 This tomb was started by Rarnses V and was usur ped by his successor. It has three entran ce halls, two chambers, a further two corr idors, an an te-c hamber and the tomb chamber. The wall representations arc carried out in low painted relief. The standa rd of craftsma ns hip is not high but the tomb cham ber its elf has one of th e most import ant ceilings in th e Valley of the Kings. In fact names and mott oes in Coptic and G reek show th at thi s Gil/den Hall was an attraction from the first century A.D. The first three corridors carry texts and representations from th e Pr aises of Ra . O n both sid es of th e first corridor, at (0) and (b), th e deceased Ph ara oh stands before the deit ies H arachte and Osir is. On the right-hand side of the second corridor (c) is the barge of th e Su n G od with th e twelve hours of night. Towards th e end of the lefthand wall (d) is the figure of Osiris before whom is the boat of the S un God. A pig (re present ing evil) is bein g driven away from it by sacred do g-h eaded apes. We now pass int o the th ird corrido r. O n the roof th ere is a pain tin g of the goddess N ut which extends from the beginning of the corr idor (J) , thro ugh the ant e-chamb er (.,.) when: her body curv es to the right of th e roof, and ends in th e cham ber C'l)' On th e right-hand wall of the third corr ido r is a supe rb rep resentation of Osiris un der a cano py (1.') . The cham ber C'l) has four columns and a sloping passage at the rear which is guarded by sacred winged snakes. The columns show the Pharaoh m aking offerings to the de ities. The roof is rich in colou r. On the rear walls (/) and (g) are rep resentat ions of the enthroned O sir is before whom the deceased burns incense. T ho ugh the colour is well-preserved, the reliefs are inferior when com pared to those in th e tomb of Se ti 1. The follo wing corrido r (6) takes us further along the road to the underworld . On the left -hand side (Ii) is the journey in th e fourth hour with the sacred cow (cen tre row ) and the croco dile in a boat (seco nd row). T he sloping corrido r (7) has sacred and protec tive em blems and religious formulae from the book of 'That which is in the U nde rwo;ld ' , and leads to an ant e-chamber (8). On the right-hand wall (i)

12 TOMB OF RAMS ES VI

Plan 19

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126 is th e deceased Ph ara oh with Maa t. T he left-hand wall (j) has texts from the Book of th e D ead . D ark blue and go ld predom inate in the tomb cham ber (9) . Across the vaulted ceiling 'the goddess N lit is twice represented along its en tire len gth, in a graceful sem i-c ircle with backs touching. This represents th e mornin g and evening skies. H er elon gated bod y curves to touch th e ear th with finger and toe , head to th e west , loin s to th e cast. T he entire cha m ber is a com plex of appro pria te text s from th e Book of the Dead. For exam p le, on the right-hand wall (k) is a small representa tion (second row) of th e boat of the Sun God , who is represented in t he shape of a beetle with a ram's head. The boat is be ing worshipped by two human-headed birds and th e sou ls of Kh epere and Atu m (forms o f the Sun G od) . Below this scene (to lett a nd right) ar e the beh ead ed condemned and above is a representatio n of the goddess N ut with upstrctch ed ar ms. In th e nich e at the rear of th e tomb cham be r (I) is th e barge of the Sun G od held aloft in upstretched arms . The sm ashed sarc o phagus of th e Pharaoh and his molested mummy were left on sit e by the grave-robbers who violated the tomb .

TOMB OF R AMSES III (II) : Plan 20 This tomb is second in size on ly to th at of Se ti I an d has beco me known as the Tomb 111'1 he Harp-Playcr . Its const ruction differs from th e regu lar tomb in th at five sm all cha mbe rs lead off eithe r side of th e firs t and seco nd corridors, making ten in all. Eac h is devot ed to asp ec ts of the Pharaoh 's life. It is also interesting that th e fi rst part of the tomb -up to the th ird room - was built by. Set nakht, father of R am ses I II , and in places wh ere the pain t has fallen off his carto uc hes are revealed . This is th e tomb, it will be rem em bered , whe re th e th ird corrido r was d iverted to the right after its bu ild ers had broken into an ad jacen t to m b by mi stake (sec page [04 )· Alth ou gh th e wall decor ati on s m ay no t be cons ide red of th e best arti sti c qu alit y, th eir var iety and richness arc certain ly un su rp assed . T he en tr ance door is at th e foot of a flight of steps on each side of which arc small pi llars with bulls' head s. Over the door is a representatio n of Isis and Nephth ys wor shipping th e su n- disc . Along th e first corrido r are figur es of Maar, goddess of int egr ity and truth, kneeling and shelter ing with her win gs th e deceased Pharaoh as his bod v ent ers th e tom b . On th e walls arc Pra ises of Ra . The Pharaoh him ; clf can be see n on the left-hand wall before Harmach es (one

127 of th e forms of th e Sun God) followed by the fam iliar sacre d serpe nt , crocodile and two gazelles' head s. . W e now tu~ to t he five sm all chambers leading off th e lej t-hand Side of th e corndor . The first chamber (a) contains various scenes of cooking, slau ghtering and bakin g. The second cham ber (/I) has, on the. entr~ nc~ wall to the left , th e kneelin g god of th e N ile bestowin g h is gifts to seve n gods of fertility whi ch have ears of corn on th eir head s. On the wall to the right th e N ile god is seen before th e ser pent- heade d goddes s Napret, five ap ron-cl ad ro val snakes a ~d two gods of ~ert i l i ty . T he third cham ber (c) is lar gel y-decorated WIth ma le and female local deities with offer ings. In the bottom ro~ are kneeling Nile god s. The fourth chamber (d) has representauons of the guard ian spirit of the de ceased on either side of th e entran ce, each bearing a staff ending in a roya l held . T he other walls sho w double rows of rowe rs, sacred serpents and sacred catt le. Th~ fifth ch amber (c) c~nta i ns the representations th at gave th e to m b Its name : on th e lett wall arc two har pists, one befor e Anh or and th e hawk-head ed H arrn aches, and th e oth er befor e Shu a.nd Atu .m. The text on either side of the doorway is the song the y sing asking that the blessed Pharaoh might be received. _As alrea?y sta ted, there are five chambers on th e right-hand side contains a double row of sailing ships : of th e ~orn do r. T he first th ose In the upper ro w ready to set sail and th ose in the lower with sails furled . The seco nd cha~ ber (g) is the Ph ar aoh 's armoury. The walls have rep resentatIOns of al! th e royal weap on s and standards . At th e top of th e left-h and wall are standards with head s of sacred anim als. At the top of th e right- hand wall ar e standa rds with gods' heads. 9 n the rear wall arc a multitude of bows, arr ows and q uivers. The th.lrd chamber (It) IS particularly interesti ng if we rem ember that th is was a very wealthy Pharaoh , for it contains his tr easury. On th e walls arc representations of furn iture and orna ments utensi ls and jewellery, elab orate head-rest s, cus hio ned bench es and comfo rt ab le cou ch es that are attained by steps. The fourt h cham ~er (I) has . rural s~enes. The Ph ar aoh sails along a canal watch ing plou ghin g, SOWIng and reap ing. In th e fields are sacred ~nim a ls . T~e .last cham ber on the right-hand side (j) is notab le for Its twe lve differ ent forms of Osiris, the god of the underworld. The fourth corr idor is decorated w itll scenes from th e Book of th e D ead , an~ lead s to an ante-c ham ber ( j") with rcprcse nrat ion s of th e Ph ar aoh In th e pre sen ce of th e gods of th e underworld . The sl.o pin g passage (6) that follows has side galleries support ed hy four pilla rs, and a door way o n th e ri)"{ht lead ing to a small cham be r (7) ;

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129 TOMB OF RAMSES 1\1

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here are some fine repre sentations : on the right-hand wall (k ) th e Ph araoh is guided by the de ities Thoth and H ar-Khentkheti. On the left-h and wall (I) he presen ts the image of tr uth to Osiris, god of the und erworld . On the rear wall (m) the Pha raoh stands in the presence of Osiris. T he following corri do r (8) is bad ly damaged, as are the antechambers that precede th e tomb chamber itself (r o). T his is a long oblon g room with four pillars on each side and an extra chamber at each of the four corners. The actua l sarcop hagus is now in the Lou vre, its lid is in Cambri dge , and the Pharaoh' s mumm y, amongst those taken from th e shaft at Der el Bahri , is now in th e Cairo M useum.

TOMB OF RAMSES IX (6) : Plan 21 This tomb is const ruc ted on fairly classical lines and comprises three cham bers, one following the other in a straight line. It is approached by an inclined plane with steps on either side. Flanking th e door way are represe nta tions of the deceased standing befor e H arm aches and Os iris (a), and Amon and a goddess of th e dead (h). The two pairs of chamb ers in this part of the corri dor have no decoration s. On the right hand wall, over the second chambe r on the right (c) are demon s of the underworld inclu ding serpents and ghosts with the heads of bulls and jackals. At this point is the begin ning of the text of the sun's journey through the unde rworld. On the left- hand side of th e corridor (d) a pr iest po urs forth the sym bols for life, wealth , etc. on the deceased Pha raoh , who is dressed like Os iris . The priest wears the side-lock of a royal prince and is probably a son of the deceased. The roof of the second corr idor (2) is decorated with conste llations. To both left and right (e) serpents rear the mselves . Note th e recesses for figur es of the gods, followed on the left-hand wall (I) with th e beginning of another text from the Book of the Dead and th e deceased Ph araoh before the hawk-h eaded Su n God . On the opposite wall (g) are dem ons and spiri ts. T he th ird corridor (3) is also protected by serpe nts. On the right-h and wall (Iz) the Ph araoh presents an image of Maat to Ptah, th e god of Me m phis, beside whom sta nds th e goddess Maar. Note that th e tr ans parent cloth of th e skirt is cu t in low relief th us enabling the foot and front legs of the Pharaoh to appear in high relief. Immed iately beyond this represent at ion we see the mummy of the Ph araoh acro ss a mo unt ain, sym bolising the resurrection.

