DENDERA TEMPLE

DENDERA TEMPLE

The Earthly Home of the Goddess Hathor

                          
Day trips leave Luxor for Dendera temple on the cruise boats and so I decided to visit this temple as at Dendera I would experience a new chapter  within  Egyptian civilization,  and walk through a temple that had been recreated in the era of the Greek Ptolemy’s and finally the Romans, I would walk in the same temple that probably the most famous of all queens, Cleopatra herself had walked in and  made offerings to the Goddess Hathor the beautiful one, goddess of love, motherhood and female sexuality, the goddess of the cycles of life and fertility, a goddess whose priestesses were trained in the sacred tantric arts of adornment and lovemaking, one of the keys I think that would unlock Cleopatra’s mystical influence and charm.

Through the centuries of time some people are just born to live a simple life, while others are born to be great, the great don’t just live inside the pages of history, they make it happen, and like a human cyclone or turbulent whirl wind they enflame their surroundings and light a burning torch of life becoming a light in the darkness and centuries of history. Even when their whirlwind dies, it doesn’t really matter because they truly lived life to the full for that one moment in time, and the cyclone they created is acknowledged for all time. Cleopatra V1 was one of these people, she came to the throne at the age of seventeen with her younger brother Ptolemy X11 and like Hatshepsut centuries before her she wanted to rule alone. Although of Greek origin Cleopatra learnt the Egyptian language and like a lioness she took Egypt as the cub to her breast and fearlessly protected her heritage. Cleopatra like Hatshepsut was a very determined woman, at 22 she was delivered at the feet of Julius Caesar wrapped in an oriental rug, she desperately needed his help to end the struggle for power between herself and her younger brother Ptolemy X11, with the arrival of Roman re-enforcements her brothers army was crushed in a sea battle at Alexandria and the young king was drowned. Cleopatra and Julius Caesar became lovers and she bore him a son Caesarion, she now had ultimate power of Egypt, with the protection of Julius Caesar, who was Rome in the eyes of Cleopatra, sadly her misconception of Roman culture, and their dislike of her usurping Caesar’s roman wife would eventually lead to her downfall. In all of Egypt this is the only temple that shows a relief of Cleopatra with her son, they are shown on the rear wall of the temple in union with the goddess Hathor and her son Ihy, at the opposite end. Across from their image is a small chapel created for the Goddess Isis by Augustus, the Roman Emperor who would have taken Cleopatra in chains to Rome unless she had chosen to die with the deadly bite of a snake, and on her death he pursued her son Caesarian who was then betrayed into his hands and was murdered.

Of all the temples in Egypt Dendera Temple would have been the most important temple for Cleopatra, as a mother she would have come to Dendera to ask the Goddess Hathor for her love help and protection, during the pregnancy and birth of her son Ceasarion by Julius Caesar. This temple was a place of pilgrimage where divine healing and magical cures took place in the sanatorium, and wondrous festivals were celebrated in the astrological cycles that are vividly painted in turquoise and gold on the ceilings that celebrated the birth of Horus and the union of Horus to the Goddess Hathor
Dendera is the earthly home of Het Heru, Hathor the Goddess of love healing and joy, who had been adored by Egyptians and then embraced by the Greeks and Romans who completely rebuilt her temple over the original remains leaving us with the Greco-Roman temple we see today. Sadly the later roman era also saw the beginnings of the early Christians and Coptic faith who then destroyed the faces of Hathor trying to eradicate her magic and power, and many centuries later, a small Arab community built mud hut houses on the temple roof and made homes within her divine chambers bringing their donkeys chickens and cooking fires within.

Walking beneath the main gateway a wide pathway runs like a river directly to the main entrance of the temple. The first impression of Dendera temple  is quite solemn, what we can see of the temple today was created during the  Greek era and added to during the Roman rule of Egypt. Although the famous Egyptian pharaoh Khufu the great pyramid builder himself had originally built on this site.   The temple dominates the area whilst the mud brick walls surrounding the temple are all in disarray and broken. To the left of the temple are the remains of a Coptic church and Mammsi houses, some broken and some still in good order and a small sacred lake that now reminds me more of a drinking well for camels in an oasis at the desert. The temple is why I am here, and it is not disappointing, although not what I expected, the front of the temple is divided by half panels, these are supported by  six sturdy columns each bearing the  serenely beautiful head of Hathor with her unusual cow ears, a nurturing mother goddess, above her head rests a Naos box with tiny representations, looking up at  the two columns each side of the entrance within the naos box there was a very small image of the Goddess Hathor who stands at the side of the door to her temple  welcoming us into her earthly home, it was a nice feeling to be welcomed by Hathor herself and so I entered through the doorway into the great court of Heaven, where 18 hypostyle columns stretched   across each side of the room leaving a wide path that flowed through the center of the temple  towards the inner halls and sanctuary and a primeval mound of creation. From the top of each column inside the gloomy hypostyle hall the face of a rather sad and compassionate Goddess Hathor gazed down on us mere mortals, probably influencing my Initial feelings, as I felt a wave of sadness wash over me, subdued,  I tried to find a face on the top of the columns that had not been damaged,  the walls and ceiling of this Hall were black with the damage from the fires as they no longer understood or respected the ancient Egyptian gods and a temple seemed as good a place to them to convert into a home. The gloom added to the somberness of my mood, but I wandered through the columns staring up at the ceiling, and eventually to my joyous relief I realized that the ceiling was being  renovated half of  the  original sacred colours of turquoise and gold had defiantly fought their way through the blackened mists of the smoke damage.

Walking towards the corner of the room I recognized the outstretched arms of Nut the goddess of the sky, her name is pronounced Noot and means night, her elegant arms and legs were the pillars to the earth, her face was so beautiful and serene as she swallows the evening sun. Her slim elongated body snuggly wraps itself around the corner of the room and her long back extends across this length of ceiling creating her nightly shroud of Heaven, I followed her around as her elegant legs curved around the next corner of the hall as she gave birth to the sun in the morning, and each new day the first rays of light shine down onto the face of 'The Golden One’ the Goddess Hathor that had been deeply cut into the ceiling. I think the face of Hathor must be carved in gold because it still shines today.  During the daylight Nut and her husband Geb are separated but once the light of the day diminishes she gradually draws down to lay on the body of her husband Geb and the earth succumbs to darkness.  Nut was the barrier that separated the forces of chaos from the ordered cosmos of the ancient world. Gazing up at the ceiling, a row of Heavenly barque sailed across the night sky beneath the starlit body of Nut.

This hall of heaven reflects the stars, I see Sagittarius the half man half horse pulling back on his bow with his arrow poised on the future. A tiny barque sails directly beneath the sun and the first ray of light a barque carries an open lotus flower that appears to have a snake rising from it; this is a representation of Ihy, the son of Hathor and Horus, as he appears for the first time out of the primordial sea.  He was the beautiful child of brilliant light, the offspring who lights humanity with the rays of the sun and floods the land with gold. On a slightly larger barque in front of Ihy sit his mother Hathor and the goddess Isis, the procession of barque carry all the gods of the sky, surrounding them and above their heads are golden stars which represent the homes of departed souls, and the silver and golden star gates to travel back and forth between heaven and earth.

