Horemheb - The Commoner and General who became a King - the Conflict of Akhenaten & Horemheb

Horemheb was the commander in chief of the army under the reigns of Tutankhamun and Ay, and  even though he was a commoner, he became the final pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty.

Horemheb had begun his military career during the chaotic reign of Akhenaten, when ascended to the throne his name was Amenhotep IV, In the fifth year of his reign Akhenaten abruptly changed his observance from the cult of Amun to that of Aten, he closed all the temples, the ancient Egyptian Gods 'earthly homes' and he insisted that there was only one God, the Aten.  Akhenaten ignored developments beyond Egypt’s borders and even most events outside of his palace at Akhetaten, he brought Egypt to the verge of chaos and used most of its wealth to fulfil his own dreams

After his death, it was declared that Akhenaten was a heretic pharoah, his son Tutenhaten changed his name to Tutenkhamun and became pharoah.  Because of Tutenkhamuns young age,  he was nine years old when he ascended to the throne, he was guided by both Ay and Horemheb. It is thought that Tutankhamun even intended for Horemheb to be the sovereign because he made him the 'Hereditary Crown Prince'  before his death.

Horemheb eventually took the throne after Ay’s death, he became the king after a military coup, his throne name, Djeserkheperure Setepenre, means "Holy are the Manifestations of Re, showing his support of the God Amun. Once Horemheb became king,  he recommenced rebuilding the earthly home of the major God, Amun Ra (at Karnack Temple) that had been desecrated during Akhenaton’s revolution. The image below is actually an image of Tutenkhamun, but Horemheb has erased Tutenkhamuns name and replaced it with his own, also it is interesting to notice that the image has the look of Armarna art, not traditional Ancient Egyptian art.

To strengthen his rise to pharaoh Horemheb married a songstress of Amun, the lady named Mutnodjmet, who was the sister of Akhenatens beautiful wife Nefertiti. Mutnodjmet was Horemhebs second wife, but  she sadly died in child birth. 

After his accession to the throne it was  considered that Horemheb was the  ruler who brought stability back to  Ancient Egypt after the turmoil of Akhenatens reign, who had abolished the worship of Amun Ra and all the major gods, closing the temples in favour of worshipping one God, the Aten, and creation of a new capitol by Akhenaten known at Akhetaten  during the Armarna Period, which saw many changes including the art work of the temples and tombs

During the Amenhoteps  reign he changed his name to Akhenaten, and to express his devotion to the Aten, and he created a temple outside the  boundaries of the Precinct of Amon-Re, Karnack Temple to its east. This temple in the complex was named Gempaaten, which means 'The Sun Disc is Found in the Estate of the God Aten'  Very little of Akhenatens buildings remain; they were built quickly, using Talatat blocks, and could therefore easily be demolished . There is a wall of Akhenatens Talatat on display in Luxor Museum. Once Horemheb became Pharaoh he demolished all the monuments created by Akhenaten, which would deny Akhenaten an eternal afterlife, and he used the rubble in his own building projects, and he also usurped monuments of Tutankhamun and Ay.  Horemheb  built two  pylons in the precincts of Karnack temple, the ninth and tenth pylon, and  a gateway for himself. Amenhotep III who was the father of Akhenaten, and grandfather of Tutankhamun originally began the construction on the tenth pylon, but only the lowest courses were completed before his death. Amenhotep 111 was considered to be a great King, unlike his son Akhenaten.  In an effort to erase the memory of Akhenaten’s heresy, Horemheb took down Akhenaten’s temple, and filled his ninth pylon with the blocks of Akhenaten's temple. The pylon towers depict Horemheb in the classic Egyptian style, with Horemheb symbolically much larger than the enemies that he is 'smiting' To express that the King is powerful and has cast down his enemies.  The walls of the court were inscribed with scenes showing Horemheb making the journey to the exotic foreign land called Punt and returning with fabulous treasures.

It was during the reign of Horemheb that the first attempts were made to eradicate Akhenaten out of Egyptian history, Horemheb began repairing the temples of Amun, as well as restoring its priesthood. however, realizing the problems that this powerful priesthood caused for previous kings, he chose military men who's loyalties he could trust to be appointed as priests. Horemheb also usurped all of Tutankhamen’s monuments. Every monument that Tutankhamen had been advised to erect, Horemheb erased the name of Tutankhamun and replaced with his own name. 