13 1

13° The scarab and the sun-d isc (above) indi cate the bringing forth of renewed life on the eart h. T oward s th e middle of this same wall (at i) are ritual ist ic representat ions includ ing four men spi tti ng out scarabs as th cv ben d over backward s, dem on s standing upon ser pen ts, ser pen ts pier ced by arr ows and the scarab in a boat with two llor us eyes . m

Plan 22 TOMB OF HARMHAB

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O n the left-ha nd wall (j) are the boats of the Sun God (cent re) travelling th rou gh the secon d and third hours of night bearing pro tect ive divi nities. We now enter a chamber (4). Beyond , at (k) and (I ), are priests with panth er skins and side- locks, sacr ificing and making offerings befo re a standard. The next chamb er (s) is rou gh and unfinished and slopes down wards to the burial cha mber thro ugh anot her corri dor (6). In the burial chamber (7) there are tr aces (on th e floor ) of the sarcophagu s. O n th e walls are gods and dem on s. The godde ss N ut, repr esenting th e morning and evening skies, is shown across the rough ceiling in two figures . Below are constellations, boats of the stars, etc . On the rear wall (m) th e ch ild Ho rus , seated within the winged sun-disc, is symbolic of rebirth afte r dea th .

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TOMB OF HARMHAB (57) : Plan

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Plan 21 TOMB OF RAMSES IX

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T his tomb, which was plund ered in antiq uity, has an un imp ressive entrance with steps thro ugh two cor ridors and is followed bv the mcll-room (]) and by a hall (.;) that was com pleted to resembl~ the tomb cham ber. T he stairway on the left-hand side of th is hall, tho ugh care fully conc ealed, was neverth eless found by robbers who, following the cor ridor (,), passed th rou gh the ante-chamber (6) and plundered the tomb cham ber (;). T his tomb is worth a visit for four rea sons. F irst for the extr emely high qu ality of the reliefs of the well-room (;) and the ante-chamber (6). Seco nd ly, to see the stages of mural execution in some of the corridors where th e work has not been completed and es pecially in the burial cham ber (7). T hirdly, becau se in the six-pi llared bur ial hall the sarc ophagus is a fine piece of work in red granit e with beautifully car ved figures of the vario us deities along with th e religio us formu lae. At the corners goddesses spread th~i r wings to guard the deceased . Their prot ecti on was inade qu ate, for when th e Amer ican archeo logist D avis excava ted th e tom b in 1 (j0S the mummy was in such poor condition as even to prevent confirma tion of its sex. Four th ly, becau se on the high er reaches of the tomb chamber are the symbols for north , sou th, east and west and it is interesting to observe th at th ese were instructions for the workers, who were given appropriate decorations lor each .

TOMB OF TH UTMO SE III (34): Plan 23 T ? is i.s the tomb of th e w?rld's first empire builder. .A. steep night 01 stairs across a dr amatic ravine be tween sheer mountain faces leads to the remote entrance. It was excavat ed in the J 8th Dyn ast y

13 2 when the Ph araoh's chief aim was concea lment . W he n it became evide nt that th ese precauti ons were useless, the tomb s of the rq th . Dy nasty were grou ped together under a~ armed guar? The design is simple. After th e stairway a sloping ~orndor descends to a sta ircase whic h has broad niches on both Sides (I). Bevond th is is another corridor leading to a rectan ~u lar shaft (crossed by a han d-b ridge) .a.n d into a cha':fl ber (2) .\~h lch has t~vo undecorated pillars and a ceiling covered with star s. I he walls bear . . . the names of 7..P d iffer ent deities . The tomb chamber Cl) is ap proached by a stairway and IS In t~e form of an oval. T he scenes of the un der world arc mostly In excellent con d ition. The repre senta tions on the pillars.are de.li~h t­ fully sim plified black d rawings. O n ~he fa~e of the first ISa religious inscription and on the left-hand tac.e ~trom top to bo~ tom) ~re T h ut rnose and his queen-moth er ISIs In a boat, the k~ng be!ng suc kled by Isis in th e form of a tr ee and (helow) ~he king being followed by his thr ee wives and th e prin cess Nof~e~ere . .On ~h e third face of the pillar arc demons. De mons and religious mscn ptions ado rn the other pillars. The sarco phagus, on an alabaste r pedestal, was made of red sand~tone and was found to be .empty. T he Pharaoh 's mummy was safely III the Ocr el Bah n shalt . Plan 23

133 CHAPTER 7 THE NECROPOLIS THE VALLEY OF THE QUEENS

BACKGRO U ND In this valley by no me ans all the qu eens of the New Kingdo m were buried. It app ears tha t a special burial ground for the royal consort s was started on ly in the reign of Ramses I and royal offspr ing were also burie d here. T here are signs th at previously the q ueens were laid to rest beside th eir husband s in the Valley of the K ings. but pillage of the royal tom bs has mad e it extreme ly difficult for archeologists to con firm this . There are over twenty tombs in th e Valley of the Qu eens. Ma ny are un finished and entirely with ou t decoration, resem bling caves rather th an sacred tomb chamb ers. T he most impressive is th at of the wife of Ramses II, Queen Ne fer-tari, his favour ite. Altho ugh her tomb may only be visited by specia l permission because of th e deteriorat ion of the murals, it will nevertheless be described in order to give a picture of th e memorial to a Pharaoh's love. T his, and the tomb cons tructed for the son of Ramses I II, Arnon-hirKhopshef, who died too young to pass alone into the d ivine presence of the gods of the und er world , are the most important.

TOMB OF NEF ER - T AR I (66): Plan 24 Nefer-tari or 'B eau tiful Com panion' has a magnificent tomb comprising an entrance hall (I) with a side chamber (2) lead ing off to the right. A cor ridor stair way (3) leads to th e burial chamber (4) which has four sq uare pillars and, in the centre, a few stairs leadin g to what was once the site of the sarc ophagus, sunk slightly lower th an the gro und rock. T he walls thro ughout the tomb are elabo rately worked in low relief, partly filled ~\' ith st ucco and paint ed . The first th ing th at strikes one on ent ry int o the tomb is th e extravagant use of colour and its astounding brilliance. T he flesh hues, white robes, black hair, bright friezes give th e impression of having been newly painted. And th e second thing is the realism with which the que en her self has been paint ed. She is graceful and sensitive and extreme ly beauti ful. H er form , as she app ears before the vario us deities, is accompa nied by only a modest amount of

135

134

text. T his, desp ite the excessive det ail of the drawin gs, gives the impression of simplification, somewhat as though the presence of one so beautiful spoke for itself. On the left-h and wall of the first cham her (a) is a series of magical form ulae with the quee n playing . At (b) the lea worships the rising sun between two lions which symbolise the immediate past and the imme diate future. T o th e right at (c) and (d ) the goddesses Neith and Selket receive the q ueen. Maar, goddess of truth, is represent ed at each side of the entrance to the annex (e). In the side cham ber (2) on the right-h and wall the q ueen adores seven sacre d cows, the bull and four steering oars of the sky. On the facing wall (g) she ma kes offerings to Os iris (on the left) and Atu m (on the right). On the left-h and wall (h) she stands before th e ibis-headed Thoth while Heqt the frog squ ats before him. In the stai rcased corri dor <J) Nefer-tari makes offerings to Isis (on the left) and Ha thor (on th e right) while guardian deities protect and guide her. T he murals of the tomb chamber (4) are not in such perfect condi tion but represent the deceased queen again with the de ities.

Plan 24

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TOMB OF QUEEN NEFER-TARI

TOMB OF AMON· HIR-KHOPSHEF

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Plan 25

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TOMB OF QUEEN TITI Plan 26

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137 As usual, demons guard the gates of the underworld and the quee!1 passes by with the aid of the sac:ed for!T!ulae a~d emblems. In this tomb the safeguards and warnmgs agamst evil, and examples of possible sufferings to those. not pu:e in ~eart, seem to. have been used to the minimum. One IS conscious of a path of punty through the underworld, as though the journey of Ramses Irs beloved was a mere formality.

TOMB OF AMON-HIR-KHOPSHEF (55): Plan 25 In this charming tomb Ramses III himself leads his son AmonHir-Khopshef into the presence of the divi.ne gods of the underworld. The nine-year-old boy wears. the side-lock ?f youth ,and carries the feather of truth as he obediently follows hIS father. I'he reliefs arc of fine quality low painted relief, in excellently preserved colour. In fact the murals of this tomb are amongst the finest on the necropolis. . , . The tomb comprises a large entrance hall W.lth an unfinished annex to the right and the tomb chamber (unfinished). On the left-hand wall, travelling clockwise, we ~ee ~he young prince following the Pharaoh Ramses III, who offers incense to Ptah (a) and then introduces his son. Afterwards he pre:,ents t~e hoy to Duamutef and to Imseti (h), who conducts the pair to ISIS. N\;te that Isis (c) looks over her shoulder to the advancing Pharaoh. She holds him by the hand. . On the right-hand wall (continuing clockwise) Ramses and hIS son are conducted to Hathor (d), Hapi, QebhsnewefIe) Shu and Nephthys (g) who puts her hand beneath the chin of the bereaved Pharaoh. The corridors bear scenes from the Book of the Dead. There was no mummy of the boy in the sarcophagus but in its place was a foetus of six months' development. Perhaps the mother miscarried due to grief at the loss of the boy . One can only spec.ulate. The foetus is preserved in a small hermetically sealed glass ill the tomb.

en

TOMB OF QUEEN TITI (52): Plan 26 This is not Queen Tiy, consort of A.menhotep III and. mother of Ikhnaron, but a queen of the Rarnesside era. The tomb IS damaged but some of the murals still retain startling freshness of colour. The figures of the gods and demons in the tomb chamber defy the years with their brightness. The tomb is simple, comprising an ante-chamber (I), a long

passage (2) and the tomb chamber (,), which is flanked by three small chambers. On the rear wall ofthe chamber flanking the tomb chamber to the right (a) is a representation of Hathor who appears in the form of a cow in a mountainous landscape. In front there is a sycamore from which Hathor, now represented in human form, pours out Nile water to revive the queen. The chamber on the opposite side (b) contains the mummy shaft. The rear chamber (c) shows genii of the dead and various gods seated at offering tables while the queen prays to them (to left and right). On the rear wall Osiris sits enthroned with Neith and Selket before him and Nephthys, Isis and Thoth behind him.