`I am a soul, I am a star of gold, Here I am, O Ra, I am your son, I am a soul, a star of Gold.’

One of my earliest childhood memories that often haunted me was the death of my great grandfather; I distinctly remember the pain of searching for him even though I was such a small child. I looked everywhere for him, eventually my search always ended under the kitchen table and I would  silently sit on the cross bars beneath a deep brown velvet curtain that trailed from above  the dining room table with its huge bulbous carved corner legs where I would silently brood. Eventually my grandmothers told me that my grandfather had gone to heaven, and if I looked up at the sky at night I would see him because he was a star now and he would shine down on me and guide me through my life. Many Years later I stood in the hypostyle hall at Dendera beneath the heavens, and I smiled and felt good, and remembered my great grandfather again and the love that he had endowed upon me. Isn’t it strange how small pieces of ancient history from the far corners of the earth filter down through the centuries of time and little sayings that we hear today can still relate to the beliefs of ancient civilizations?

Arriving at the Inner door the gradient of the floor subtly increases and I passed through into another small hypostyle hall that was even gloomier and contained six columns and had three chambers on each side. The temple was getting gloomier the deeper I went inside and the floor continued to gradually rise and led me through another door into a small hallway, in the corner of this hallway I was drawn towards a shaft of light that detailed a staircase on my right, I walked  up the steps that were no longer level,  over the centuries so many feet had climbed these stairs that the center surface sunk and seemed to sway to the sides, creating before me a stone vision of  individual waves rolling on the crest of the sea, so I walked up the staircase carefully and once I arrived at the top   a sudden turn was made,  I proceeded to follow this new flight of giddy steps, and in the gloomy light I had a strange feeling  that I wasn’t alone , a square shaft of light enhanced the wall and I then saw at the side of me on each step continuing up the stairs in  raised relief was a priest, so I stopped in wonder for a few minutes to look at the procession of priests as they continued up the stairs, the lighting was so subdued I  could not safely continue to walk up the steps and look at the same time, gently I touched the relief as would a blind man to hold  a vision in my mind, the higher I climbed the more I experienced feelings of elation, the  relief’s portrayed the New Year celebration and some of the priests wore strange masks and carried offerings and  the shrine of Hathor up the staircase towards the roof to await a very special dawn, as the procession walked up this staircase the priests would have chanted prayers for Hathor.

Coming out into the brightness of the daylight I adjusted my eyes and then I walked over to the small chapel in the corner, this was where the priests placed the shrine of Hathor in the final hours before the dawn to wait for the star Sothis that would rise once a year with the dawn, on one of the most important days of the Ancient Egyptian Calendar. For seventy days Sirius, one of the brightest stars would not have been seen, it was the symbol of the goddess Isis in the heavens, on the first dawn after the seventieth day she rises again with the sun and remains visible for just a few moments, this special moment marks the beginning of the Ancient Egyptian New year, and it also marked the beginning of the annual flood of the River Nile.  At the end of this day the goddess Hathor like the setting sun was then taken across the roof to the opposite staircase and delivered safely back to her sanctuary within the temple. Walking across the roof diagonally to the opposite corner I entered into the small chapel dedicated to the god Osiris, within the middle room  the famous circular zodiac ceiling is portrayed, the Romans had incorporated their own beliefs with the Egyptians to create this amazing ceiling, which is one of the earliest representations of the zodiac ever to be found, the original is no longer at Dendera it was blasted off the ceiling after Napoleons expedition had brought it to the attention of the world, In 1821 an antiquities collector employed a French engineer who came to remove and collect the zodiac ceiling, it arrived in Paris in 1822 and was put on show until King Louis XV111 bought it for 150.000 francs, a plaster cast impression of the original is all that is now left at Dendera, the original is now on show in the Louvre Museum. There is a circle of the heavens that is supported by four feminine figures standing erect at the four corners of the cardinal points of the earth, within the heavens we can see the zodiac representations that almost appear to swirl around as the earth revolves.

Leaving the roof I walked towards the western staircase and as a shaft of light captured the relief’s of the priests I joined them on their journey back down the steps leading down into the Inner sanctuary of the Temple again to return the goddess Hathor who was now bursting with new life and health having spent New Years Day on the roof soaking up the rays of the Sun to rejuvenate her Ka, and the vibrations of the Nile would evoke the inundation of Egypt. The temple was filled with music from the sistra rattle whose bells on each of the four bars of the sistrum were tuned to the specific vibration of one of the four elements of nature, playing the sistrum the beautiful priestesses symbolized Hathor’s generative powers and her ability to keep the world in harmony and balance and ward off all evil influences.

Arriving downstairs I wandered through the small sanctuaries and arrived at the Flame room which has an entrance in the floor to the secret crypts. I went down the steep wooden staircase, and had to virtually crawl under a small square entrance that open up into a small narrow passage that in turn opened up to the same narrow  chambers, the lighting seemed to glow an iridescent green, in this crypt an unusual relief shows what many people believe to be a light bulb.



Coming out of the crypt  I continued through the small sanctuaries where I found a room that represents the Seven Hathor’s,  three carry tambourines and four carry sistra, it was said that when a child was born the seven Hathor’s arrived at the birth and proclaimed the fate of the child.

