The Tomb of Rekmire - An Ancient Egyptian Judge & Vizier of Tuthmosis 111

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 Sennefer on the Westbank of Luxor

The Tomb of Sennefer who had held the position of Mayor of the Southern City under the reign of Amenhotep 11 during the 18th Dynasty can be found high on the hill directly facing the Rammessium Mortuary Temple.

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 wife Meryt. 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 back into the blazing sun light beating down.

Ancient Egyptian Festivals

The New Year - The Opet Festival - The Beautiful Feast of the Valley - Harvest Festival -The Festival of the Beautiful Embrace


Ancient Egyptians held many various festivals celebrating the Gods, and the rejuvenation of the Kingship, I have explained a few of these festivals that were  held at Karnack, Luxor The Mortuary Temples on the Westbank of Luxor and Dendera and Edfu Temples. These festivals celebrated the Egyptian New Year when the River Nile flooded, the Harvest Festival, the Opet Festival, the Festival of the Beautiful Embrace.



Luxor temple is not the home of a God, or a Mortuary Temple, it was created  to celebrate a very important festival between the Temples of Karnack and Luxor, this festival was known as The Opet Festival, when the king walked the one and a half miles down the avenue of sphinx that connected the two temples, he was followed by his priests carrying the holy barques of the God Amun, his wife Mut,  and their son Khonsu. Ancient Egyptians lined the route to celebrate with the King his Re-birth, and  the Rejuvenation of Egypt with the flooding of the River Nile.

 Once the holy Barques arrived at Luxor Temple they would hold 14 days of celebrations to celebrate the marriage of Amun to Mut During the symbolic celebrations the King and Egypt were reborn every year. Even today the Egyptians celebrate the Opet festival they all come out into the streets to celebrate and they carry small boats that they have made out of paper and cardboard.

On the walls of Luxor Temple we can see priests bringing bread, and  driving cattle to be slaughtered for the feast. Dancers are shown on the walls behind the columns that join the Festival Hall of Amenhotep 111 to the first courtyard of Ramses the Great.

During the celebrations the king would disappear from the festival and re-emerge seven days later from the birth room, so when I think of Luxor temple I imagine it as a living womb, and when it was time for the birth, the festival and ceremony of the birth was re-enacted with joyous celebrations.

The oldest records for the Opet Festival are recorded on the walls of Hatshepsut's Red Chapel that can now be found in the Open Air Museum in the grounds of Karnack Temple. On the walls the Holy Barque is shown being carried by priests from Karnack Temple down the avenue of sphinx to Luxor Temple to celebrate The Feast of the Opet,



The walls of the Red Barque Chapel also record the Beautiful Feast of the Valley   

This was a festival of the dead and remembrance, where the God Amun was taken from his shrine in Karnack Temple  and put into his holy barque travelling from the East bank which is the side of the rising sun, he journeys across the River Nile to the West bank, the side of the setting sun, the domain of Osiris and the Mortuary Temples of the departed kings. The flotilla of boats that joined Amun on his journey carried  vast quantities of flowers whose perfume were believed to hold the essence of the Gods, on a the walls of the mortuary temples and in the tombs, the Kings are often shown offering the Gods flowers.  During the celebrations of the Beautiful Feast of the Valley Amun's priests delivered flowers to all the Mortuary temples, that were used to hold celebrations during the kings lifetime, and where the priests presented the Ka statue of a deceased king with offerings to satisfy his needs. During the Beautiful Feast of the Valley Egyptians visited the graves of their relations to leave flowers and to pay their respects and revive the deceased's spirit.


Celebrations and Festivals held at Dendera Temple

In the gloomy light as I climbed the staircase onto the roof of Dendera Temple, 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.  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. I arrived on the rooftop to blinding light and  I adjusted my eyes, and then I walked over to the small chapel in the corner, this was where the priests placed Hathor statue 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 after the Goddess Hathor had bathed in the rays of the sun for her renewal, at the setting of the Sun Hathor was then delivered safely back to her sanctuary within the temple..

The Egyptian New Year Festival - The Harvest Festival & The Festival of the Beautiful Embrace celebrations held at Dendera Temple

Coming out into the brightness of the daylight from Dendera Temple onto the temple roof I adjusted my eyes and then I walked over to the small chapel in the corner, with 12 Hathor-headed columns known as the ‘chapel of the disc’. Here the statue of the goddess was brought out on New Year’s morning to be reunited with the sun’s first rays, the solar disc 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.  Hathor bathes in the Radiance of the Sun all day in the Chapel of the Disc, and at the end of this day on the setting of the sun, she was then taken across the roof to the opposite staircase and delivered safely back down the staircase to her sanctuary within the temple

On the exterior walls of Dendera Temple we can see the Gods bringing the fruit, vegetables, wine and livestock to the temple to celebrate the harvest, luckily these reliefs are unspoilt and I recognized the Goddess of the Fields, the beautiful goddess Sekhet, she brings the produce of the land to the temple, she walks 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 that was known as The Festival of The Beautiful Embrace  which celebrated Hathor's marriage to Horus