When Horemheb died without an heir, he choose his faithful comrade-in-arms, Pa-Ramessu to rule, Pa-Ramessu became known as Ramses 1, he was the father of Seti 1 and Grandfather of Ramses the Great. Rameses 1 mummy can be seen in the Military wing of Luxor Museum.

Horemheb had two tombs, the one he commissioned for himself when he was a General at Saqqara, and when he became king he had another tomb (KV 57)  created in the Valley of the Kings, which was unfinished by the time of his death. The entrance to the tomb was discovered by Davis and his co-worker Edward R. Ayrton on the 25th February 1908. 

The decoration of the tomb, which used  raised relief work on a base of blue paint, is of a high quality. On its discovery, by Davis, the tomb was found to still contain several items of interest. These included a red granite sarcophagus and a calcite canopic chest, the mummy of Horemheb has never been found

A Special Celebration held for Ramses the Great at Luxor Temple

 On 18th April 2019 a very special celebration took place during the evening at Luxor Temple, an amazing Osirid statue of Ramses the Great standing 36ft high was unveiled and it stands beneath the left front pylon of the temple, the statue had been found broken and  in 57 pieces in 1958. 

The Horus, Mighty Bull, Exalter of Thebes, Favorite of the Two Goddess, establishing monuments for his father Amun who placed him on the Throne, Golden Horus seeking excellent things for him who fashioned him King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Usamatre, Chosen of Re, has been reborn.

 

In ancient Egypt, it was believed that if the name of the pharaoh was spoken again he would be reborn, so Ramses stands regally as the God Osiris, a primeval king of Egypt who became the Judge of the Underworld after he had been murdered by his jealous brother Set, and brought back to life again by his wife the Goddess Isis, who had travelled all over Egypt to find the parts of his body that Set had dismembered

Like the God Osiris, Ramses holds the crook and flail which signified the pharaonic authority. The shepherd's crook stood for kingship and symbolically expressed that the King was the Shepherd of his people, the flail was for the fertility of the land. Osiris had ruled Egypt, having inherited the kingship from his ancestors in a lineage stretching back to the creator of the world.  Ramses chose to be portrayed as Osiris who is connected with life-giving power, righteous kingship, and the rule of Maat, which represented ancient Egyptian concepts of truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality, and justice

The main pylons of Luxor temple celebrate Ramses and his victory over the Hittites at the battle of Kaddesh which took place during the fifth year of the king’s reign. Ramses is shown in large relief whilst his enemies are represented in small scale to inspire his people of their Kings unquestionable supremacy and invincible strength against all the enemies of Egypt.  In faint relief on the right side of the pylon, is a depiction of the kings encampment before the battle is shown, his large tent stands in the center surrounded by the smaller tents of his troop, cavalry horses and chariots wait, whilst a lion trainer controls the beast that is anchored to a ring in the ground, a man is being beaten for information in the top corner of the encampment whilst soldiers continue with their normal chores and duties. On the highest level of the left pylon, Ramses charges fearlessly across the battleground, his bow is taught and the arrows ready to fly as his chariot recklessly hurtles in to the midst of his enemies, he is alone and completely surrounded cut off from his troops, he had compromised himself with his actions, and yet like the raging lion Sekhmet his strength is increased as he tears into the enemies scattering and maiming them beneath the wheels of his chariot.

Ramesses had 200 wives and concubines, 96 sons and 60 daughters, he ruled for over 67 years, his favorite wife was Nefertari who can be seen at the side of his leg as he is sat on the throne of two lands each side of the entrance into Luxor temple, to express his love for his Queen, Ramses had a beautiful tomb created for Nefertari in the Valley of the Queens, and among his many accomplishments, Ramses also created a temple at Abu Simbel for himself and a smaller one dedicated to Nefertari.. 

Ramses body had been removed from his tomb in the Valley of the Kings with about fifty other members of royalty, and he was hidden in a poor undecorated tomb DB320 by priests in the 23rd Dynasty who probably emptied the tombs in the Valley of the Kings for the wealth inside them, after the death of Ramses 111 during the 20th dynasty Egypt had gone into decline, and priests ruled the country not Kings. 