I decided to look around the exterior of the temple and as I emerged into the light I shaded my eyes from a dazzling sun and a turquoise sky, walking around the outside of the temple I was disappointed to find many of the relief’s have been vandalized, where faces and bodies have been hacked and chipped away on the relief’s of the lower sections, occasionally a lions head leaps out from the edge of the roof which somehow seems odd on an Egyptian temple, but then I reminded myself that this temple has the Greek and then Roman influence. Turning the corner of the back wall I had arrived at the only relief of the most famous Queen of all, Cleopatra, I looked up to see her with her son Caesarion, I had created such a vivid impression in my mind of a beautiful woman, an untouchable warrior almost, and to be honest I was disappointed when I saw her relief, compared to many of the stunning relief’s in the temples of both the East and West bank of Luxor it did not befit the image I had created in my mind or recreate an  inspiring relief of one of the most famous women in the world, Disappointed I followed the wall along to the far corner where The Goddess Hathor with her son Ihy faced Cleopatra, going around the corner I followed the side wall where my enthusiasm increased as the relief’s were untouched, beautiful and unspoilt once more, and they portrayed the harvest festival, where  the beautiful goddess Sekhet, the goddess of the fields brings the produce of the land to the temple, she walked through the fields of wheat Papyrus and lotus, small geese fly from the ground whilst she follows a calf, her breath has the  scent of flowers and she is adorned with Lotus blossoms, and in her arms she carries Lotus geese fruits and wine.  All temples survived on the produce of the land, and the produce of the harvest Festival at Dendera proceeded the most spectacular festival known as the Festival of The Beautiful embrace where once a year after the harvest, the Divine Statue of the Goddess Hathor’s barque was loaded with the produce of the fields in preparation for the visit she made to see her Husband the God Horus at his earthly home the Temple Of Edfu. In splendid celebration Hathor was carried from her sanctuary within Dendera and greeted by all important dignitaries and priests, the locals were allowed to join this celebration, then gently her splendid barque that was known as ‘Great of Love’ carried her upstream where she was joined by a flotilla of barques until she arrived at Karnack Temple, where she would stay for a few days to visit the Goddess Mut, the wife of Amun Ra, where they held the festival of Drunkenness', more barques joined her flotilla as she left Karnack to continue her journey, Her Husband Horus would leave his temple and head downstream to greet her and in glorious celebration he would escort his wife to his home of Edfu Temple to  begin  fourteen days of joyous celebration where their sacred marriage was enacted once more and their son Ihy was conceived. From his own Barque Horus greets his wife Hathor, surrounded by a flotilla of Boats, once on shore, they join together, the procession continues on foot, around the city, the chantress, the Sistrum players, the dancers, all the people join in, they chant for her: "Hail Hathor, welcome in peace With your beautiful face, happy face، your beauty has captured the heart of Horus,The beautiful one has arrived from Dendera to Edfu, let her joy and beauty shine over Edfu, Oh you who carry the barque shrine, be careful, she's the daughter of Ra who adores her, she's his eye and we'll, mother of gods and creator of life Oh be careful Walk slowly and in order, you are aware of her Anger, she's the destroyer of the enemies of Ra, Let her beauty bring back the flood, she's the goddess of joy, love, music and all blessings for all the living

Each day throughout the waxing moon the same set of ceremonies were carefully performed. It was felt that on the evening of the fourth day Ihy, the son of Horus and Hathor, was conceived .Then on the day of the full moon Hathor bid Horus farewell and began her return journey to her own temple once more.
My own short trip to the temple of Hathor had come to an end,  and we joined the cruise boat once more where a fantastic banquet was waiting for us The afternoon wore on and the sky changed from cool turquoise to slight amber then burning copper with burning flames of orange, the west bank became serene and the village life quiet,  The Nile had turned black, with glints of diamonds that flashed occasionally in its ripples as they drifted towards a now secretive west embankment that was interspersed occasionally with the occasional dark outline shadows of  houses and  palm trees,  the Goddess Nut embraced  her husband Geb the god of the earth and it was evening once more,  it was now time for Ra to begin his  evening  journey  through the treacherous underworld on his celestial boat.

My journey up the river had drawn to a close as we reached the bend in the river and Luxor came into view once more. Oh what a homecoming, what a wonderful sight to greet my eyes, In this serene evening on the river the temple of Luxor bathed in shining golden light, it was magnificent as its reflection echoed within the ripples of the  darkest edges of the river, as our boat gently eased its way towards the shore, it was embraced by the vivaciousness and warmth that is Luxor  glowing with the  heat of the night and bursting  with life along the Corniche, at that moment I realized how the French troops had been amazed by the sight of Karnack Temple, they had immediately stood to attention and saluted to a drum roll. Two centuries later our boat peacefully glided towards the lights of the east bank like a moth to a flame to the ethereal sounds of pan pipes that hauntingly echoed over the cool evening breeze across the deck of our boat. Tomorrow my journey into the past would end and I would return home once more to a land that held no mysteries for me, my spirit had soar and  grown and was fulfilled in the land of Eternity. It had entered the River Nile but like a small ripple it was lost in the overwhelming flow of the river that has immortalized and sustained the civilization of Ancient Egypt.

The Tomb of Siptah KV47

The Tomb of SIPTAH
 KV47

Tomb number KV47 is a tomb dedicated to Siptah a young teenage man who came to the throne during the 19th dynasty because his older brother, Seti-Merenptah, died prior to the death of their father Seti II. His stepmother, Tausret, along with her Chancellor "kingmaker" Bay actually controlled Egypt during the Siptah’s short life. Siptah seems to have died in the 6th year of his reign, after which his stepmother took full royal titles.

Strangely this flood damaged and unfinished tomb is one of my favorite tombs in the Valley of the Kings, and you may wonder why as there are many tombs in far better condition. All I can offer in my defense of this tomb is that on my own journey through this tomb, I actually felt that it had transported me to experience the real feelings and emotions of eternity in a way no other tomb has managed to do.

When I first entered the tomb it felt to me like many other tombs, with long square gently sloping decorated walls, and it was only further into the underworld that I realized the power of this tomb. As I walked through the entrance into the tomb I saw the goddess Ma'at, kneeling with her wings stretching to embrace and greet the arrival of the king, I walked down this long corridor that is enlivened with a wonderfully vibrant ceiling of vultures in flight, this is the goddess Nekhbet in her role as the protector of the king, in her talons she holds the shen ring which offers protection for all eternity and as she flies through the heavenly stars she  protects the cartouche and name of the king for all time with the wings of her flight.

On the walls I saw Siptah on a vibrant yellow background; here the king is shown together with Re-Horakhty who holds a staff with the key of life to offer the king the breath of life for eternity. The litany of Re is written on the walls, this is a long list of all the names of Re which is then followed by a description and a praise of him. Re descends into the netherworld, renews life, cares for the blessed and punishes the damned. The God Anubis is shown preparing the king for his burial in the shelter and protection of the sisters of the goddess Isis.

I walk through three long corridors that descend gradually deeper into the bowels of the earth.Suddenly everything changes as the corridor opens up  into a pillared square hall that has a steep flight of stairs from its entrance that descend sharply towards a large rather gothic styled arched tunnel which seems an unusual deviant from the normally square Egyptian tunnels and corridors and offers me an unusual feeling of my own Christian religion and strange expectations. I walk through this badly damaged arched tunnel which leads directly into the anti-chamber and then the large burial chamber which seems more like a large cavern, with a rock ceiling unfinished and cut with jagged shards of rock that undulates and arches like a giant wave rising over the end of the massive red granite sarcophagus of Siptah, that has been designed into a shape of a cartouche and lies in the middle of the room. The body of the king is carved in high relief which rises on top of the lid of his sarcophagus; He is flanked by figures of Isis and Nephthys and surrounded by a crocodile, a snake and a pair of cobras with human heads and arms. I sat down in this huge room, as not many people visit here because it is high up at the far end of the valley of the kings, most tours only allow enough time for visiting the closest tombs, and so I sat alone on a broken pillar stump by the side of the sarcophagus, and here I became aware of the meaning of silence, and as I sit there the silence seemed to increase, and consume me,  as hard as I try all I can hear is the slight movement of my hand writing these words on the page of my notebook, the silence begins to suffocate me, and all that I become aware of is the blood passing through my own veins, and the beat of my heart, gradually  my body becomes quiet and accepts the peace offered, my ears  have stretched to their limit to grasp any form of a sound, and now I could imagine the vast overpowering volume of silence and extremes of eternity, the silence of the heavens and stars, I felt that I  had touched the essence of time and space and the weight of  eternity and the galaxy above in this burial chamber that in its roughest form of jagged rock imitated a cycle of nature with its ceiling like the sea that comes to the shore eternally like and giant crashing wave, takes the soul away leaving behind on the shore the damaged no longer required carcass of the mortal body of Siptah with his deformed club foot, his  spirit ascends and takes flight across the galaxy until it rests amongst the stars, and then it grows, and becomes another thought in the mind of a mortal man once more.