Once a year after the harvest, the Goddess Hathor’s barque was loaded with the produce of the field 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, more barques joined her flotilla as she left Karnack to continue her journey. Hathors husband, Horus would leave his temple at Edfu and sail downstream with a flotilla of boats, to greet her, and in glorious celebration he would escort his wife to his home at Edfu Temple, to begin 14 days of celebrations where their sacred marriage was enacted once more and their son Ihy was conceived. Each day throughout the waxing moon the same set of cerimonies were performed. It was thought that their son Ihy was conceived on the fourth day.  On the day of the full moon Hathor bid Horus farewell and began her return journey to her own temple at Dendera once more.

The Temples of Ancient Egypt - The Earthly Homes of the Gods & the Mortuary Temples of the Kings

On The East Bank of Egypt where the sun rises every morning, the ancient Egyptians created temples that were considered to be the earthly homes of the Gods, Karnack temple is the earthly home of  the supreme God Amun Ra.

The temples or homes were a symbolic impression of the universe,  a picture that has been created from stone to describe the first moment of creation, the pylons are the East and Western deserts, the gateway portals represent the path that the River Nile would flow though Egypt giving her life each and every day. Gradually the earth rises in the temple as you reach the mound of creation,  the Hypostyle halls that had huge columns portrayed as the lotus plants that came into being,  at dawn the lotus rises symbolically to worship the sun. At the going down of the sun each evening the Lotus plant submerges beneath the waters of the Nile. It encompasses all the forces of nature and lives in the four elements, its roots are bound to the earth, and its stem rises through water, it flourishes in the air and blooms in the sunlight.

Each temple on the East Bank was considered the home of a god,  Karnack is the Home of the God that rose to supreme importance in ancient Egypt, the God Amun Ra the God of the Sun, he is shown wearing a sun disc between his two feathered plumes, and he became the supreme God of the ancient Egyptians, his name means 'The Hidden One', he was thought of as the invisible force of the wind. Ra means Ray of light, because he illuminates everything in shadow, he had the power of creation within him, whatever he named came into existence, he was the life power and source of the universe.

The sun always sets on the Western shore of the River Nile  so this is where the kings built their Mortuary Temples and tombs in the Valley of the Kings and Queens. The Western shore was the Domain of the God Osiris the God of the Underworld

In the mortuary temples the priests presented the Ka statue of the deceased king with offerings to satisfy his needs, Every morning  the statues of the King were washed, dressed, and offered incense, food, flowers wine and prayers .

Mortuary temples were also used also for festivals during the king’s lifetime.  The temples could be considered as books that were written in stone to last for millions of years and to inspire the nation of the king’s courage and deeds in his lifetime, it was believed that if you spoke the words that you read on the walls of the temples or tombs, that the king would be born again and remembered for all time, it works the same way in which we would visit the grave of a loved on with flowers and to remember their memory.

The ancient Egyptians believed that the spirit of a person (the Ka) came into being at birth, and was intimately linked to the physical body during his eternal life after death, (the Ba) when it would require sustenance of food and drink. and so the Kings and Queens and high ranking were mummified before burial, as it was believed that the mummified body was the home to where the soul or spirit (the Ba) would return to after death

The Homes of the Gods and the mortuary temples inspired the belief in their Gods and Kings, fulfilling both the human aspirations and the spiritual needs of the ancient Egyptians, below is the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut at Dier El Bahari on the Western shore of the Nile.



This is the incredible Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut

The Sound & Light Show at Karnack Temple in Luxor

One of the most interesting and dramatic ways to experience Karnack Temple, the earthly home of the God Amun is during the evening when the Sound and Light Show is presented in all different languages.
I stood in the darkness in the midst of a crowd of chattering people, I decided to squeeze my way through towards the guardian sphinx that sat high above us on pedestals leading towards the entrance portal of the first pylon, originally the sphinx traveled a mile and a half to connect with Luxor Temple, but these particular sphinx  had the faces of a ram, a representation of the God Amun., the head then morphed into the body of a lion, the king of the animal world, the giant paws of the lion protectively enclosed the figure of the pharaoh.

The crashing sound of a gong suddenly vibrated across the evening and brought our procession to silence, then the darkness was irradiated by a blaze of light and the pylons glowed before us, trumpets cut through the air announcing the arrival of a regal presence, and then a powerful male voice declared....'You are now at the House of the Father'......more dramatic music....then........'Here the creator was worshiped for over two thousand years', and so the story of Karnack Temple and the Kings and Queens who helped to create it was relayed to us by the voices and iridescent lights of the night.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78iSZj3Y1iE

A video of the Sound & Light Show at Karnack Temple

Ramses the Great - ‘Ra has fashioned him Beloved of Amun.’ - The Battle of Kaddesh

Ramses 11 came to power at the age of 25, his popular title is ‘Ramses the Great,’ but his Pharonic name was ‘Ra has fashioned him Beloved of Amun.’  Ramses reigned for 67 years, and during his long reign he probably erected the most statues temples and obelisks of all the pharaohs, although he was also known to write over previous pharaoh’s inscriptions to embellish his own reign. Some of his most impressive works included the Hypostyle hall at Karnack Temple that he finished after the death of his father Seti 1, and his extension of Luxor temple, he was also responsible for completing one of the most unusual and impressive of all temples at Abu Simbel in Nubia. 