139 TOMBS OF THE NOBLES SHEIK ABO EL KURNA

CHAPTER 8 THE N ECROPOLIS THE TOMBS OF THE N OBLES

BACKGROUND

Upper Enclosure

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T he Tombs of the Nobles spread over an area of about two square miles from D ra Abu el Nega in the nor th to Oer el Med ina in the sout h. T her e are well over three hundred . All belong to the officials who wielded power, to a greater or lesser extent, in the Ne w Kin gdom . Who were the se people, thes e aristocr ats of the age ? Perha ps their position is best under stood by stress ing first of all that th e Ph araoh of Egypt was no mere figurehead. Hi s position was supreme and he took an active part in all affairs of state. H e was concerned with matters ranging from the height the water rose du ring th e inundation of the Nil e in any year, to th e recruitm ent of troops, whom he personall y led into battle. He part icipat ed in public ceremo nies and ded icat ions, super vised the plann ing and constru ction of an ed ifice or a state th oroughfare and even had the final say in the judgeme nt of a pet ty crime. It can be read ily appreciated th erefor e that this was far too mu ch for a single pair of hands and the Pharaoh 's vizier took a share of the responsibil ity. Along with the chief tr easurer, he headed the main govern ment departmen ts. The vizier pro vided the liaison bet ween the departmental heads and the Pharaoh, just as the departmental heads provided the liaison between the workers and the vizier. In Thebes all the affairs of the state capital filtered through the hands of th e vizier before coming to the att ent ion of th e Pharaoh, including the ann ual taxation from officials and record ing of tributes from conq uered land s. The viziers held a power ful position and the growth of th is power can be traced in their tom bs from the days of T hutmose III , when the mona rch could afford to be libe ral with his loyal and trusted subordinates, giving th em gifts and honours in recognition of th eir services, to th e era following Ikhnaton 's breakaway governme nt when the vizier became the power behi nd the throne and, taking ad vantage of a weakening line of mona rchs , ultimately gained the supreme posit ion for himsel f. T hese then are th e tom bs of th e grand vizier and of th ose under

his contro l: the arm y genera l, th e superintende nt of granaries, the overseer of gardens, the scr ibe of th e field s, etc. The major ity of tombs were uniform and simple, designed in two part s. There was a wide open cour t lead ing to a hall which was some times support ed by pillars or columns . D irectly cen tre -back of th is hall was a long corri dor leading to th e offer ing shri ne which had niches for the statues of the relatives of the deceased . T he walls, due to th e poor qu ality limestone rock, were covered with a layer of clay and the n a coat of whitewash . These were painted. There are sculptured reliefs on only a few. The walls of the main hall usuall y bore pr ayers for the deceased to the right and a reco rd of his career to the left. The back corr idor usually carried the various funerary rites. T he tomb s of the nobles d iffered from those of the Pharaoh in one im portant respect. Wh ereas the royal tombs were only bur ial places, the tombs of th e nobl es were funerary rooms and bur ial places combined. The Pharaoh was div ine and joy and plen ty were autornaticallv assured to him in the hereafter, while a nobl eman dep ict ed on the walls of his tomb every aspect of his experience on earth that he wanted repeated in the hereafter. Naturally he chose the most pleasant memories : th e perfect harvest, the perfect feast, the perfect catch on the hook an d the perfect fowl brought down with an arr ow. The happiest hours of his life were captured for th e hereafter, the grea test joys and naturally the most prais eworthy honours bestowed on him for his ad ministr ative excellence. These tombs shed a flood of light on the life and times. They are valua ble chapte rs in an cient histor y. J ust as th e Sakkara mastabas te ll us about life in the Old K ingdom and the rock-hewn tomb s of Bcni H assan give an insight into the M idd le K ingdom, it is the tombs of the nobles th at tell us most about th e New Kingdom. We see how the people lived, worked, built, fished, speared . We see them enjoyi ng a social fun ction and grieving at a funeral. We sec th e im passive faces of officials at a pu blic ceremo ny and the lighthear ted gaiety of a grou p of dancers. I n fact here is a new type of art . Egy pt ian art , as we ha ve seen, was both religious and idealised , conforming to a strict pattern in th e por trayal of the Pha raoh, th e deities, batt les and fest ivities. The side-vie w face was con sidered more typical of the indi vidu al than fro nt-v iew, whilst front-vie w eyes wer e necessa ry for express ion. t\ side-v iew of the arm s necessari ly mean t concealing one of th em , th erefor e square shou lders were necessary . Groups of peopl e were shown as parallel outlines beh ind the front figure . These trad itions were never qu estioned by

the state artists and they continued the repetiti ve posit ions and positioning from generation to genera tion. Movement was unkn own. In the tombs of th e nobles we come across a severe br eak with th ese tradition s. All th e paintings arc characterise d by natural ism . F irst of all, in place of the frieze, each wall is surrounded by a decorative border and with in each frame is a picture, complete in itself. T he ou ter figures face inwards, movements and actio ns are varied. T here is balance, perspecti ve and, sur prisingly, even front view faces and side-v iew shoulders. T he most delig htful drawings are such realistic portrayals as a th irsty man and a naughty child . The natural wit and spontaneity of the artist has at last been released . Wh ile national and mortuary temples were normall y filled wit h sty lized , grand , heroic and repetitive themes, the walls of th e tom bs of th e no bles were covere d with a rich and exciting catalogue of the lives of men, each of whom was a pivot of at least one admin istrative un it of his time - and not, as sometimes claimed, by cheap substitu tes for wall relief. TOMB OF NAKHT

Plan 27

SHEIKH AB D EL KUR N A Tomb of N a kh t (52) : Plan 27 This is the simple to mb of th e scr ibe of th e granaries und er T hutmose IV. It com prises two chambers and only the first is decor ated . But in th is single room are such detailed activities, executed with such infinite charm and in such a good state of repair th at the tomb of Nak ht will always rank as one of th e fines t. The more detailed the earthly activities dep icted in the tomb , th e easier for th em to be re peated in th e hereafter ; that mu ch is clear. But th is tomb has, in add ition, extraord inary and remarkabl e irreleva nces that both sur prise and charm. We will turn to the left after we ente r the doorway. On the first wall (a) is a series of agricultural scenes includ ing ploughin g, diggin g, sowing, etc. In the upper row the deceased superintends thre e stages of th e harvest : the measuring and winnowing of the grain , the reaping and pressing of the grain into baskets v- wirh a

143 charming drawing of a man leaping in the air so that the weight of his body might press the grain tightly-and, in the low~r r~w, the labourers being organised by the deceased for ploughing In two teams. Note that the ploughman has ragged hair, the ox is piebald and that, in the midst of the strenuous work one of the workers takes a moment's respite to drink from a wineskin on a tree. On the rear left-hand wall (b) there is a delightful scene showing the deceased and his wife (in the lower row) being brought flowers and geese by their son whilst three women play music to the~. These female musicians are sensitively painted in perfect detail. The graceful nude lute-player dances to the accompaniment. of.a no less graceful flautist and harpist. The body of the one girl IS given front-view treatment while her head is turned to speak to her colleague. Above is a blind harpist playing to guests and attended bv an audience of women seated on the ground, who are apparently more interested in local gossip than in watching the dancers, and a naked young girl leaning to put perfume before the nostrils of three women. Below Nakht's chair is a bristling cat who has just stolen a feast. On the right-hand rear wall (c) the deceased is seated with his wife in an arbour (lower row), while flowers, poultry, grapes and fish are brought to them by their servants. Servants were of course a regular feature in the homes of Egypt's noblemen. Each had a specific chore: cleaning the bed-chamber, washing the laundry, acting as nanny. On this same wall (c) birds are being caught in nets and plucked. The filled net is a complex of wings and colours. Grapes are being picked and turned into wine (lower rows) and in the uppe~ row the deceased enjoys his hobbies. He is spearing fish and shooting fowl. The fishing scene was never completed. Though the fish themselves are drawn, Nakht has no spear in hand. His wife tenderly holds an injured bird in her hand. His little daughter holds his leg to prevent him from losing balance. . It is interesting to note that, in contrast to the twelve dramat.lc zones of the underworld traversed by the deceased Pharaohs In their tombs in the Valley of the Kings, the deceased noblemen had simple intercourse with the gods. On each side of the entrance doorway Nakht followed by his wife and three rows of servants, makes offerings 'to Amon, whose name was obliterated by Ikhnaton whenever it occurred. In the second chamber, in a shaft descending to the mummy chamber, was found a small and exquisite statue of Nakht in a

kneeling position and holding an inscribed stele. This little masterpiece is now lying on the floor of the Irish Sea. The s.s. Arabic on which it was being transported was sunk in World War I. Nakht the man has emerged from the paintings in his tomb. We know about his official career with its emphasis on organisation, efficiency and production, his family life with its show of harmony and plenty, his entertainments with their air of light-hearted gaiety and the pastimes that gave him most pleasure. Tomb of Ramose (55): Plan 28 This tomb belongs to the vizier in the reigns of Amenhotep III and Amenhotep IV (later Ikhnaton). It comprises a main hall with thirty-two rather squat papyrus columns (I), an inner hall (2) containing eight clustered columns of smaller dimension (all destroyed) and the shrine (3). Ramose was one of the earliest converts to the sun-worship and his tomb is therefore of historical significance as one of the few standing monuments in Thebes of the period between the two faiths. It is moreover of artistic significance since it gives a unique opportunity to see conventional relief representations alongside Plan 28