I stood up totally calm, refreshed renewed and wiped clean, and I headed for the entrance of the tomb once more, I climbed the steep staircase which led to a corridor and shaft of visible white and turquoise light that beckoning me forwards, and as I reached the entrance and walked out into the warmth of daylight a hawk screeched overhead and flew over the top high into the sky above the craggy walls enclosing this cul-de-sac in the Valley of the kings.  

TUTANKHAMUN & ANAKSENAMUN

Night had closed in over the West Bank and the villagers slept, unaware that a very important event was about to take place. Using the stealth of the moonlight a large white truck drove through the hills and winding lanes of the Ancient Theban necropolis , it was escorted by the police and armed guards,as it took a long sweeping bend three unusual houses neatly spaced with domed roofs came into view,the truck passed beneath them as the moonlight glowed on the white walls of the house Howard Carter had used when working in The Valley of the Kings, it held ghosts from the past and memories of the presence of a determined yet stubborn man who had made a fantastic discovery. The truck entered Bilban el Muluk, the gateway of the Kings and passed through the winding avenue between its mountain walls, echoes reverberated round the bends and bounced off the high ridges and the ancient Madjay the bodyguards of the Kings of Egypt awoke from their slumber their ghostly army surrounded the edges of the Quorn watching silently as the truck arrived at its final destination, Taa Set Aat. The gates were locked and the Valley was now sealed, whilst armed guards patrolled the compound under floodlight.

This special night was the most important event since Lord Carnarvon had impatiently stood waiting behind Howard Carter in November 1921 whilst he broke a hole through in the sealed door of a tomb and passed a candle through the hole. ‘Can you see anything?’ said Lord Carnarvon anxiously. Carter had been struck almost dumb as hot air escaped from the room within causing his candle to flicker, strange statues and animals appeared from the gloom within, and the glint of gold was everywhere. It was all Carter could do to express the words ‘yes, Wonderful things!’

With the patronage of Lord Carnarvon and Carters determination they had made the most outstanding discovery that the entire world was privileged to be part of, they had found the tomb of Tutankhamun, a child that had come to the throne of Egypt at the age of nine years old. It is considered that he was the son or a nephew of the heretic king Akenaten and he had grown up in the now abandoned and destroyed exclusive world that Akenaten had created for himself in the desert 150 miles from Weset  (Luxor), this exclusive haven and retreat  was created by Akenaten so that he no longer felt the pressure from the priests of Amun, and he was able to live in his own world writing  his own chapter and opinion, eradicating any  visible signs of the old gods from his sight that his people had believed in for thousands of years, he wanted  them  to adore only one god, the Aten.
At the age of 11 Tutankhaten  married Ankensenpaaten  who was thirteen, she was one of the beloved daughters of Akenaten and his beautiful wife that he shared his dreams and throne with, Nefertiti. Before Akhenaton died he made Smenkare co-regent and after the death of Akenaten Smenkare ruled Egypt for about a year, many mysteries surround Smenkare, some consider that he could have been another minor son of Akenaten, others suggest that Smenkare was infact Nefertiti herself, or that he was the husband of Meritaten a daughter of Akenaten and Nefertiti, it is another  mystery that is yet to be unravelled, after the disappearance of Smenkare, Tutankhaten and his child bride Ankhesenpaaten  arrived back in Weset, and under the firm grip of Ay his chief advisor and General Horemheb they began to repair the damage that had been done to Ancient Egypt’s religion, it’s people and The City of Amun. Tutankhaten changed his name to Tutankhamun and ruled Egypt for a decade, his wife Ankhesenpaaten became known as Anaksenamun. Tutankhamun was the 12th king of the 18th Dynasty, until the age of 19 when he died suddenly. Anaksenamun had lost her childhood friend, her husband and two small children whose foetuses were also found in the tomb in tiny coffins. She was alone and just turned twenty one years old.

Tutankhamun's chief Advisor Ay could now see a way that he would be able to rule Egypt legitimately, he would marry Anaksenamun. In despair at the thought of having to marry this forceful old man Anaksenamun wrote to the Hittite king Suppliluliumas requesting that he send one of his sons urgently for her to marry.  The request was extremely unusual and Suppliluliumas decided to send an envoy to confirm the request, once he was satisfied he sent one of his sons the Prince Zennanza, The prince never arrived; he was murdered as he crossed the Egyptian border, possibly with the instructions of General Horemheb and so the Chief Advisor Ay seized the throne, and as was the custom when a king died, he administered the ‘Opening of the mouth ceremony’. The scene is detailed on the wall in the tomb overlooking the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun. Anaksenamun was forced into marriage with Ay and then she also disappeared from known records.

In 1968 x-rays were taken of Tutankhamun by Professor Ronald Harrison who noticed a blood clot at the base of Tutankhamun's skull and suggested that this could have been caused by a blow to the head,   this fuelled the suspicion that Ay had murdered the king to seize control of his throne, as Tutankhamun was probably reaching the age where he wanted an active part in the decisions of his country and was contesting some of the decisions of his Chief advisor and so the theory of murder and a suspect was born that hung over the mysterious death of Tutankhamun

The secret arrival of the special convoy in January 2005, thousands of years after Tutankhamun's death would finally offer conclusive proof as to how Tutankhamun had actually died, for the truck that had driven 500 miles from Cairo concealed the most up to date medical equipment, it incorporated a Cat Scan, a machine that generates 3D images piercing through body and bone. Dr. Zahi Hawass, the renowned Egyptian Secretary General for the supreme council of Antiquities reminded everyone present inside the tomb, ‘We are in the presence of a King, and we should look at him with respect.’

