The tomb of Sennefer - Feel the love Vibrancy and Joy

The Tombs of the Nobles

‘All ye excellent Nobles, And Ye Gods of the Mistress of Life,Hear ye how praises are rendered to this priest and excellent Nobles lordly soul,Now that he is a god living forever magnified in the West,So they become a remembrance in after days, And for everyone who comes to this tomb’


The many tombs of the Nobles that are to be found burrowed into the hillside of the Sheik Abd Quarna Hill looking down over the Rammessium Mortuary temple and are all varied in their individual styles, colours design and details, each portrays the different personality and position of a nobleman and the work of his artistisans.

When I visit sacred places I do prefer to be alone, and if I can find a place of peace and seclusion I can almost feel the ancients with their messages and magical words seeking the goodwill and assistance of the gods to help them attain their passage to cross the river and reach the western shore overcoming all the trials before them in their quest for eternity. Unfortunately trying to reach this state of seclusion is rare, as the hills are alive with many Egyptians who have no concept of the words ‘I want to be alone’, no matter what language you express yourself in. They will insist on guiding you, helping you, or selling you something, and so regrettably annoyance and frustration are the emotions usually pounding through my veins by the time I am only halfway up the hillside in my

determination to reach one of the highest tombs on the hillside, which is the tomb of Sennefer. Droplets of sweat gather on my forehead as I climb the dusty incline, passing the brightly coloured coffee shop of Sennefer that stands halfway up. Eventually I reached the tomb rather fraught with the hassle and heat of the day and thankfully

I collapsed onto a stone in the shade of the wall leading towards the tomb. I hadn’t realized how unfit I was until I had climbed that hill, as I sat and rested in the shade, my eyes surveyed the steep ridges of the mountain side and my thoughts travelled back to the artisans and tomb builders who had lived in the hidden village of Dier El

Medina across the mountain ridge, they were cut off from civilization to protect the secrets of the tombs, the dusty paths these skilled artisans had walked over the pink mountainside rising over the hillside above the Nobles tombs then dipping deep into Dier El Bahari to the temple of Hatshepsut, then rising again and disappearing over the ridge for the steep descent into the Valley of the Kings. I reflected that it must have been a life of indescribable hardship to walk for miles over the steep mountainside, and then descend into the bowels of the earth, with no ventilation to work long hours in a dusty environment with dim lighting and sweat pouring down their faces blurring

and straining their eyesight, to recreate with colourful imagination the vibrancy and exclusive domain of Osiris in the claustrophobic air of the tombs. With these thoughts in my mind I walked to the doorway of the Tomb of Sennefer who had held the position of Mayor of the Southern City under the reign of Amenophis 11 during the 18th Dynasty. Sennefer held many titles, he was not only the Mayor of the city and controller of Administration and taxes, but he also held the title of Overseer of the Granaries of Amun, Superintendent of the gardens of Amun and High Priest of Amun, he was loyal to the king and efficient in his duties.

Deep cut steps lead me into the door well of the tomb of Sennefer, and as I entered within an arched tunnel enfolds me, the walls are roughly cut, whilst shadows and the warm glow of lights guide me down 44 steep winding cavernous steps, at the bottom the tunnel bends sharply to the right, where I was completely unprepared for the total contrast

and brightness of a small vestibule that I arrived in, it had a low undulating ceiling that seemed to hang low with the weight of the plump succulent grapes all waiting to be plucked painted on its surface. The artist has used the undulation of the ceiling to create this glorious vineyard in a 3 dimensional effect; The Overseer of the Gardens of Amun was fortunate to have such a thriving succulent purple vineyard. The walls are bright white and bursting with beautiful small coloured images of Sennefer receiving offerings from the priests and his daughter. Sennefer is also shown witnessing his funeral procession and the presentation of the funerary equipment to be placed inside his

tomb. Bending my body almost double to pass beneath a deep square entrance that leads into a larger square burial chamber, I was amazed by the vibrancy of bright yellow that bounces off the ceiling in geometric designs and tapers off into more grapevines. This tomb is alive and blazing with colour that lifts your heart with gladness.

Supporting the ceiling are four solid square cut pillars, I felt that these pillars are an expression of love between Sennefer and his wife Meryt The Lady of The House and Chantress of Amun, who is shown on each face of the pillars making offerings to Sennefer, she knees beside him and stands along side him offering him gifts of Myrrh

linen wine linen necklaces and a scarab to protect his heart in the Hall of Judgement. I feel that the pillars are a true expression of their commitment and love, showing Meryt in early stages of pregnancy on one pillar, in the very subtle way that the ancient Egyptians portrayed a woman’s ever-increasing waistline.

The scenes on the walls detail the funeral procession, with Sennefer before Osiris and Hathor, again Meryt is present to support her husband whilst he worships Osiris and they are purified together by a priest in leopard skin, as a chantress of Amun Meryt plays her sistrum for her husband and carries a Menat necklace.In a corner of the chamber painted in small detail Sennefer and Meryt sit beneath a belachin on board a small boat that is painted green, the colour is symbolic and like the papyrus it represents regeneration, their small boat is towed by a larger white one showing the captain, helmsman and rowers. The journey was to take Sennefer and Meryt on a pilgrimage to the Holy city of Abydos, where the tomb of Osiris is said to be located. His wicked brother Seth, who then scattered the pieces of his body all over Egypt, had killed Osiris. Isis the wife of Osiris loved her husband so much that she desperately searched the land of Egypt until she found all the scattered parts, and then with her magical powers she joined his body together again and resurrected him back to life, he was then made the Judge of the dead and Lord of the underworld by Amun. Many Egyptians made this pilgrimage to Abydos because at sunset they believed it looked like a golden staircase leading to the afterlife

I feel that the tomb of Sennefer is a celebration in the most vibrant colours of a mortal life and the journey to the underworld embracing eternity of a successful nobleman who was supported by the deep love of his wife. As I climbed back up the staircase the vibrancy of this tomb had lifted my spirits more than the emergence through the door into the light of the day.