TOMB OF RAMOSE

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144 the new realism which has become known as the Amarna period. Before we describe the tomb of Ramose a word should be said about lkhnaton's sun-worship and the art it heralded. The movement was not the isolated act of a rebellious Pharaoh who established a new capital in Tel el Amarna with a set of original ideas and a new outlook. The sun-worship of Ikhnaton was introduced in Thebes over a number of years. The formation of a new capital, rendering Amon no more than a local deity, was really only the final step in a continuing process. Light is still being shed on the transition period from one worship to another. There is considerable evidence to support the theory that Amenhotep III and his son shared a co-regency for many years at Thebes, and that, while the father was too disabled by ill-health and his son too young for the responsibility, Queen Tiy laid the foundations for the new thought that her son was to bring to fruition. Among the first steps taken were the 'enlightenment' of certain Theban noblemen to the 'truth of monotheism', and a breakaway from the traditional forms of art. The tomb of Ramose dates from this period. It was started in the traditional style, continued in the new and left unfinished when Ramose followed his master to Tel el Amarna. On both the left and right eastern walls of the main chamber, the murals are in unpainted, stylized relief. This was the conventional mural form typical of Amenhotep Ill's last years when his son may have been co-regent. On the southern half (a) Ramose the deceased vizier sits with his relati ves. The men and women of his household are depicted in the traditional manner with regular faces, clothes and elaborate wigs, the details of which were carried out with faultless precision; the only paintwork is on the eyes. On the northern wall (b) are scenes of worship, offerings and religious ceremonies. The representation that most fully shows the stylized, unemotional, traditional treatment of the mural is that on the left-hand rear wall (c) by the central doorway. It is a portrayal of Amenhotep IV, as he was then still called, seated below a canopy with Maat. Ramose himself is twice represented before the throne. This scene probably dates from the period of the building of the first temple to the sun at Thebes, a time when Amon was not yet openly challenged but the worship of Aton was nevertheless taking root. However on the right-hand rear wall (d) we see a quite new mood. Now the young Pharaoh, who changed his name to Ikhnaton only after he set up the new capital, stands with his royal consort

145 Nefreti~i on a. bal~ony, while Ran:ose, d~picted in Amarna style an~ attitude, IS being decorated WIth chams. Though it is still in

relief, one can easily recognise the new realism, especially in the portraya~ of the Pharaoh and his wife. Compared with the divine incarnanon of Amon at (c), here at (d) we see the Pharaoh with b~lIy extended in unflattering truth. Above is the life-giving sun WIth fourteen rays. Fo!!r of them hold symbols of life and happiness. Two support hIS outstretched arm. Another offers the symbol of life to the nostrils of the queen. Behind is the roval bodyguard. This mural probably dates from the period just bef~re the departure from Thebes and already the thick loins of the Amarna period are apparent, though some of the innovations such as the higher relief of the attendants in comparison with the rest of the sculpture, has not yet matured. It is a preview of art movement taking shape. Let us ponder a moment about this so-called 'freedom of a~tistic expression' under Ikhnaton. It does not imply individualism sIn~e the state artists worked in teams on approved themes inhented from the early dynasties. They were now freed from this traditionalism, which was encouraged by the priesthood, to do free poses encourage~ by t?e Pharaoh. A swinging walk, relaxed comfort, tender relationships, predominate in the new art. One ~heory is that the Amarna period was one of artistic degener.atlOn. But degeneration does not take place overnight, and here In the tomb of Ramose the two art forms coexist. One may c011?pare .the stiff, unpainted, precise relief work of the earlic"r penod w~th the first stages of the new realism. It is a unique ?pport!!r: lty to see the Pharaoh on one wall in perfect, divine ~mmoblhty and, on the other, as the relaxed and physically Imperfect man. " " C?~ the ~pper part of. the left-hand wall (e) is a peculiar juxtaposition of old and new III the group of mourners one of the most expressive and delightf~l drawings to be found in' any tomb. Grief comes down the centunes III a heart-rending funerary convoy. The men carry boxes cove.re~ with cooling foliage, a jar of water and flowers. A group of grieving women turn towards the funeral bier fling their.arms about and throw dust in their hair, tears streaming down their cheeks. One woman is supported by a svmpathetic atte!1da.n~. One is so yoyng as .to be unclothed. Most o(the figures are individual, expressing vaned movements and degrees of grief and are even. of different sizes. But the group of five mourners at the centre of the group of women are shown as a series of parallel

147 lines behind the front figu re. Trad itions are not easily broken ! F ur t her alon g t he wall wom en beat th eir breas ts and t highs in grief or squat to ga the r dust to scatt er on th eir head s. Another theo ry abo ut th e re pres enta tio ns of th e Amarna peri od is tha t th e yo ung Pha rao h re verted to th e archaic for ms of art th at he held so dea r. He bel ieved th at Amo n was bu t a usurper of th e true sun- wors hip of Ra at Heliopolis and accord ing ly th e proportions of pr e- d yna stic times were recaptured . T he art he en courag ed , in the words of Art hur We igall, was 'a kind of renai ssance -s-a retu rn to th e classical peri od of ar cha ic days." In t he door way lead ing to th e second, un fin ished, cha mbe r Ram ose app ears sta ndi ng (on th e left -han d side) and praying (on th e rig ht). T omb of Khaemhet (57) : Plan 29 T his is t he to m b of th e overseer of th e gra naries of U pper an d L ower Eg ypt late in th e reign of Ame nho te p Ill , a tim e when art and ar chi tec ture were flourish ing. It was also a tim e whe n religiou s con ception s wer e undergoin g a gra d ual cha nge to wards the worship of a sin gle deit y, the su n . The mural s are in low relie f and arc carried out in pr ecise an d sensitive detail. This is particularly apparent in the trea tme nt of Kh aemhet ' s wig, with his own hair sho wing be nea t h . T he tom b com pri ses a lar ge traverse cham ber ( I ) with a nich e on the left- hand side contain ing badly da m aged statues of t he deceased and th e ro yal scribe Imhotep, a corridor (2) with scen es relating to the unde rworld and a seco nd tra ver se cha mber (J) contai ni ng three nich es bea ri ng sta tu es of K hae m he t and his relat ives. These too are in poo r cond ition . On the left-hand entrance wall of th e first cha m ber at (a) is a rem arkable representation of Rcn enet, the sna ke- heade d goddess of the gran aries. S he is seated in a shrine and offer ings are made to her by three finely scu lpted mal e figures. T he child she nurses is svmbolic of the new ha rvest. F ur ther along the wall (h) is th e bustli ng port of Thebes. T he ma sts of many corn-laden vessels, th e stee ring (lars tipped with th e head of th e Pharaoh , th e mast head s, th e rigging- all are depict ed in m eticul o us detail. On th e rea r left-hand wall (c) is a scen e showing serva nts of the vizier br ingin g in ca tt le. At (d) ar e damaged figures of th e Pharaoh and his vizier. At the foot of th e royal canopy are nine captive trib es wh ilst bet ween t he lion- legs of th e throne are two captives : Ne gro and Asian . l T!rt- I.I/e attd

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On th e right-hand rear wall (e) the enthroned P haraoh (defa ced) receives hom age fro m Khaernhet and his officials. F ur ther along (1) K hae m he t is being decorated by th e Pharaoh; accor ding to the inscription he was so ho noured in t he t hir teenth year of the reign of Ame nhotep II I. O n th e right-hand entrance wall (g) are a set of agricultu ral scenes includi ng m easuring the land , sowing and reaping. Khaemher's cha riot is d ra wn up near the fields and while a sleepy d river awaits th e ret urn of his ma ste r th e hor ses take ad van tage of th e break to graze . In the corridor, on the left-h and side at (17) , is a fine represent at ion of Osiris enthro ned with H athor sta nding beh ind hi m . Tomb of U serhet, F ir st Prophet (51) : Plan 30 Although it is no t in too good a sta te of repair, th is tom b, belon ging to th e Fi rst Prophet of th e Royal Ka of Thut m ose 1 in the reign of Se n I, conta ins a sym bolic scene of suc h high order of artisti c execution tha t it shou ld on no accou nt be m issed . Plan 29 TOMB OF KHAEMHET

Plan 30 TOMB OF USERHET,

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First Prophet

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149 It is on the right-hand wall of the narrow tr a verse ch amber (a) and shows Userhet and his wife and sister sitting beneath a figladen tree drinking the Water of Life presented to them by a treegoddess who rises out of the lake before them. As the liquid is poured from a golden vessel into the cups, the three seated figures arc offered figs and grapes, bread and honeycomb. The T-shaped lake between U serhet and the tree-goddess shows the soul s of Uscr het and hi s wife as human-head ~d birds drinkin g the Water of I .ife from their cupped hands . The sym bo lic purpose of the mural is almost obliterated by the imaginative and realistic tre atment. It must have been a truly magn ificent representation. Above th e seated figures wagtails flit among the branches ofthe fruit-laden tree and above the two wom en are th e human-headed birds whi ch represent their soul s or bas. On the left-hand entrance wall (Ii) U ser het's heart is being weighed, not against the ostrich feather of truth, but this time against the figure of a man . T he inn er corridor is in ruin .

Tomb of Userhet, Royal Scribe (56): Plan 31 This is the tomb of the ro yal scribe in th e reign of Amenhotep II. Hi s name was also U se rhet and th e condition of his tomb is extremely good . Rural scenes decorate the left -hand entrance wall (a) . They include the branding of catt le and the collecti on of gra in . On the rear left-hand wall (b) is a feasting scene where un~or~unately all the figures of the wom en were destroyed by a Christian monk who made his home in the tomb. On the right-hand rear wall (c) men bring bags of gold-d ust to he counted by su per visors (~pper row) , and in the lower row is a charming scene of men queumg beneath the trees to have their heads cut and shaved . The barber himself is bu sily at work on two clients. On the sam e wall (d) bakers are making bread (middle row) and U ser het's gu ests ar e seated (lower row). ·'r owards the end of the wall (e) Us erhet makes offer ings to his Pharaoh, who wears a colourful red tunic with yellow spots. The most notable scene in thi s tomb is on the left-hand wall of the inner corridor (.I). It is a hunting scene in which the charioted nobleman shoots at fleeing gazelles, jackals, hares and other animal s. User hct ha s the reins tied around his waist and the string of his bow taut and ready to shoot. The movement among the fleeing animals is beautiful and rhythmic. Further along the wall (g) are scenes of fishin g, fowling, and viti culture.