The glass covering was removed from the sarcophagus and they struggled to remove the lid from the wooden Cyprus coffin inside that had been adorned with a sheet of finely worked gold. This was only the second time that Tutankhamun had ever left his coffin since the day of his burial. Finally the lid was removed and the face of Tutankhamun was revealed. Inside the coffin was a message that had been written by Howard Carter in 1926. The cotton shroud covering the body of the king was pulled back and to their shock the body of Tutankhamun was in pieces, his chest was torn and ripped, the body parts had been hacked at and mangled and some pieces were missing. Howard Carter had been meticulous in his documentation notes and drawings from within the tomb, but I feel his team had forgotten their duties as archaeologists, and put aside their knowledge of the Ancient Egyptian beliefs in their greed to extract the precious amulets encased within the resin and wrappings of Tutankhamun during the mummification process. They had committed a sacrilegious act to this young King and if the curse was true then that is why it had been unleashed on them. They should have taken the ‘magic bricks’ seriously that were inscribed with chapter 151 of the Book of the Dead and  placed  in niches within the tomb at the four cardinal points of the earth to form a defensive perimeter around Tutankhamun.

Eighty-four years later with respect and care, Dr. Hawass and his team carefully lifted the remains of Tutankhamun from his sarcophagus and they carried the king  from the burial chamber through the antechamber and corridor and up the to enter the doors of the waiting truck supplied by Siemens,  at last they could scan the body and they would have an explanation for the premature death of their young king, the body slowly passed through into the Scanner  and  expectations mounted with the pressure and  knowledge that the results of this scan would offer them, suddenly strange flashes of light burst  onto the computer , this had never happened before on a scan, alarms sounded, and the computer crashed and shut down with the first images that had already begun to generate of the king, this was a disaster, the pressure was on Dr. Hawass to resolve these problems, he had been given special orders that Tutankhamun must be returned to the tomb within three hours , and  there was only   one hour left,  the technicians resolved the problems and once more the images appeared on screen, the data was saved and transferred to Germany and Cairo for specialist assessment. Satisfied that his mission was achieved Dr. Hawass returned Tutankhamun to the safety of his  sarcophagus once more, and like Howard Carter he also left a note with the body before the lid was replaced on his coffin.

The momentous night had drawn to a conclusion and it was almost dawn as silence came to The Great Place once more. The spirits of the Madjay watched the truck and convoy of specialists leave the valley and slowly one by one they returned to their slumbers safe in the knowledge that Tutankhamun their king, was at peace once more.
In Cairo the results of the scan were examined by a team of specialists who realized that the original x-rays taken in 1968 which had initiated the theory that Tutankhamun had possibly been murdered due to a blow to the head, was infact a small hole that had been drilled during the embalming process, and a suspicious dark area around the hole was resin that had been poured inside the skull after the brains had been removed during the embalming process. So Pharaoh Ay whose name has been besmirched has at last been vindicated from the unjust position  as a murder suspect of the boy king whose  throne it was assumed he wanted to acquire by any means.
The cat  scan had been adjusted to read dead tissue on a body and it established that after his death Tutankhamuns head had been severed from his body, Carters team had been determined to remove the famous solid gold portrait mask from Tutankhamuns face, this mask  had been a guide to help his soul return to his body after death, the chest had broken ribs and cuts to the bones at sharp angles,  these had been sustained whilst cutting with a knife through the hardened resin to extract the precious amulets within the mummification wrappings.

The left leg had a severe break and skin was torn away, the knee cap was missing,   and the ankle was fractured and had a suspicious substance in the wounds; the right knee cap was also fractured. These injuries had occurred whilst Tutankhamun was alive, the team realized that the severity of these wounds would have caused gangrene and fever to take hold of the young king’s body and within five days his struggle for life would have ended.  To enable him to walk again in the afterlife the embalmers had placed golden healing rings over his knees and shins.  Tutankhamun like many pharaohs before him had loved the thrill of the hunt and had been trained to ride fearlessly into battle on his chariot; the Cat scan has established that the fatal injuries to his legs whilst he was alive could have been caused by a fatal fall from his chariot or  wounds received in a battle, these were the consequences that stripped Tutankhamun of his life whilst he had been so healthy and young.


The treasures from the tomb of Tutankhamun are housed within the Museum at Cairo,  on occasions selected items along with the famous gold funery mask travel the world to different museums for exhibitions that allows the world to view and experience this young king and part of an amazing civilization.One of the six chariots that were removed from Tutankhamun's tomb now sits in a quiet corner of Luxor Museum, and as I stand and look at it, I do not see an empty chariot, I see a royal king, his whip circling the air, as the nostrils of his chariot horses flair their manes flying wildly in the breeze, the chariot is not what it seems, it is part of eternity, riding across the cosmos with Tutankhamun.

The Valley of the Kings

The Valley of the Kings & the Tomb of Seti 1

‘ Make beautiful your resting place in the West, make splendid your resting place in the City of the Dead, Thanks to your just way of life, it is here that your heart and soul can rest’
Merikare

‘I am yesterday today and tomorrow,
And I have the power to be born a second time'
The Book of the Dead

Across the river Nile on the western shore of Thebes, there lays a desolate winding valley that hibernates within a barren and silent city for the dead, where no life can sustain on its parched desert rocks. In ancient days this was a secret place with only one way into the valley, its dusty road was only followed by the ritual funeral entourage of ancient times, and if you go into the valley you can only return by the road that you came. The sides of the valley twist and turn and contorting into a mountain that forms a natural pyramid known as 'The Quorn', like the pyramids this is a ladder to the stars and eternal life. It encloses the subterranean tombs and final resting places of the once living Gods of Ancient Weset, the pharaohs of The New Kingdom. 

