TOMB OF SENNEDJEM (Deir el-Medina) The Tomb of Sennutem is the TT1 and it is located at the south-west end of the necropolis. Sennutem or Sennedjem, who bore the title of Servant in the Place of Truth, lived during the XIX Dynasty during the reigns of Seti I and Ramses II. Probably he died in the eleventh year of the reign of Ramses II. The tomb was discovered untouched in 1886. This tomb posed many questions to egyptologists; how could Sennutem, who seems to have been a simple bricklayer, afford such a sumptuous grave? Maybe not so much because of his job within the community of Deir el-Medina but for the involvement of his family in the cult of Hathor practiced here. We know what power, both political and economic, the priests held in that period. This connection seems confirmed by his son Khabekhnet in his grave, the TT2. We are, of course, guessing all this and who knows if we will ever have a definite answer to these questions. We have a relevant number of information concerning the family of Sennutem. He was the son of Khabekhnet and Tahennu, his wifes name was Iyneferti and his numerous children were Teti, Khabekhnet, Bunakhtef, Rahotep, Irynefer, Khonsu, Ramesu, Anhotep, Ranekhu, Hotepu and Parahotep. At the time of its opening the tomb contained twenty mummies including nine buried in anthropoid sarcophagi. These were the mummies of Sennutem himself, of his wife Iyneferti, of his son Khonsu with his wife Tamaket, of another son, Parahotep, and other children. The eleven other mummies belonged, probably, to family members considered less important. The tomb was used by the family over three generations. The superstructure of the tomb consists of a rectangular courtyard, about 40 feet by 30 feet, a cultural chapel leaning against a small pyramid of bricks and a shaft that leads to the funerary apartment. Above the entrance of the chapel, built in the pyramid, we find a niche that housed a stele. On top of the pyramid we see a piramidion in limestone rebuilt with fragments found on site and placed in its original site. In the courtyard opens a shaft, about 20 feet deep. At the base of the shaft a wooden door, now visible to the Cairo Museum, leads into the funerary apartment. The funerary apartment is full of decorations of extraordinary beauty. Quality and technical performance of these decorations was compared to that of the tomb of Nefertari. Some egyptologists think that the artists who decorated the tomb of Nefertari are the same ones that have decorated that of Sennutem also considering the fact that the two of them lived in the same years. The many scenes depicted on the walls of the tomb are related to the Book of the Dead. Here we see some of the most significant: - Sennutem appear mummified and placed on a bed by the feet in the shape of lions paw with his head facing west toward the kingdom of the dead. A priest, wearing a mask to impersonate the god Anubi, performs the rite of resurrection which consists in moving the hands on the chest of the deceased in order to allow the heart to magically resume its beating. - Osiris, whose face and hands are green to symbolize the rebirth of vegetation, is standing in a kiosk. He wears the Crown Atef as a symbol of the risen god. - On the tympanum, at the east side of the room, the Solar Boat that sails from north to south is shown. The falcon-headed Sun God holding an ankh, the symbol of life, sits in the center of the boat. Above him the disc of the sun surrounded by a snake-ureus. On either side of the boat two baboons greet the passage of the boat lifting their hands. The baboon in the north, the one on the left-hand side, greets the setting sun while the southern one greets the rising sun. - On the tympanum, at west side of the room, we see two Anubis jackals, crouched on pedestals in the shape of the tomb, to protect a group of images symbolizing rebirth. This group of symbols consists of a table-column holding a canopic jar on which two lotus flowers intertwined rest. Above this symbol, there is a glass topped by hieroglyph N repeated three times to symbolize the primordial ocean, the Nun. On top of that, the hieroglyphic Shen is placed, represented by a loop of braided rope to represent the royal cartouche. On the two sides, we can see the two Udjat eyes, the Eye of Horus, symbol of the healed body. - On the south side of the ceiling we see two trees that symbolize the sun dawn on the edge of the Eastern Desert. The sun above them announces its victory over darkness. Ra-Horakhty, sitting on the symbol of the Maat, is topped by the disc of the sun surrounded by the snake-uraeus. - Always on the south side of the ceiling we see Sennutem, standing, in adoration of Horus followed by two of his sons, Imseti and Hapy, sitting on the symbol of the Maat. - On the north side of the ceiling Sennutem and Iyneferti receive in their hands the water of purification supplied by the Goddess of the Sycamore. They wear cones of fragrant grease on their wigs and are kneeling on their grave. - On the north side of the ceiling Sennutem and Iyneferti, facing west, greet the Five Genes sitting on the symbol of the Maat. Iyneferti wear a cone of scented grease and a lotus flower on her wig. - Always on the north side of the ceiling Ra-Horakhty sailing east along the underground Nile with the Solar Boat. At the stern of the boat are the gods of the Great Ennead. At the bow of the boat is the heron Benu wearing the Atef Crown. For further informations visit my website: my-egypt.it/upper-egypt/deir-el-medina-2/
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 05:09:01 +0000
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