Ramses 111 & his Lion attacks a prisoner at Medinet Habu

Ramses 111 is about to strike his enemy, whilst his Lion pounces and bites the unfortunate prisoners arm. This is a really unusual image, and not really noticed by people as they pass it as you walk through one of the tunnel gateways inside medinet habu on the side interior entrance wall.

I believe this image is to symbolically show that Ramses is as fierce as a lion and will attack any enemy and strike them down as swift as a lion and as ferocious as a lion, the sentiment, don't bite the arm that feeds you springs to mind also!

Driving of the four Calves ritual of Gods wife of Amun Amundiris at Medinet Habu

The 'driving of the four calves' ritual with the Gods wife of Amun Amundiris is shown in her mortuary chapel in the grounds of Medinet Hau. Amundiris is shown as she walks across the wall wearing only the plumed headdress of Amun, where she is performing an ancient ceremony known as the driving of the four calves and the treading of the grave. In her left hand she holds a staff, leashed to the staff are four calves, as a farmer would till the earth to enhance the fruitful growth of his new crops, there are four calves to symbolically remind us that the four cardinal points of Egypt will be renewed by this ritual, Amundiris re-enacts the farmers yearly ritual in her burial tomb with four calves who tread the earth so that they like Osiris the god who rose again from death to be reborn would keep Egypt fertile for another year, at the end of each leash dangles the key of life enhancing the wish for new life. In her right hand she carries a stick to drive the calves across the burial ground.

The Gods Wife of Amun Chapels of Amendiris & Shepenwepet are found in the Grounds at Medinet Habu mortuary temple. These important ladies were the daughters or sisters of opposing kings of Egypt, and their position as The Gods wife of Amun was a political as well as a religious position as Ancient Waset (luxor) was the middle ground between two kingdoms so each king maintained his power through his daughter or sister therefore avoiding war and unnecessary hardship.

The women were revered within Waset as they were considered the living mortal wife of the god of Amun and these particular Gods wives had taken a vow of celibacy which promised no threat of another male claim to the throne.

The Gods Wife owned about 2,000 acres of fertile land in both the delta and Upper Egypt and received bread oxen geese and yields from the fields from the Priests of Amun, A small row of mortuary chapels are set back on the side of the courtyard as you come through the Migdol gateway.

The mortuary chapels in the grounds of Medinet Habu on the west banlk of luxor belong to Shepenwepet 1 who was the daughter of Osorken 111 a king of the Libyan invasion, Amendiris 1, a Kushite princess who was the sister of the king Piankhy the founder of the 25th dynasty. Piankhy made a religious pilgrimage to Weset and convinced Osorken and Shepenwepet to adopt his sister Amendiris as heir and successor to the title of Gods wife of Amun. I walked over to visit their chapels before I left the precincts of the temple grounds.

Above the lintels of the doorways the ‘appeal to the living’ is written, this is to encourage people passing through the door to repeat the offering formula for the Ka’s of these powerful women. An offering formula ensured that after their deaths a person would not be neglected, if offerings are not actually taken it is considered that the words spoken would be enough to sustain the Ka’s of these wives of Amun, you have to think of ‘the appeal to the living’ in the same way as a gravestone reminds you to visit an ancestor or friend to leave them flowers, telling them your worries and expressing your love for them , so as I passed through the door I asked Amendiris to accept my spoken offerings of food wine linen incense and water as gifts for the Ka of her eternal life.
The Egyptian faith encompassed all the forces of nature and I feel that this expressive coffin text helps to understand the beauty and simplicity of this symbolic act that Amendiris portrays to combine the acts of nature with the Gods and the universe.

Whether I live or die, I am Osiris, I enter in and reappear through you, I decay in you,
I grow in you, I fall down in you, I fall upon my side. The gods are living in me for I live and grow in the corn that sustains the Honoured Ones. I cover the earth; whether I live or die I am Barley. I am not destroyed. I have entered the Order, I rely upon the Order, I become Master of the Order, I emerge in the Order, I make my form distinct, I am the Lord -of the Chennet I have entered into the Order; I have reached its limits .

The Sleeper in the Sands - by Tom Holland

I was recently reading a really interesting fictional book entitled 'THE SLEEPER IN THE SANDS' by TOM HOLLAND, I would definately recommend this book to anyone interested in ancient Egypt as I thoroughly enjoyed it. The different chapters tell of different tales that all accumilate to the one unique ending, based on fact myth and mystery this book is really a whirwind read of the desert and a suggestion of the origins of Akhenaten, the most unusual and enigmatic pharoah to ever appear in Ancient Egypt, what were his true origins? this fictional work supplies us with a strange but believable story.

'In the depths of ages and the antiquity of time, there was much which was known and now lies hidden, and many great wonders long forgotten, for the past is a desert filled with infinate buried things. Do not think that because you have never heard of a tale before that it did not happen, for even in the lives of the Prophets there were deeds and events which were never recorded, and have long since been lost to the memory of this world'.

WONDERFUL STUFF!!!!