The right-hand wall has funerary scenes with the weeping women (h) beautifully depicted in their sorrow .

Tomb of Rekhmire (100) : Plan 32 Rekhmire was vizier under Thutmose III and his son Amenhotep I I. The tomb follows the regular style of the r Sth Dynasty nobles' tombs, com prising a narrow, oblong. first ~hamber . and a. lo~g corridor opposite the entrance. Bu t thi s co~ndor rapidl y gains In height to the rear of the tomb and runs Into the rock . It was inhabited by a [elaheen fam ily for many years an~ the wall de~ora­ tion s have suffered at their hands. The tomb IS a memorial to personal greatness and a re velation o.n la~, tax;tion and ?umerous industries. Professor Breasted described It as the most Important private monument of the Empire' . . Rekhrnire was an outstanding vizier who was entr~sted ~.lth a great many duties. There w~s nothin~, he wrote of hImself. In an inscription, of which he was Ignorant In heaven, on earth or I.n any part of the underworld. One of th e most important scenes In the tomb is that on the left-hand wall of the first chamber near the

corne r (a) . It shows the int erior of a court of law in which tax evade rs are brought to justice by the grand vizier himself. T he pr isoners are led up th e central aisle, witnesses wait outside and at the foot of the judge men t seat are four ma ts with rolled papyri. T hese arc proof th at writte n law existed in '5 00 B.C. Messe nger s wait ou tside and others bow deeply as they enter the presence of the vizier. , Near the centre of th e oppos ite wall (/I) Rekhm ire performs his d ual role of receiving taxes from officials who annua lly came with th eir d ues, and receiving tributes from th e vassal princes of Asia, the chiefs of N ubia, etc. T he fore ign gift-bea rers are arranged in five rows : from the Land of Pun t (da rk skinned) , from Crete (hearing vases of the distinctive M inoa n type discovered on the island hv S ir Arthur Evans), from N ubia, from Syria, and men , womcn -and children from the So uth . T he diverse and exotic tribu tes range from panther s, apes and animal skins, to chariots, pearls and costly vases, to say nothing of an elephant and a bear. T he inner corr idor gives an insight into the act ivities of the times. On the left-hand wall (c) Rckhmire sup er vises the delivery

of corn, wine and clot h from the royal storehouses. He inspects carpenters, leather-workers, metal-workers and potters, who all came under his cont rol. In the lower row is a some what damaged record for poster ity of one of the most importan t tasks with which he was entrusted : superv ising the construction of an ent rance portal to th e temple of Amon at Karnak. He held vigil over the manu facture of the raw material, th e mould ing of the hricks and th eir final use. Pylons and sphinxes, furni ture and even household utensils all came und er his con tro l. T here are int eresting scenes, to th e left of the bottom row, of seated and standing stat ues being given final touches by the artist before polishing. The fascinating detail pro vides a pictorial treatise on the different indust ries of th e tim es. On the right-hand wall (d) Rekhmire may be seen at a tab le and th ere are tr ad itional scenes of offerings before statues of th e deceased, the deceased in a boat on a pond being towed by men on the bank , and a banquet with mu sicians and singers. All the re presentatio ns in th is tomb show rhythm and freeposing, gesticulati ng and active figures . They are very differen t

r .

Plan 31 TOMB OF USERHET

Plan 32 TOMB OF REKHMIRE

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from th e pattern ed group acti on with which v:e are familiar. T he high pr em ium tr ad itio nally set on balanced d.eslgn was not lo~t. But the solid str ings of people arc gone, and \~Ith the br e.ak With th e frieze the curtain is sudde nly lifted on a picture of thi ngs as th ey really were : workers ben din g to mi x mort ar or squatting to carve a statue : a man who raises a bucket to his colleague's sho ulder; ano ther 'engrossed in car pentry; .the elegant la~ies of Rekhmire's househo ld prep ar ing for a SOCial fun ction .wlth yo.un~ female servants arra ng ing th eir hair, anoi nting th eir limbs, .bn nglng th em jewellery. The message in th ese deligh tful J!l~rals. IS forceful ~nd clear, with th e dignified personage of the vizier him self to wer ing over his subordi nates in adminis tra tive excellence.

O I? th e tJ:"averse. first ~ham ber (1) on the left-h and rear wall (a), African tribes bnn~ trib utes includ ing gold, panther- skins, ivory a? d, ~ mong the a.D1mals, a sma ll donk ey clinging to the neck of a g l ra ft ~ ! On th e n.ght -h and wall (b) Asiatics br ing weapons, jars, a car n age and white and brown hor ses. On the right -hand side of the rear corri dor (c) the deceased makes a tour of inspection of the prod uce of the estate. There is a scene of the h unt for wild anim als in the des ert, the chase of waterfowl .an.d the usual .o.ffering scenes, bu t unfortunately most of th e wall IS 10 bad condition. The funera ry scenes are on the left-h and wall (d) . The vaulted ceiling of the shrine is finely deco rated . Tomb of Amenemheb (85): Plan 34

Tom.b of Em.unzeh (84) : Plan 33

T his is th e tomb of the super intenden t of granar ies und er T h utmose III and Amenhotep 11.T he conditio n is poor due largely to dam age from th e [ela heen famil y who lived in it for many years and also du e to pillage by gra ve- robbers. TOMB OF EMUNZEH Plan 33

Plan 34 TOMB OF AMENEMHEB

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T his tomb has a line of pillars in th e first chambe r and side chamh ~rs l ~ading off the main corri dor d irectly beh ind it. It is important historically because Ame nemheb was the military commander of T hutmose III, and not only does his tomb record his part in the ~ h a rao h 's important Asiatic campaigns, but it gives exact information of the lengt~ of his reign and th ose of his predecessors. Amene mheb IS recorded as having accomplished two feats of unu sual daring. One was during the battle ofKadesh on the Orontcs w ~ en , just before th e clash of arms as the op posing armies were poised and ready, the prince of K adesh released a mare who galloped straig ht for the bat tle lines of the Egyptian army. T he plan was to br eak up the rank s and confuse the soldiers but Comman?e r Amene mheb, ever on the alert, rep ort edly leapt from his chano t, pursued the mar e, caught it and prom ptly slew it. :rhe second experience took place on the return marc h from Asia M inor w he~ near the E uphrates th e Pha raoh was suddenly in danger of bein g run down by a herd of wild elephants . Arnenem heb not only managed to divert th e dan ger and save his master from a nasty fate bu t apparently stru ck off the trunk of the leader of the herd while balancing precariously between two rocks ! Natur ally such a brave and dutiful warrior should be just ly reward ed by his Pharaoh for his bravery and such noble s as Amenemheb re<:eived part of the boot y, decorations, and in special cases even land In recognition of th eir services. . Three :-valls in this tomb are especially noteworthy. The first is 10 the main chamber ( I) on th e rear righ t- hand wall (a) . Th is is the recor d of T hutmose Ill's Asiatic cam paigns, his length of reign, ctc., as well as a record of Ame nem heb's m ilitary honour s. Ncar

154

155 Scnnofer and his wife on ihe vnyagv 10 Abvdos

th e bott om of th e wall Syrians bring tribute. They wear white garme nts with colour ed braiding and th ere are talkat ive children amon g them . In th e chamber leading off the corridor to the right (2) is a scene on the left-h and wall (b) of a feast in pr ogress with abundant food and drink . Ser vant s bring bunches of flower s. The gue sts, rela xing in comfo rtable chairs or squatt ing on stoo ls, arc offered refreshments and the ladies in th e second row all hold lotus flowers in thei r hand s, while round th eir necks and in their ha ir they have blossom s. Att endant s hold staffs wreathed and cro wned with flowers. L ower on th e wall arc harp, flute and lut e-players. It is a gay and lively representati on . In the rear corr idor on th e left-hand wall (c) is the pri vate garde n of Co mmander Ame ncm he b. F ish swim in a pool surrounded by plant s. The deceased and his wife are presented with flower s. The fu ne rary scenes are found in th e left-hand chamber U) whi ch leads off the rear corridor. Tomb of Scnnofcr (96 ) : P lan 35 In th is delightful tomh the boxed- in effect has heen broken. The TOMB OF SEN NOFER Plan 35

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157 Th e To mb of Scnnofcr, ( h t"rsn :r of The Ga rdens of Amon

'o rie nt al tent' a tm ospher e of most tom bs is missi ng becau se th e en ti re cei ling has been p ainted with a creeping vine. Inter est in g use has b een m ad e of the rou gh s ur faces of th e rock to make th e gra pes a nd vine - te nd r ils more re al ist ic, and th e exp eriment has succeede d . Both th e fir st sma ll c ham ber a nd th e main hall , whi ch is su p po rted by four pill ars, ha ve been d ec orated in this m anner. Sennofer was the ov erseer of the gardens of Amon under Amcn hotcp II. His tom b , wh ich was ex cavat ed on ly in the zo th ce n tu ry, wa s fo und to ha ve m ostly relig iou s inscrip t io ns b ut the co nd it ion of th e fresco es is a lmost per fect and th eir fr eshness an d beauty m ak e the tomb a very special one. :\ steep fl ight of sta irs takes us down to th e firs t cham be r, and th e fir st represe n ta tion s we m eet on th e le ft-ha nd wall (1I) sho w Scn nofcr bei ng b ro ug ht offerings fr om hi s d a ughter and ten pr ies ts . Circl ing th e ch am ber clockwise we see on the tw o rear wall s (b and c) drawin gs of the deceased w ith h is wife wo rshipping O sir is who is re prese n ted ab ove th e do orway of th e main c ha m ber. On th e rig h thand wall (d) th e deceased is see n enterin g ami leaving h is tomb while se rv an ts bring sacr ed offe r in gs a nd h is daugh ter stan d s behi n d him . Above t he d oorway of th e m ain chamber lie two re presentat io ns of :\ n u b is. T ouring the ch am ber clo ckw ise we com e first to a sce ne of the deceased and hi s wi le e merg ing fro m th e tomb (c), and furt he r a lo ng sea te d on a b en ch . On the left -hand wall at arc se rvan ts bring in g furn itu re to th e tomb an d se tti ng u p tw o o be lisks before the sh r ine. At ( g) ar c funerary ceremo n ies and th e nob lema n hi msel f (to t he left ) look s on . O n the rear wall (Ii) the deceased and his wife arc at a table of offer ings wh ile pr iest s offe r sacri fices to th e d ead. F urt he r to the right (i) arc sce nes of th e vo yage to Abydos, stat ues of th e d ecea sed and hi s wi fe in a sh r ine in a boat being towed bv a no the r boa t. T h us the d eceased no b lem an satis fied himself (;f fa vo ur wit h O sir is by showing that he had had the in tention of per form ing th e sa cr ed p ilgr im age , One of th e m ost beautiful re pr es e nt atio ns is that of the decea sed and h is wilc in an arbour (j) pra ying to Osiris and Anubis. At CA') a priest clad in a leopard skin purifies th em with hol y wat er and a t (I) is the scene before a ta ble of offeri ngs whe re S ennofer puts a lo tus b lossom to hi s nostrils and hi s w ife te nderly ho ld s h is leg . The pi llars h a ve represe n tat ion s of Sc nnofer and his wife . Perhaps the m ost all rac tive is to he found on th e le ft -hand pi llar a t (III ).