During the summer of 1871  Ramses mummy was found by a tomb robber named Ahmed Abd el Rassul,  Ahmed climbed down a thirty foot shaft, once inside the tomb he realized he had found a great collection of mummies, so he retrieved his goat that had fell down the shaft, and went in search of his brothers to tell them of his discovery, together the brothers decided that they needed a plan to  keep people away from the tomb and protect their discovery ensuring their wealth to come. They returned to the tomb and threw a dead donkey inside the shaft, the stench of the donkey as it decayed would erase any further curiosity from others, and possibly convincing any suspicious minds that a demon had woken in the tomb. Over the next ten years the tomb robbers prospered with their treasure trove that gradually made its way to the hands of collectors and auction houses. Eventually The Antiquities service realized that a tomb must have been found, and so Sir Gaston Maspero sent one of the museum staff Emile Brugsch to discover where the artifacts were coming from. Emile presented himself as a wealthy buyer which gained the trust of the traders, and finally led him to the Abd Rassul Brothers. The brothers were arrested and tortured and despite a severe beating on the soles of the feet they would not give their discovery away, eventually after a month they were released, but then the police harassed their family and the villagers at Quarna continuously until eventually one of the brothers confessed to the police where the tomb was to avoid any further harassment of themselves or the rest of the villagers.

After 3,000 years of seclusion the Royal mummies left the tomb DB320 near the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut at Dier El Bahari  and were carried by donkeys and mules to the banks of the Nile where they were transported to Cairo. Women came to the riverbank and wailed in mourning for the deceased kings and their kin. Never in the history of any nation has there been such an awesome entourage of deceased royalty, the glory of Ancient Egypt rose again as their pharaohs traveled to safety in Cairo, their final resting place, where modern scientists now continue the work of some of the ancient priests to protect and preserve the mummies of their kings.

The Tomb of Nakht the Scribe and Astronomer of Amun - Hieroglyphics explained

In the burial chamber of Nakht the Scribe and Astronomer of Amun during the 18th Dynasty  a statue of Nakht holding a stela with the ‘Hymn to Re, was packaged for transportation to America, unfortunately the statue  was lost at sea in 1915 during the first world war when the ship was torpedoed by a U Boat,  so only copies of  the statue remain today.

The tombs of the Nobles are unique and a joy to visit as they each offer a glimpse into the lifestyle of the Official or Noblemen. TT52 is the tomb of Nakht who was a scribe, holding the title, 'Astronomer of Amun' at the Karnak temple during the 18th dynasty. His job was to study the location of stars, the sun and moon in order to schedule festivals and cult rituals for the temple. His wife, Tawy, was a musician of Amun, and in the reliefs she is referred to as 'His sister, his beloved, the Chantress of [Amon], Tawy. 'Mistress of the House', 'His sister, his beloved, with a place in his heart'

The tomb of Nakht is a very small tomb,  you can only comfortably get four people inside, This tomb is not large, and consists of a small corridor, a vestibule, another short corridor and the chapel, which includes a niche for a statue and a shaft, the tomb has some of the most beautiful and famous reliefs of all Ancient Egyptian tombs.  A naked maidservant is shown helping three ladies to prepare themselves for the banquet, the female figures, are young, sensual and sophisticated. Their rounded proportions are revealed through the plaits of their hair and translucent dresses, they have beautiful almond eyes. A blind harpist sits with his legs crossed before the festivities. One of the most famous pictures from any Egyptian tomb is in the centre of the banquet scene where a group of three female musicians entertain the guests with flute, lute and harp, it is a delightful scene 

The relief's show a farmer ploughing the fields with oxen, and many rural activities, including the cultivation of grain, digging of small canals for irrigation, harvesting, hunting, fishing and gathering grapes, while others press them to make wine,  flocks of birds rising and being dragged into a net, plucking and cleaning the birds. Nakht is portrayed with his wife and two small sons in a papyrus boat, grasping a hunting stick. 

There is a false door that is painted to look like pink granite, with four registers of offering bringers at the sides and a sub-scene of Nut as a tree-goddess gathering offerings. The ancient Egyptians believed that the dead could pass through the false door and inhabit statues in order to receive funerary offerings. This idea is reinforced on the door by six offering bearers who, while kneeling, offer water, beer, wine, clothing, unguent, fruit and vegetables. Turning the corner once again, we find bearers of the purification of offerings and priests before Nakht and his wife. 

Nakht's Tomb is located on the hillside of Abd el-Qurna, where the infamous tomb robber Ahmed Rassoul and his brothers lived who found a tomb with over fifty members of royalty that had been taken from their own tombs in the Valley of the Kings, this village was known as the village of the tomb robbers. The tomb was discovered by the villagers prior to being cleared by the Antiquities Service in 1889. In 1917, the English Artists, illustrators, and Egyptologists, Norman de Garis Davies and his wife Nina, published information on the tomb which received worldwide attention.