Try and imagine the tombs with an invisible passage of water that flows within a dark tunnel of fear and chaos that could ultimately lead you to the light and eternity. A golden barque that has soaked in the rays of the sun during the hours of the day will now be empowered to travel through the darkness of the night on this eternal carrier of light, and it waits for you. Your   mortal body is dead, you are incapable of speech, you cannot move,  you are traveling across the waters of chaos, you are helpless, you sense a macabre fear of something enclosing you in the water, suddenly the water begins to drain away, a demon snake known as Apophis has guzzled the water, and your barque is becoming trapped in sandbanks, but they are not sandbanks they are the obese fat crushing coils of this  gigantic snake that will trap the barque, while its demon eyes  will hypnotize the crew, enabling the snake to swallow their heads engulfing them in everlasting darkness. Panic and chaos ensues, help is desperately needed, the companions on the barque struggle to fight off this vile creature, that has swum in the waters of chaos for eternity, In the battle Heka stands on the prow of the boat his divine magic was given to the human race by Ra and with his magical incantations he will exorcise the snake, subduing it to his power.  Ra then calls for Set, the god of Darkness, war and Chaos to help them kill the snake whilst Heka has it in his spell, Seth leaps to the prow of the boat with his spear launching it at this terrifying demon serpent, it rises above the boat emitting a screech as its poisonous fangs launch towards them, Seth leaps onto the serpent and thrusts his sword into the back of its head.  Screeching it crashes into the waters of chaos launching the boat into a tidal wave through the caverns. Seth is washed across to the shore where he drags the serpent and hacks its goutiness body to pieces.  In contempt of Ra and the other companions he gloats that only he could save them from the threat of this Demon, Ra in his anger instructs Hu and Sia to guide the boat to safer waters, leaving Seth on the shore. Hu takes a deep breath, then releases the divine breath of life across the water, and the barque once more is thrust into fresher waters, the light and perception of Hu’s female partner Sia expresses the mind of Ra, and together the spiritual essence of these companions on the boat connect the soul with the heart of Ra once more and enable it to journey towards the light again leaving behind the terrible darkness and fear of attack.Only a   man with a pure and righteous heart  ould be offered the everlasting release and joy to be a part of the eternal cosmic cycle of renewal with the God Ra,   the alternative was a macabre and  sinister torment that would await an unrighteous man, before the new kingdom  those who were found guilty were damned to suffer a continuous cycle of everlasting torment in the outer darkness  of an area in the deepest recesses of the underworld, a place of continuous punishment that was infested with demons who had risen from the ranks of the damned themselves, killing and torturing each other. They would rip the protective mummy wrappings off each other, screeching and tearing each others flesh , their skin no longer protected, it rotted  and decomposed  Their hearts were ripped out and the ba soul was lost, never knowing the way to fly back to its bodily home again. Thirst and hunger ravished them, but they are denied the gifts of wine or bread, as their funeral gifts never reach them.,  they would sneak past the four baboons that guarded the Lake of burning fire only to find the water was not cool for them,  refreshing their thirst as it would for a righteous man, for the damned it was a place of destruction where burning, bloody water and the horrendous stench of putrefying burnt flesh  rose from its cesspools, for they were the brothers of Set, the God who murdered his own brother Osiris, and disguised himself as a pig to blind Horus thus causing  the eclipses of the light and sun. Their torment never ceased but each new dawn a ray of hope would spring forth inside their wretched bodies as a blinding golden barque passed overhead rays of light lit up the darkness for a second and as the ray of light passed over them, they would scream and beg for help, but the Righteous Barque of Ra sailed silently over them, completely oblivious to their cries and torment………………..  Only enter these portals of ancient Egypt to catch a glimpse of your possible destiny if you believe that you have lived a righteous life, for these tunnels are the passage between what we understand as Heaven and hell.

At the beginning of October 1817 Giovanni Belzoni arrived in the Valley of the Kings, he knew nothing of ancient Egyptian beliefs and so the tombs that he found amazed him, he found their radiance of colour astounding after he had walked through the barren wasteland of the deserts ridges, and worked in the scorching heat of the sun, searching for an entrance or portal that could possibly lead him to hidden treasure. He had left the Rammessium having safely transported the head of Ozymandias - Ramses 11 from the Rammessium to the Nile, and it was now sailing steadily to Cairo, so he gave his full attention to observing the rock formations in this valley, noticing how the limestone and shale had been shaped by ancient waterfalls. Within two weeks he had located six royal tombs. 

On the 16th October his workmen reached an entrance in an area that he had instructed them to dig, they cut a small channel through the sealed entrance for Belzoni to crawl through.  To his delight he had   discovered the largest tomb in the Valley of the Kings, the tomb of Seti 1 nothing that he had yet found had given him as much delight as the splendor of colour within the tomb of Seti whose walls of the tomb were covered with scenes of the king in the company of the gods on his journey through the underworld, and finally being united with them in paradise. Rituals hymns and texts from the Book of the Dead are carved in its walls, whose chapters were a powerful magical guide to help the spirit from wandering among the living and to help it to find its way home to enjoy an eternal life on this hazardous journey after the death of its mortal body. 

Entering Seti’s tomb Belzoni  went down a set of steps where beautiful poetic hymns  the  ‘Litanies of Re',  praise the Sun God Re in all his known names. Down a second set of steps in the second corridor   the 'Book of Amunduat  describes the twelve hours of the night in the underworld as the Sun God journeys through them on his solar boat. Crossing over a ritual well a hall with four pillars is found, and then into a larger hall with only two pillars where the book of Amunduat is portrayed again. The Egyptians believed in the immortality of a man’s soul and the indestructibility of the human personality, so the soul would need his physical voice and senses when he entered the Hall of Judgement. Seti stands in his mummy wrappings as the Opening of the Mouth ritual is given to him, during this magical ritual, the mummy of Seti is purified with water and incense, and anointed with sacred oils. His mouth, ears, eyes, nose and other parts of the body are touched with ritual implements to restore his senses and movement so that he can speak to the Gods in the hall of judgment. And defend his actions in life. The God Anubis would guide him towards the scales of justice where the gods waited in judgment of him. Standing before the Gods of the court Seti would recite

'My heart my mother, my heart my mother, my heart my coming into being. May there be nothing to resist me at my judgement, may the sherit not cause my name to stink, and may no lies be spoken against me in the presence of the God.’ Then an endless list of all the deceased attributes and qualities of his life are given to the gods, he must confess any wrongdoing, as his heart that is contained in a jar is weighed on the giant set of scales. On the opposite side of the scales the serene Goddess of Justice and truth, the Goddess Maat calmly lays down her feather of truth to weigh against the conscience and heart of Seti. The demon creature known as Ammit snarls at the side of the scales, its teeth waiting to rip and tear and feed on any unrighteous heart. Its grotesque body is the head of a crocodile while it lower part becomes an angry male hippopotamus, the evil demon side of Set who could morph into the form of dangerous animals. Thoth the scribe of the gods writes all the notes of the court and the judgment given.