cn

159 UPPER E N CLO SUR ES T omb o f M enna (69) : Plan 36 T his famou s tomb of the scr ibe of th e fields und er T h utmose IV has some of the most beautiful repre sentat ions to be found of harvests , feasts and hobbi es. It is a fine tomb and the colours are brilliant , pa rti cula rly on the ceiling of the inner cham ber. On th e left -hand entrance wall (a) Menna can be seen before a table of offeri ngs and furt her along th e wall (/I) are agric ultural scenes wit h ste p- by-step portra yals of the grain bei ng measu red, reco rde d, winnowed an d tro dden . T he plou ghin g and sow ing is fo llowed by reap ing and , as in so man y tom bs, the art ist has managed to add a h uman to uch ; in th is case a young girl remo vin g a thorn from a friend's foot (bo ttom row) and two girls qu arrelling (imme dia tely abov e). At (c) M en na stands before a ship coming in to dock with a cargo of stores. O n the left-h and wall of the rea r corri do r (d) are funera ry scenes of th e voyage to Aby dos in fine detail and brill iant colo ur. Men na's heart is weig hed be fore Osi ris (the ton gue of th e balance has been de stroyed ). On the righ t- hand wall (e) is the famous fish ing and fowling sce ne am ong the pap yrus thickets. T he deceased nobl eman is enjo ying h is favouri te past ime. Coloured fowl rise from the ru shes. C rocod ile, d uck and assort ed fish can be seen in the water. M en na's littl e dau gh ter kn eels to plu ck a lotu s flower fro m the ru sh es. The mural is a magn ificent exam ple of the importance laid on d ep icting good th ings for the hereafter. It is spoiled on ly by th e fact that Menna 's face has bee n carefully hacked out of the wall. T he murals of th e nobles' tom bs ha ve passed through three major eras of destruction . In very earl y times , when anci ent tombrobb ers ex tr acted the valua ble funerary equ ipment , the enem ies of the deceased also ente red th e cham bers to dest roy some of the happy rep resent ations that th e dec eased wanted to repeat in the hereafter. Wha t other reason could there be for th e severi ng of a boom eran g, the de st ruction of a wat er-jar or the b lind ing of the eyes ? In th e Ch ristian er a when many of the tom bs were used as hideou ts, some of the monks carefu lly plastere d over the wall dr awings and thu s preserved them for us in excellent condition, while ot hers scra ped th e distractin g repr esentati on s completely off the walls. At the turn of the zoth century, be fore proper secur ity measures were enforced on the necr opoli s, an tiq uity deal ers rem oved wh ole sec tions of th e inva luab le m urals an d some of th e

most bea utiful scen es may , cons equently, be seen toda y in man y of the mu seums of th e world . To the right of the fishing scene (1) is a ship (top row) from which one of the sailo rs leans over the side to fill a bow l of water from the river. On the right-hand en trance wall (g) it can be seen that Menna usurped this tomb. Whe re his stucco has fallen off, the paintin gs of th e original owner can be seen beneat h. Perhaps it was th e descenda nts of th at owner who destro yed Me nna's face as an act of vengeance. Tomb of Intefoqer (60): Plan 37 T his is a regular r zth D ynasty tom b com pris ing a long en trance cor ridor before the main chamber. It belon gs to the governor and vizier under Ses ostris I and is one of th e old est tom bs in this gro up. It is situ ated high on the moun tain and comma nds a good view of th e N ile Valley. In contrast with the i Sth D ynasty m ur als, th ese painti ngs are somewhat crude and car ried out on rough plaster. T hey are nevertheless quaint and inform ative. On the right-hand wall of the main chamber (a) is a hunti ng scene with the deceased shooting game in.an enclosu.re . T he gazelles, har es, etc. are being chased by dogs. BIrds are being nett ed and fish are being hauled in from a sq uare pond of water . Ju st beyond th e centre of the wall (/I) is a series of cook ing scenes and still fur ther along (c) is a repres entation of Intefo qer and his wife . TOMB OF MENNA

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Plan 36

160 Menn a and his fam ily en joy fishing an d fo wling in the hereafter

T owards th e cen tre of the left-hand wall (d) is a fascinat ing representa tio n ofa funerary dan ce. It takes p lace before th e deceased is hrought to the tomb . T he ma le per form e rs have un usual reed crowns. T hey chant '0 Hath or - v-a ne wcomer' and 'She has incli ne d her head " the second ch an t indi cating appr oval by the god d ess of the de ceased's en try to th e underworl d . T he inner chamber has a d eep nich e at th e end , designed to hold In tcfoqer's stat ue (wh ich has now been reconstructed ). T he b ur ial shaft extends off th is cha m ber. O n th e r ight-hand ent ra nce wall (e) ar e m usician s, both male an d fem ale. T he offerings to th e god s of th e un derw orld ar e ncar the cen tre of th e right-hand wall (.I).

Pl a n 37 TOMB OF INTEFOQER

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Plan J8 TOMB O F HARMHAB b

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Thorh weighs the heart of the deceased against a figure of the Goddess ofjustice and Truth. Tomb of xtcnna

Tomb of Harmhab (78): Plan 38 This nobleman was royal scribe, scribe of recruits and the official in charge of revenue in the reigns of Thutmose Ill, Amenhotep II, Thutmose IV and Amenhotep III. He should not be confused with the Pharaoh of the same name. His tomb comprises a traverse hall and a single long corridor. On the left-hand entrance wall (a) the much damaged figures of IIarmhab and his wife are being offered bowls by servants as female musicians play to them. On the left-hand rear wall (h) the deceased (obliterated) presents to the Pharaoh the contributions of the peasants. Above this scene are scribes registering the peasants who are arranged in groups headed by standard bearers. On the right-hand rear wall (c) foreign tributes are brought in by plumed Asiatics. Note that a group of negroes from the Sudan are women (upper row) who carry their babies in the well-known negro fashion, tied to their backs. On the lower wall is a gay scene of negroes dancing to a drum beat. On the right-hand entrance wall (d) is the familiar funerary feast with dancing and music. The left-hand wall of the inner corridor (e) has the traditional funerary scenes. On the right-hand wall (j) is a much damaged fishing and fowling scene. Tomb of Ineni (Ennc) (81): Plan 39 This was the architect who excavated the first tomb in the Vallev of the Kings, that of Thutmose I. His tomb comprises a main chamber, the facade of which is formed of pillars which carry their murals on the rear faces, and a corridor. Three of the square pillars carry particularly interesting murals. The first (a) is a hunting scene with a rearing hyena biting a broken arrow as a dog rushes the wounded creature from the rear and gazelles flee. The second (h) shows Ineni's country house and he and his wife are seen in the arbour (damaged) from whence he orders his gardener round the walled estate. On the third pillar (c) Ineni can be seen before a sumptuous feast. On the left-hand rear wall of the first chamber (d) Ineni receives tributes from swarthy Nubians including two women who carry their babies on their backs (top row). Below he receives contributions from the peasants. This part of the mural is sq uared up for the draughtsman. On the right-hand wall (e) is a scene in poor condition of Incni and his pet dog watching a parade of the estate animals including sheep, goats, flamingoes and geese. On the left-hand wall of the rear corridor Ineni and his wife

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receive offer ings . On t he rig ht - hand wall (g) are more funerar y scenes and offer in gs. The roof is decorated . In th e n iche at th e rea r arc four seated st atues of the de ceased and his wife.

tional braided rob es. H aving ex tende d his em pire Thurrnose I I r was thus recorded as hav ing homage paid him bv th e chieftai ns of Khe fti u, th e Hittites, T unip an d Kadesh . . The left-hand ent rance wall (c) has har vest sce nes.