My daughter Kirsty used to work for Thomas Cook, and one Christmas as a surprise she bought me what turned out to be one of my favorite books 'The Nile - Notes for Travelers in Egypt, written by  E.A.Wallis Budge, who was an English Egyptologist, and Orientalist who worked for the British Museum and who wrote many books, including 'The Nile - Notes for Travelers, was written in 1895, and obviously there have been found many inaccuracies, but Wallis visited the tomb of Nakht, and deciphered a few of the registers, so I thought that you might like to read his interpretation of the hieroglyphics

Nina De Garis Davis - A wonderful Egyptologist Artist who brought the tomb paintings to life once more

In 1906 the Artist and illustrator Nina Macpherson Cummings decided to visit some friends in Alexandria in Egypt, which sparked in her an interest in Ancient Egypt and its monuments.  Whilst in Egypt she met Norman de Garis Davies. They became engaged, and were married in England in 1907 and then they immediately departed for Egypt where Norman had been  offered employment as the head of the graphic section of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new expedition to Egypt.

Although Nina was unemployed when they arrived in Egypt she began painting to assist her husband Norman in his work, whilst living in Luxor they met Alan Gardiner, a really interesting Character who is known as 'the Father of British Egyptology' who lived in a tomb on the West Bank of Luxor. Sir Alan had taken a walk over to the Valley of the Kings one day,  and started the numerical record giving each of the known tombs at that time their own number, this is still in use today. Alan Gardiner wrote 'The Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians'. 

Working from  Luxor Nina and her husband Norman used their amazing artistic skills and polychromy (the art of painting in several colours, especially as applied to ancient pottery, sculpture, and architecture) to recreate tomb reliefs, using a technique that nearly replicated the exact brushstroke and colors of the tombs in the Valley of Kings and Queens, Dier El Medina, the Actual Artists tombs, and the tombs of the Nobles. Their copies reflected the actual scene, including any damage that may have been sustained over time or as the result of vandalism. In a some cases, the drawings were rendered to look like they would have when created several thousand years ago.

 All the tombs in the Valley of the Kings  show the kings in the companionship of the Gods, unlike the tombs of the Nobles that actually showed the nobles enjoying their life in paradise, or their earthly work, many of the nobles were Viziers, which held the responsibility of ruling the country if the king was away on campaign. The Nobles tombs are vibrant, and each tomb tells a different story which is interesting

Nina was offered work for the Metropolitan Museum, and after seeing her art work Sir Alan Gardiner Wilkinson also employed her, so she spent half of her time making drawings for the Metropolitan Museum and spent an equal amount of time replicating the tomb paintings for Alan Gardiner who came to an arrangement with Nina that he would acquire as much of her painting as he could afford. He collected her work until 1929

Nina painted this relief in the lovely little Tomb of Nakht TT52 on the hillside of Shiek Abd Qurna on the West bank. Nakht was an Astronomer of Amun during the reign of Tuthmose 1V in the 18th Dynasty

At the beginning of the twentieth century, it was normal for paintings in Egypt to be made using water colours, which produce a rather flat finish, Norman and Nina chose Theban Tomb 45 as a testing ground for experiments in colour copying. One of their first assistants, Francis Unwin,  suggested the use of tempera, specifically egg tempera. The opaque result of this was much more satisfactory, and this technique became the basic method.

The tomb that they chose for their trial work was TT45, one of the Nobles tombs located in Sheikh Abd el-Qurna,  on the west bank of the Nile, opposite modern Luxor. It is a very unusual tomb as It was originally the burial place of the ancient Egyptian named Djehuty (Thoth), who was a scribe of the offering-table of Mery, high-priest of Amun, head of all the weavers of Amun, and steward of Mery, high priest of Amun, during the reign of Amenhotep 11 of the 18th Dynasty, The tomb was reused several hundred years later, in the Ramesside Period, by a man named Djehutyemheb (Thothemheb). He was head of the makers of fine linen of the temple of Amun. Djehutyemheb was the son of the head of the weavers named Wennefer and his wife Isis. Djehutyemheb's wife was named Bak-Khonsu. She was a songstress of Amun.

Norman died in his sleep of heart failure on 5 November 1941, at the age of 76. This event, and the Second World War, drew the work of the Davis's to closure in Luxor. On her return to England to take her mind off her bereavement, she immediately set herself to sorting out the mass of material left over from their years of working in Egypt. Meeting and marrying Norman offered Nina a rewarding life that was enhanced with her creative talents, she was a quiet shy lady who was happy to paint and support her husband, and together they embraced and enhanced the art of Ancient Egypt. Nina died in 1965.