Coming down and passing the 'Opening of the mouth ceremony, a six pillared hall that leads into the burial chamber of Seti where his ascension into Heaven would continue. Surrounding the pillared hall are small chambers that tell the legend of the 'Book of the Sacred Cow',  whose body is painted in red   where stars glow from beneath  her belly, and her legs are the  four cardinal points of the earth, between this  earthly space sail two barques of Ra, above her back is the heavens where he will ascend at each new dawn.  The text tells the myth of the conflict between Ra and humankind, when Ra was the Divine king of the mortal world and walked amongst his people. He had ruled for many centuries, and was very old, during this time he became disturbed by the rebellious noises from his people wondering if he was fit to rule because of his old age, he was angry that his people were now openly plotting a rebellion against him, when the people realized that Ra suspected them of rebellion they then worried that he would tire of them and wipe them out in a complete flood that would return Egypt into the watery abyss of Nun from which all life had originally been created.  Ra summoned Shu Tefnut Geb Nut and Nun,   the Gods of fire air earth and water, and finally Hathor for their advice He decided to send the eye of Horus to slaughter the humans as they tried to escape into the desert. Unfortunately the eye of Horus had manifested into Sekhmet, the fearsome lion goddess of retribution revenge and purification, and the fields became red with blood as she pounced on the terrified mortals, her teeth ripping their bodies apart and her claws hurtling the mangled flesh across the fields. Ra became anxious that Sekhmet would completely destroy the human race as her rage had become so ferocious. To save the people that were praying for his forgiveness in the temples he instructed a High Priest to grind up hematite and mix it with red ochre in 7,000 jars of beer, to make the beer look like blood. The priests worked all night, and when they were finished Ra instructed them to flood the fields with the red beer. Once again Sekhmet arrived on the fields of slaughter and she was ecstatic, assuming that she had found a sea of human blood, which she gulped down greedily. This had the desired result, as in her drunken state she was no longer aware of the people of Egypt and she was unable to continue with her massacre.  Ra’s compassion had saved the honorable ones, but after the trauma of the conflict he was weary and tired, and so he decided to abdicate, instructing Thoth to learn humans the skills that were necessary through literacy to lead a righteous life. Having saved his people from annihilation, Ra was exhausted and weary so he ascended to the Heavens on the back of the Divine Cow for some peace and quiet telling Nut that he wanted to leave this world and return to the Cosmos where he would create a heaven and prepare a dwelling place for all the righteous ones who spoke his name could follow.  When he spoke the words a great field of peace was created enclosed in the embrace of beautiful stars. The weight of Ra’s new creation of heaven was too much for Nut to bear on her own, trembling under the weight she almost collapsed, Ra immediately went to her assistance and instructed Shu to support her body, fearing that she might fall, Ra caused to come into being the Four Pillars on which the heavens are supported.  Turning to
Shu, Ra entreated him to protect these supports, and to place himself under Nut, and to hold her up in position with his hands.  Thus Shu became the new Sun-god in the place of Ra, and the heavens in which Ra lived were supported and placed beyond the risk of falling, and mankind would live and rejoice in the light of the new sun.

These side chambers and six pillared hall lead into the Burial Chamber of Seti, where the king's ascension to eternal life with the God's would continue. He would recite to them:  ‘Hail, Disk, and Lord of Rays, who rises on the horizon day by day!  Shine with your beams of light upon the face of Osiris Seti, who is victorious, for he sings hymns of praise to you at dawn, and he makes you set at eventide with words of adoration.  May the soul of Osiris Seti, the triumphant one, come forth with you into heaven, may he come forth in the Sektet boat, and may he cleave his path among the never resting stars in the heavens'.

  Having passed the hall of judgment, together   with Osiris, Seti would vanish into the night to re-appear more brilliantly at dawn on the eastern horizon where they would be purified in Nun, The Waters of Creation. Together they had overcome death and were re-born with the sun God Ra at dawn, when the deceased would have blessings of eternal life and happiness and it was believed that he would then dwell eternally on his own homestead in 'The Field of Reeds’ a place of fertility and everlasting beauty surrounded by canals and fields of wheat and corn.  Everything the king needed for this new life was sealed into the tomb with him, all his favorite possessions, his clothes throne jewels and even general household goods. Clay servants called shabati’s were placed in boxes in the tomb, they magically came to life when the king spoke to them. Their bodies were inscribed with chapter six of The Book of the Dead ‘O shabatis, if the deceased is called upon to do any of the work required there in the necropolis at any time......you shall say 'Here I am.  I will do it' this spell ensured that the king was not expected to do any hard manual work in his afterlife as the shabati’s would do anything that he required them to do for him.

When Belzoni arrived at the burial chamber he found an empty but beautiful translucent calcite sarcophagus, the body of Seti was missing, he had been removed along with all his worldly goods during the 21st dynasty by the priests of Amun, his body was eventually found in a hidden cache by Victor Lloret in the royal cache at Dier El Bahari in 1881. Belzoni was astounded by Seti’s  spectacular astronomical ceiling that was painted dark blue to represents the night sky and the heavens, the star constellations glow from their deep blue radiance. 

Belzoni was so thrilled at finding Seti's tomb, he spent many months recording it, he decided to recreate the tomb using plaster castings of it's walls so that he would be able to show the wonders of the tomb to the public , regrettably these have damaged the original relief's and the paintwork, although his innovative idea and installation art of Seti’s tomb caused an absolute sensation in Europe, and his travels inspired a  generation  of people to travel to this land of ancient Gods and Subterranean tombs.

The Tombs of the Nobles

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 mountainside 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 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 three 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 kneels beside him and stands along side him offering him gifts of Myrrh linen wine 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 waist line.
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.  Osiris had been killed by his wicked brother Seth, who then scattered the pieces of his body all over Egypt. 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.
Standing in the shade a local man approached me with a battered old tin, opening the tin he showed me a selection of amulets he wanted to sell, I told him no, but as persistent as ever he followed me down the hill, magically pulling out various newspaper wrappings from his djellabir,  I continued to express myself negatively and then  he spoke of a fish, I was confused, I didn’t expect him to sell fish as well, I was too far from the river, then from the wrappings of a tatty old newspaper he produced a turquoise ornamental fish,  I told him no, but he thrust it into my face,  and to my surprise I was looking at the beautiful face of a woman, I was confused, it was a fish, no it was a woman, my artistic interest had now been aroused, so I asked his price, bearing in mind a police man earns less than 200LE for a months wages, he told me he wanted 700LE and suggested it was infact an antiquity, I told him if it was genuine he shouldn’t be selling it me and if it wasn’t genuine he was seriously robbing me blind, so I walked away from him, but later that night I wondered if I could find an ornament the same in the bazaar, so I explained to a friend who burst out laughing and he explained how some locals bury ornaments in their gardens for a year or so, then dig them up again so they have the authentic look of an antiquity. Whether the ornament was genuine or not I will ever know, but it was a surreal piece of Egyptian art, my search in the bazaar found similar pieces but nothing as beautiful as that piece. Walking down the hillside from Sennefer’s Tomb I decided I could do with a drink, so I sat on the bamboo seats in the shade admiring the colourful painted walls of Sennefer’s coffee shop, where the journey of the holy trip to Mecca was painted on the walls.  Once refreshed I walked the short distance over to the tomb of Rekhmire who had held the highest position   of Vizier during the reigns of Tuthmosis 111 and his son Amenophis 11. The strange thing is, after all the hard work Rekhmire was never actually buried in this tomb.

The Tomb of Rekhmire

A judge is a straight thinking direct man, and Rekhmire’s Tomb symbolizes this with its sombre reversed T shaped design. The walls detail Rekhmire’s position and responsibilities as a judge, on entering the 66ft long and narrow vestibule I turned to the left to see a court in process with prisoners being brought before the court by the police.

