necropolis in deir el medina
Nercopolis at Deir El-Medina
The ancient egyjuption village of Deir El-Medina was home for the artisans who worked on the tombs in the valleys of the kings
(A)
Tomb 1
The tomb of Sennedjem in the necropolis of Deir el-Medina on the West Bank at Luxor was actually one of the great discoveries, found by Italian archaeologists in 1886. Nothing had been disturbed. Today the funerary equipment, mostly made by the workers themselves, is displayed in the Museo Egizio at Turin. Almost all of the decorations within the tomb, painted on a background of yellow ochre, are perfectly intact, and considered some of the most beautiful within the necropolis.
The tomb is very simple, with a narrow stairway leading into a small room followed by the burial chamber. The rectangular burial chamber is oriented westward and has a vaulted ceiling. The tomb originally had a wooden door opening into the first, small room, with a scene depicting Sennedjem and his wife, Lyneferti playing the board game, Senet. The game is spiritually connected with Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead, and may represent the Judgment of Osiris. On the other side of the door we find Sennedjem and his relatives worshipping Osiris and Maat in the upper register, and Ptah-Sokar-Osiris and Isis in the lower register.
The style of decorations in this tomb or typical of the Ramessid period, being spontaneous and fresh, with lively details. They represent a conventional funerary theme. Entering the burial chamber, on the left front wall we first find a scene depicting the mummy of the deceased in his sarcophagus lying on a funeral bed and protected on the left by Isis and on the right by Nephthys, both in the form of falcons. Under this in a lower register is a scene of the deceased sons bringing him offerings and purifying themselves before his parents while other relatives sit nearby. In the next scene on this wall, the deceased is shown with his wife and is holding a sekhem-scepter, a symbol of power.
Tomb 2
The
The ancient egyjuption village of Deir El-Medina was home for the artisans who worked on the tombs in the valleys of the kings
(A)
Tomb 1
The tomb of Sennedjem in the necropolis of Deir el-Medina on the West Bank at Luxor was actually one of the great discoveries, found by Italian archaeologists in 1886. Nothing had been disturbed. Today the funerary equipment, mostly made by the workers themselves, is displayed in the Museo Egizio at Turin. Almost all of the decorations within the tomb, painted on a background of yellow ochre, are perfectly intact, and considered some of the most beautiful within the necropolis.
The tomb is very simple, with a narrow stairway leading into a small room followed by the burial chamber. The rectangular burial chamber is oriented westward and has a vaulted ceiling. The tomb originally had a wooden door opening into the first, small room, with a scene depicting Sennedjem and his wife, Lyneferti playing the board game, Senet. The game is spiritually connected with Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead, and may represent the Judgment of Osiris. On the other side of the door we find Sennedjem and his relatives worshipping Osiris and Maat in the upper register, and Ptah-Sokar-Osiris and Isis in the lower register.
The style of decorations in this tomb or typical of the Ramessid period, being spontaneous and fresh, with lively details. They represent a conventional funerary theme. Entering the burial chamber, on the left front wall we first find a scene depicting the mummy of the deceased in his sarcophagus lying on a funeral bed and protected on the left by Isis and on the right by Nephthys, both in the form of falcons. Under this in a lower register is a scene of the deceased sons bringing him offerings and purifying themselves before his parents while other relatives sit nearby. In the next scene on this wall, the deceased is shown with his wife and is holding a sekhem-scepter, a symbol of power.
Tomb 2
The