Plan 39 TOMB OF INENI

Plan 40 TOMB OF MENKHEPERRASONB g

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T omb of Menkheperrasonb (86) : Plan 40 T his to m b was never co mpleted . On ly the regul ar tr aver se chamber was co ns t r ucted and this ha s two sm all cham bers projecting fro m th e rear wall s on either side. It belon ged to the first prophet of Amo n in th e reign of Thutrnose III , who was an other of tho se m asters- of- all in an cient Egyp t who co uld as read ily turn th eir hands to ag ricu lt ure as to raising an obe lis k. T ow ard s th e end of th e r ight-hand entran ce wall (a) craftsme n are at work on weapons, vases, et c. whi le gold for th e inla y is being weigh ed o ut (up per reaches ). The inscription reco rds for po ste rit y the fact th at the illu str iou s Pharaoh Thutmose III actua lly de sign ed some of the ves se ls him sel f, thus crea ti ng a pr eced ent followe d b y sev era l monar ch s and states men! On th e righ t-hand rear wall (b) fo reign envoys bring gi fts ranging from go ld and silver in la id vases to d iverse weapon s, bat tledress and hor ses. T he negro es wear loincloths, th e Syri an s th eir trad i-

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ASASIF Tomb of Kheru-ef'{rqz): Plan 41 T he tomb of Kheru-ef is at pr esent closed to visitors du e to recon st ru ct ion. K~ eru-~f was st eward to the G reat Royal Wife Queen Tiy at the cr ucial period of th e rSrh D yna sty just be fore Amo n was dethron ed by Ikhnat on , The to m b was neve r completed but th e murals are carved in exquisite high reli ef. The ou ter co ur ty ard co n tains vario us other tom bs and a wall ha s been constructed to preserve th e rel iefs of Kheru-ef. On the lefthand wall are deli ghtful scenes from the Sed fest ival the 10- vear Jubilee of th e Phar aoh. Am en hotep III and Queen 'I~iy ar~\e;ted

166 with l Iath or behin d th em (a) watc hing a pro cessional danc~ in t~1eir hon our. Further along th e wall (/7) the y leave the palace with eight slim princesses walkin g in pairs and bearing jars of sacr ed w:lter. At (c) d elightful carv ings of the ceremo nial .d a n c~ su g~est a nt~al of rebirt h of life on th e earth and include a jum ping bird, a flying bini and a monkev . In the lower row are musicians with flutes and drum s. Towards th e en d of the wall (d) is a sket ch of the high priest and the text describes th e celebrat ion . The right -hand section of the wall is some what damag;ed . At (c) Amenhotep II I is portrayed with his sixteen prInces: ~Vlth Que en Tiv he wat che s the erection of a column svrnbolising the god O siris (./). At ( g) th e Pharaoh and Qu een Tiy ar c shown with the deceased nobl em an behind them . Bene ath the tno arc th e conq uered cities. The other nobleman of thi s era, when th e royal capital was being shifted to T el cl Amarna, was Ram ose. But while Ramose followed h is ma ster to the new capital , Khc ru-ef remained in Thebes with the ro yal mother.

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Plan 41 TOMB OF KHERU - EF

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devel oped th at stiffne ss that cha racterised the later Rame sside period , is in extr emely good cond ition and the low curve d roof is used to contin ue the themes of th e side walls. A narrow flight of stairs, followed by a curve d fligh t, leads to this entrance of the tomb . On the wall opposite th e door way (from left to right) are: (a) An ubi s embalming th e mumm y of the deceased , (b) O siris before an offering table flanked b y two Horu s eyes, (c) offeri ngs and perfume s and (d) th e dec eased being led bv Anubis. . On th e right-hand wall (c) is an agri cultural scene with ripe wheat fields, fruits and flower s. In the lower row are ploughing scenes. On the opposite wall U) is a delightful repr esentation of the deceased nobleman and his wife, whose transparent d ress reveals slender limb s. On th e roof are scen es of the ope ning of the do or of the tomb, th e journey to the underw orld and cha pters from the Book of the D ead , as well as the tree of life and the sacred spott ed Apis bull. On th e left-hand side of the do orwa y (g) is a scene sho wing the mummy of th e deceased in the tomb with N epht hys and Isis in the form of bird s and (lower row) th e wife and dau ghter of the deceased . On th e right-hand wall (Ii) are evil spirits and (lower row) the deceased and his fami ly. In thi s tomb one feels an intense intimacy with the deceased as he was during his life and as he carried his tr easures and pleasures to his grave. Perhaps it is the fine condition of the murals that help s to create this feeling . Perhaps, and more likely, it is the very sma llness of the tomb itself.

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Plan 42 9

TOMB OF SENNUTEM

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DER EL MEDI NA Tomh of Sennutem t~6): Plan 42 T h is is th e tomb of the 'S erv ant in the Place of Truth in th e early Rarnc sside period . The mural decoration, which had not yet

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168 Scene [rum Tomb of Scn nuu-m \hll W jl\~ whcur lidtb. trui r and lluw c rs in the bcrcat rcr.

Anu bis em balms the deceased nob leman, To mb of Svnrunc m.

CHAPTER 9 THE TEMPLE OF DER EL MEDINA

The Temple o f D er el Medina: Plan 43 T his sm all, gr aceful Pt ol emaic temple, completely su rrou nde d b y a brick wall , is th ou ght to have been origina lly founded b y the arc h itec t ur al ge n ius und er Arnc nho tep II I kn own as Am en hotep son of H apu . It lies in a barren hollow and was dedi cated to Ha rh or and Maat. It took sh ape und er the Ptolemies, W ithin its precincts C h ristian m onks bui lt a m onasrerv th e remains of which can be see n to th e left and ri ght of th e temple. It was th ese monks who gave it its name . The temple co n sists of a lar ge ves ti b u le (1) con taini ng two ela borately ad orned palm-columns with flor al capitals and a scre en wall dividing it from a central hall (2) and the back of th e temple where there ar c th ree shrines . Here, as in so ma n y temples in the N ile Vall ey, th e pure lin es of Egy p tian work and the elabor ated G rae co-Egyp tian sty le ar e found side by side .

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Plan 43 TEMPLE OF DER EL MEDINA

Passing throu gh th e entrance door way of the temp le we noti ce ste ep rocks. The facade, which ha s a hollow corn ice, be ar s names whi~h attest to the m an y Co pts and G reeks who visited the templ e . Fa cin g us are t he t wo palm co lum ns and behind th em the sc ree n walls with pillars bearing heads of H athor . Near th e top of the wall on th e lett is a window wh ich once lig hte d a stai rcase . In th e left -hand sh rin e on the left-hand wall (a) is a ch apt er from the Book of the Dead sho wing Osiris seated (near th e end of the wall) and before him four gen ii of th e d ead upon a lotus flower. Thoth ins cribes th e ver d ict . To th e left th e he art of th e dec ease d (Ph ilop at or) is weigh ed by An u bis and Horus in one of th e most com p lete repre sentat ion s of th is sce ne to be found , an d also one of th e m ost ~ea u tifu l. W ith the 42 judges of the d ead (u pper ro w) th e decea sed IS led to the sce ne of th e ju dgeme nt hy Maar wh o, in an other representation and joine d hy An ub is an d H orus, weigh s the hea rt of the d eceased agains t th e feathe r of truth . Note th at An ub is and Horus not on ly measure th e weight hut test th e scales; H oru s himself ch ecks th e balance ; Thoth record s the resu It. Ifit pr oves sati sfactory th en the deceased ent ers th e underworld if unsat isfactory he will be devoured bv the hippopotamus-like mon st er hefore him . ~ On th e rear wall (/I) th e deceased offe rs inc ense to Osiris and Isis. On th e right-hand wall (r) is th e sac re d b oat with sta nda rds, etc . Above the doorway (d) is a four-head ed ram representing the G od of th e Fo ur \V inds and above th is strange crea tu re a flying vu lture worsh ip p ed by fou r go d desses . On the jambs o f th e door way th e Ph araoh is represented wit h three ha wk-headed and th ree jackal he aded ge nii . In th e ce ntre shrine (J) are representations of th e d eceased b efo re the vario us Theb an deities. I~ th e r ight-hand sh ri ne on th e ri gh t-hand wall (e) arc fine car vmg s of seated d eit ies: Osiris with Hathor, Isis, Horus, Nephthys and Anubis behind him . O n the left-hand wall (j) ar e Mut, Arnon-Ra, etc . South o f the temple of O cr el M edina is th e settlemen t of tomb and temple wor ke rs (page 70) . The ceme te ry lies to th e west.

173 CHAPTER

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r ela t~ves were fou nd in it , As with most other tombs in th e sou th Asasif ~rea, the poor q uality of th e roc k mad e it im po ssible for t~e relief sculptors to wor k dir ectl y on the walls. In ste ad ,

CONCLUSION

INCL UDING PROJ ECT S S C H E DU L E D F OR T HE SEASON 1975176 Archaeologists believe that the soil .of Egypt cO,ncea ls as muc~ as ever came out of it. Thou gh m ost dlscovenes WIll ~ndoubtedl~ be ma de in Sa kka ra, th e Fa youm and th e Delta, some Important tinds ha ve been made in Lu xor in recent years . For example, elec tric ians, b uryi ng elec tric cables bene~th the flagstones of the great court of K arnak temple for th e . Son et L umi er c' per forman ces, un earthed a sl.op mg ran,lp leading to a jerry. T h is W,\S w~ere th e sac re d hoats of Amo n, hlth~rto assume? to have been ca rned to th e fi ver by pri ests, wer~ launch ed for t heir journey during th e C?ret festi val And some foundatIOn dep~slt~ at the four co rne rs of the p yram id of M entuhotep at eI Bah : 1 were found to contain u niq ue min iat ur es in gree n talen~e. ThIS vcrv rare and com ple te collection . cont~ins ~ampl~s, 01 all th e implem ents used b y thc ,~rch!tccts of the H,me, 111 add ItIon to so me tiny inscr ibed tahlets da tin g from the ,erectIOn the m~nument. Are th ere an y ro yal tom bs yet u ndls~overed. 111 the \ alle,Y of.th e Kin gs ? W hat of th e Queen s ? T he WI ves. 01 Ram ses II s, eight suc ccssors of th e same nam e, for exam ple [ O r the royal oftspn ng who di ed at a tender age? Or noblem en ? W ha t sort of story WIll th e walls of Ikhnaton 's reco nstructed te m p les tel.1 of th,e era ?~ sunworship at L ux or ? M ight there be ano ther h idd en cache III the precinct s of K arnak ? O r ano ther d isman tled tem ple ? S uch qu estions as th ese d raw ar ch aeologIsts to Lu~or year ~fter vea r. Work co ntin ues wit h t he moment.um an~ mternatto~al 'ferv our of th e previou s cent ury. But now It com ? me s excavati on 6 with documentation , conser vatio n and reco ns tructIOn . The 197517 arc haco log ical season starts in O ctob er .