Rekhmire offers advice on the walls of his tomb on the qualities necessary to hold the position of a Judge: ‘Know how to inspire fear and make yourself respected. He who is held in awe is a good judge, but the true function of a judge is to practice justice, if you fear him too much then there must be something wrong with him’ On the installation of a judge he advises; ‘see to those things that can be justly accomplished, do justice to everyman, a judge has a visible face, the water and the wind bear witness to his deeds which none can be aware of’. On the wall opposite the court scene are five rows of interesting paintings of the conquered nations bringing their tributes to Egypt that Rekhmire must record and report to the king, At the top from the lands of punt  their people bring incense trees and baboons, the living animal representing the god of magical words Thoth, beneath them follow the Mediterranean peoples wearing kilts and carrying decorative vases and pots in the shape of animal heads, they bring silver and lapis lazuli,  a little monkey is shown cheekily climbing up the neck of a giraffe as the Kushittes of Africa escort cattle and leopards they carry the large eggs of the Ostrich and the feathers used for the royal fans

Tusks of Ivory are balanced over  their shoulders and in their hands they bring precious stones and gold, the Syrians with their neat pointed black beards all dressed in long white gowns bring a young elephant and brown bear,  carts weapons and magnificent striding white horses. Finally slaves from all nations Following these scenes  across the wall I enter through the doorway directly facing the   door I find myself in a very long and narrow chapel like a hallway or  corridor, the right hand side represents the funeral aspect and events, with beautiful musicians playing their instruments at the funeral feast,  while the opposite wall details the depth of his power and position and the  work he was responsible for as he supervised all the work in the Temple of Amun and its workshops, the  craftsmen are busy making bricks, blowing glass, making gold, and under Rekhmire’s Instructions making a sphinx and cutting a seated colossal statue of  Tuthmosis. As I progress down the narrow chapel the gradient of the ceiling rises to a great height giving the impression of   mountain, Rekhmire had reached the top of the mountain when he became Vizier, he virtually controlled the land when Tuthmosis 111 was on Campaigns, which was for most of his reign as he was a Pharaoh determined to bring other nations under the submission of Egypt with his military force once again. At the end of the chamber looking up to the top of the wall a hole is cut that probably held the statue of Rekhmire where he would sit on his own throne looking down on his achievements in life.

The tomb of Ramose

Leaving Rekhmire’s tomb I walked out into the brightness of sunlight again and then looked for the entrance to the tomb of Ramose that I wanted to visit as my ticket allows me to visit three tombs. I arrived at the top of two wide staircases separated by a central ramp that descends gently into a square rock cut open courtyard capturing the saturating warmth and light of the sun. I walk towards an oblong of beckoning shade that emits from within the tall central door of the tomb leading into the tomb of Ramose who was a Vizier under Amenophis 111 and then later his son Amenhotep 1V who became the pharaoh Akhenaten.
I was totally unprepared for the light and spaciousness of this tomb having just left the dark and somber tomb of Rekhmire. This tomb was so large and bright with a forest of low solid hypostle columns representing bound bundles of papyrus, they expanded across the room from floor to ceiling, some of the columns were damaged and looked like large semi-carved boulders scattered across the floor. My eyes jumped between the columns as I eagerly sought out the reliefs on the surrounding walls; slowly I turned around, finally facing the door again. I was breath taken and stunned with admiration at what I saw. The whole exterior wall had the most beautiful carvings of Ramose and his family that I have ever seen in any tomb. I sat down to hold the vision of this excellent Armana art, and a sense of total calm washed over me as shafts of daylight streamed through windows cut into the ceiling along this exterior wall, bringing the awesome simplicity of  the polished limestone to life.
Ramose was stood at the side of the door, and I gazed at his eternally youthful yet handsome face, with his neat little goatee beard he wore an intricately plaited wig, his body radiating the power and position of a Vizier.  The gold collar of a nobleman surrounded his neck with a small beaded necklace, over these strung a heavily beaded heart necklace. On his upper arms and wrists he wore gold bracelets, to signify his office he wore a loose fitting cloak, and in one hand he carried a staff and in the other a large key.
 Priests made offerings to him, whilst the waters of purification flowed over his head like a sculptured rainbow. On the higher register Ramose is seated while three beautiful musicians shake their sistra to welcome him into the underworld, his wife Ptahmeryt stands behind him affectionately embracing her lord.

On the opposite side of the door Ramose is shown enjoying his funeral banquet with his father and mother, brothers and their wives. This is the most exquisite carving of a group of people I have ever seen within a tomb, the relief’s are life sized which subtly brings the image of this banquet of beautiful people to life, some areas of the wall have been damaged but others as flawless as the day the artist originally created this masterpiece. The smooth polish on the pale limestone carving highlights their cheeks, the only colour used is black within the orbs of their eyes and fine lines that accentuate the kholine around their eyes. The highly detailed and intricate work on the individual wigs is as believable as if a hairdresser had sat there for days meticulously weaving and binding. The gowns worn by the ladies seated behind their husbands subtly express the sheerest folds of fine linen. I was disappointed as I turned to the side wall and observed the difference of the small painted registers showing the traditional funeral procession that had obviously been started on whilst Ramose had been the vizier under the rule of Amenophis 111, imagine how wonderful it would have been to see this whole tomb created in the distinctive classical Armarna style.

On the painted fresco the personal belongings of Ramose are carried into the tomb by porters along with larger objects, including an elegant bed, and four wooden chests. Facing this row a group of women mourners raise their arms wailing with grief as tears stream from their eyes.

 finally the funeral procession arrives the tomb where the opening of the mouth ceremony is given outside the entrance to the tomb, underneath this scene I almost fell down a set of steps that lead to a gloomy entrance, I was told that this travels underneath the inner chamber and leads to the burial chamber that is not open for viewing. Avoiding this gaping shaft, I moved safely across to look at the back internal wall where the walls are carved once again, but without the same classical finesse of the banquet scene, and Ramose is shown standing before the newly installed  pharaoh Amenhotep 1V, who sits under a royal beldachin with the goddess Maat  behind him. Moving across this wall a doorway that leads into a very dark inner chamber that was unfinished and no access is allowed. passing this the final scenes are carved and penciled in and here the new style of art is portrayed, Amenophis 1V has rejected the god of Amun  and converted to his new religion worshiping one god, and he is now shown as Akhenaten with his wife Nefertiti standing behind him on the balcony of the palace beneath the rays of the Aten ,small hands on some of the rays hold the key of life,  the  enemies of this heretic king have mutilated and gouged  the images of Akhenaten and Nefertiti symbolically destroying the possibility of their next life. So much beauty and passion on the edge of turbulence are expressed on the walls of this tomb. Ramose stands beneath the gouged bodies of Akenaten and Nefertiti and he receives a gold collar for his services as vizier yet his image has endured the attack of religious fervor

I looked at the final scenes portrayed,  Ramose is receiving a group of foreign delegations, the craftsmen had sketched  these on the wall ready for the carvers to follow after them , the carvers never came, the tomb was abandoned the work  left unfinished, Akhenaton had decided to move his court to Armarna and Ramose would have followed as his vizier. The exterior wall of this tomb is a breathtaking masterpiece of art, but like Akhenaten what had started in glory ended like the final wall within this tomb, totally devoid of expression, blank, a wall expressing the wilderness of a revolution that had run out of time before its completion like the work portrayed on its walls.