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. T he follow ing tea ms contin ue wo rk iJ.l L uxo r : I . T he Aust rian Archae ologi cal In stitu te" who have been. excavat in g in Asas if for several seas(~ns, di sco ver ed th e hlth~rto un known tomb of Ank h- Hor, which dat es .to ~he La te Penod " A mu m my and parts of seve ral sarcophagi with th e nam es of

limes tone blocks were cut, fitt ed to the wall and d ul v in scri bed . T he, tom? was never finis he.d ~n d, m or eo ver , a large number of th e inscrib ed .blocks are rmssm g, but wor k on recon struction and conse rv at ion will be co nti n ued . 2 . A Belg!an arc haeological team , exca vat ing in the north Asas if area , di sco ver ed th e S aitic tom b of Padi -Horrcsn et on wh ich clea rance and documen tati on will co ntin ue : a task complicated by the ~ac.t th at frag me nts of m ur als from other tombs are bein g found III It . 3, The U nive rs ity of C hicago's E pigra phic S urvey, having com pleted a 50- year long st U?y of M ed inet Habu, are carr ying out th e first com p lete recor ding of Se ri I' s battle reliefs on the north ern (outer) wall of the H yp ost yle H all at K arna k. In the proce ~s th ~y have locat ed a hidd en wall on which th ese importan t hl sto n c~l scenes co ntinu e, They have also started a new doc ~ m en tatlon of t~e 'Feast of O pe t' in Luxor Tem ple. ~roJ ects for the ~o m,lIlg season include th e first map of the I'he ban n ec~ opo hs since 1\) 2 1 and a series of H and boo ks to monumen ts m the L uxor area . 4· ~he Ej!:yp tian Centre for Docume ntati on is prep aring publicanon of two volumes on t he mo rtuary temple of Ram ses II th e Ramas.se~m : on~ on th e reliefs of his battles against the H i;t ites of Syria, including the s to rm i~ g of the fo rtre sses of Tulip and Zap ur , an d the ot he r to cont ain a plan and descr iption of the r~ar north-west ern gra!,aries and storer <:lO ms of the templ e, wh ere un usu al mud-brick sta tues were found in a columned hal l. In, th e , Valley of the Qu een s, clearing or record ing will cO,ntlllue m man y tombs, includ ing those of seve ral of Ram scs II s so ns and th ose of the wives and dau ghter of Ram ses I I. Clea ~a nce of th e tomb of Yuyi, Ram ses II 's m oth er, will co ntin ue, and the full text and descr ip tion of th e tomb of Arnon- H ir- K ho ps hef will be publish ed. , Among th e tombs to be clea red an d stud ied at Kuma is th at of 1 hay, a gov~ mm en t official who start ed his car eer und er Ram ses II and co ntin ued under M ernep tah (be lieved by so me scholars to be the Ph ar aoh during whos~ rei~ the Exod us took place). T he fra gments of murals of this umque tomb will be studied and recorded .

174 5. The F ran co-Eg yptian C entre at Karnak \\~ ill ent er its ei~h th season . Among various undertakings wh ich In.elud e ex cavations and th e preservation of monuments, one ~ f the m ?st u.rgent. projects is to continue to study the p rogr~s~lve det en ora tlO~ of monumen ts through water seepage, humldlt~ and sal~ erOSIOn, and to take ste ps to pr event fur th er d estruction. U n til the la.s t decade the ca uses of d am age were not full y understoo~ and , in fact , spec ialis ts working for the Centre ha ve had to rev l.se som e previou sly held views, as, for examp le, the mi sconceptIOn, th~ t the re was no hum idity in Upper Eg ypt and that da~a ge was caus ed bv su bte rrane;n see page on ly. The eleme~ts I~ vol ved ha vin g b'een establi sh ed, methods to cu rb det~r~oratlO~ ~re heing experimented on. Many m odern m etho~s of co nser van on whi ch hav e proved sat isfac tory in other cou n tn es have ap pea red to he less so in the case of Egy p t's monumen ts, wh ere th e na tural process of ev apo ra t ion o.f r:t0isture mu st be allow.ed . b ~ ~ crystallisa tion he curbed . Specialists arc extremely opnrmsnc and will continue to carry ou t tri als next season . . It is inter est ing to learn tha t th e High D a~l h a ~, to a certal~ exte n t, improved conditions for th e conse rvat~o n of monuments. Befor e I t)6+ th e d ifferen ce be.tween low a ~ d .h lgh flood was s e ~e n to ten m etr es.This resulted, lim e and aga in , ~n mon~m ents being Hood ed, the ll ypost yle H all at Karna~ som etimes beln ~ ~w~ml?ed to a d epth of one metre. T yda y, With the con tro l of irrigatr on wa ter , there is a difference of on ly ahm.1t two metres, and alt~o.u gh th e ave rage level is high er than before th e ov er all, c:m~~tlOns have improved . The murals on the lower w.alls are ~ot de cay In~ so rapidl y from salt erosion caused by exce~s lve wetting and .d ry 109 ou t every yea r, and steps can more easily be taken to r e1Ofor ~e undermined foundations and to prevent th e further collaps e . . ,. . . o f lar ge str uctu res . 6. The French Institute of O riental Arc~ ~leoloKgy w I Ilk cN~ntltnhue t~ excava te and carry out epigrap h ic st ud ies at arnax or nex season. In ende avo uring to es tab lish th e strata and th e ground plans of ea r lier monuments, the team located the sandstone pa vem ent of a tem ple
175 village can . be traced from ge ne ration to generation th rou ghout the . sp~n of ne~r~y three cen t uries, with full details of th eir duil v a ctlvltle~, reh glOus ceremonies, ma rriages and even th~ antagOni sms and jealou sies of the com m un ity . 7· Th~ Germ~n Ar~haeological Institu te have been carrying out van
8. A Japanese archa~ologieal team , exca vat ing in ,'\ 'la lq att a, south-west of iv i ed mel H abu, ha ve dis covered a staircase of Am enhotep III leading to his Heb Sed Court. Th ev will continue. workin g !n the area durin g th e com ing season .. 9· The Universir-; of Pennsyl vania has taken out a con cession to

177 dear and conserve a series of Late N ew Kingd om tombs of the Dra abu el- Naga area . They will also continue to excavate the palace of Amenhotep III at Malqarta, where they have already unearthed a large qua y. This was where the royal barge was moored at the edge of a ri verine harbour. 10 . The U niversities of Penn sylvania and Toronto continue to sponsor the reconstruction by computer of Ikhnatori's Sun T emple from thousands of blocks extracted from various sites within the pre cincts of Karnak Temple. At the beginning of the coming season the y will excavate outside the western gate in an effort to locate the sour ce of the blocks and the original site of the temple . [ I . The Polish Archaeological Institute will contin ue recon struction of th e magnificent mortuary of Queen Hatschcpsut at O er eI Hahri as well as a structure ofThutmose III above the third tier. LUXOR MUSEUM The new Mu seum at Luxor, to be ope ned in 1<)76, is situ ated on the river's edge about half-way between the great temples of Luxor and Karnak. It has been designed by one of Egypt's leading architects to display works of art from three main sources : from the tem ples of Luxor and Karnak, from storehou ses containin g treasures excavated from both sides of the N ile in Luxor, and some selected pieces from the Cairo Museum. Visitors to th is air -conditioned museum , on two levels under a single roof (a ramp leads to the upper gallery), will be attracted by effecti vely illuminated works of art , offset against ncar-black walls. The creation of individual vistas at strategic positions will encourage an organised, uninterrupted flow of people through the mu seum , and pre vent th e tendency to double back and congest th e space . T o the rear of th e main hall of the Museum, a few stairs lead to a long gallery where two masterpieces (the recently found red granite head of'Scsostris I, and the great stone stele of Mentuhotep II flanked by two recently found statues) become the first focal point. Effectiv e lighting will encourage visitors to bypass the Information Well to the right and to make their way towards these displayed objects. After the major work of art and the major relief, the next focal point is the magnificent alaba ster statue of Arnenhotep II I, seated besid e, and under the protection of Sobek, the Crocodile-god . This, the largest free standing statue in the mu seum, is half-way up

the gallery. In approaching it visitors pass on the right the famo us

stel~ narrating how Karnose conquered the Hyksos (p. 37), and

varIOUS other works of art from the Theban area on the left. From the centre of the gallery, attention is drawn once more towards illuminated objects at the end of the gallery, where a ramp leads to the upper floor and commands an excellent view of the lower gallery. The first important work of art on the upper floor is one of the ~wo f~mous statues of Amenhotep, son of Hapu ; it is individually illuminated . On the short wall are some blocks, carved in relief from the famous red-granite shrine of Hatschepsut taken from the restricted area ofKamak Temple (see Plan 4)' and 'as one mak es the .turI:', one's attention is immediately drawn an~ther work of major Importance : the head of the Pharaoh Ikhnaton which introduces the Amarna Period (pp. 142 / 143) . On the upper gallery of Luxor Museum is one of the finest reconstructions of modem times : the famous 'Ikhnaton Wall' an I 8-metre, wall reconstructed from 300 of the 6,000 block ; of Ikhnaton s Sun Temple extracted by the Franco-Egyptian Centre at Karnak from Harmhab's ninth pylon (p. 60). The wall is a record. of some aspects of ever yda y life during the period of sun :vors~lp an~ has been so constructed that newl y-discovered or Identl~ed pieces can be systematically added to the wall. A ~Isplay area for small objects, such as jewellery, faience vessels and Items of adornment, is situated irnrnediatelv above the Information Well on the ground floor. The second ramp leads the vlslt?rs downwards towards the well, the main feature of which is a relief map of the various temples and monuments of Luxor on a large scale, illum.inated by press buttons to show 'Where you' are' . One of the unique features of Luxor Museum is the huge slab , or slatt~d.wall , along Its outer face, which separates and enhances the building proper. This serves to keep the museum cool and creates, at the same time, a colonnade where statues will be displayed and illuminated at night. Several large stone works will be exhibited in the grounds of the Museum also, as for example th e fa,:,ous stele of Amenhotep II, one of the finest single examples of relief (photo on page 65). ~nother important feature of the Museum, apart from the varIOUS ~torage areas , offices, ~ef~rence library and study areas, is the Stagm~ Area where the majority of works of art will be prepared for mountmg and cleaning. The ticket-booth leads to an outdoor cafeteria overlooking the Nile on the south side of the Museum .

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