From an early age of ten Ramses was known as  ‘Eldest Kings Son',  he was brought up in the same military tradition as his father and his grandfather Ramses 1 after whom he was named. The mummy of his grandfather Ramses 1 can now be seen in the military wing of Luxor Museum.


Ramses can be seen driving his chariot at the battle of Kaddesh, which started in the 5th year of his rule and is portrayed on the front pylons of Luxor Temple which celebrates Ramses victory. Ramses is shown in Large relief while his enemies are symbolically shown in small relief to inspire his people of their Kings invincible power 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 King's encampment before the battle, his large tent stands in the center surrounded by smaller tents of his troop, cavalry horses and chariots, whilst a lion tamer controls the beast that is anchored to a ring in the ground, the pharoh always took a lion into battle with him, it is a representation of the Goddess Sekhmet, the Goddess of War and Protector of the King. An enemy 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 battle ground, his bow is taught and the arrows ready to fly as his chariot recklessly hurtles into th midst of his enemies, he is alone and completly surrounded by the enemy, he is cut off from his troops, he has compromised himself with his actions, and yet like Sekhmet the raging lion his strength is increased, as he tears into his enemies scattering and maiming them beneath the wheels of his chariot. The Battle of Kaddesh is also portrayed  in Karnack Temple the earthly home of the God Amun, and also in Ramses Mortuary Temple, The Rammessium where  his magnificent plumed horses fearlessly charge across the battle ground, trampling his enemies underfoot. In large relief he becomes the fearsome warrior with his bow drawn, whilst at the side of his chariot his trained panther springs high into the air for the kill, chaos ensues across the battleground and as the scene progresses across the wall his enemies are mercilessly driven into the River Orontes where their helpless bodies drown within the swirl of the tide.

Ramses likes to portray the battle of Kaddesh as his victory, like many men of great power  he preferred his own version of the events to be recorded on his temple walls  to inspire his people of his invincibility, an opposite version of events of the battle of Kaddesh was portrayed by the Hittites, and according to their reports Ramses was lucky to survive the battle, the walls at Karnack temple record that his majesty found himself alone on the battlefield surrounded by the enemy as he had driven his chariot fearlessly into the enemy.  After the battle Ramses recognized the benefit of diplomacy, and he became the first known king to agree a peace treaty, which was drawn up between himself and the Hittite King, where respect and honor was paramount and each king would embrace the other as a brother striking down with a swift justice any person that would break their alliance. To seal the treaty Ramses also married a Hittite princess while his wife Nefertari also continued to strengthen the alliance by exchanging friendly letters to the Hittite queen herself.

In the large first courtyard of Karnack Temple, the earthly home of the God Amun Ra stands an enourmous statue of Ramses with his daughter Bintaha who later became his wife after the death of her mother Nefertari. Ramses ruled for 67 years and had over 100 children!

Akhenaten and the worship of the Aten

Akhenaton had been a pharaoh like no other, his whole concept of life and spirituality was on a completely different level from any other king that has ever ruled Ancient Egypt, he believed in one god two thousand years before the birth of Jesus Christ, and so I wanted to look on the form of Egypt’s most unusual and revolutionary pharaoh.

During his childhood Akhenaten was known as Amenhotep, he was never included in any festivals or ceremonies along with his family, he was a hidden child, excluded from the royal circle, rejected, possibly because of obvious signs of an illness that royalty would not accept, his mother Queen Tiy showered him with her love regardless of the reason for his exclusion. His older brother Tuthmosis was the heir to the throne, but when he died suddenly, a new heir was needed and Amenophis was finally exposed to the people as the new successor to the throne he became a pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty, who ruled for 17 years, he was the father of Tutankhamen

Standing beneath his statue in Luxor Museum I was drawn by the hypnotic stare from  his elongated Asian eyes that viewed me from above, he was a metamorphis of a man, his  face was long with unusually broad cheekbones and a high forehead, a strong masculine jaw  fought against the supremacy of his wide and sensuous mouth that pouted somewhat, I felt that he would have known my innermost thoughts in life, I was un- nerved by his steadfast probe of my soul, never had a pharaoh been portrayed in such an unusual  manner before, his deep sensuous lips reminded me of the African race, his long face with highly pronounced cheek bones suggested European and his eyes suggested Asian, his face was a confusion and seemed to portray a man  possessing the features from all the four corners of the earth within one race, his athletic  arms and long slender fingers grasped the crook and flail firmly, symbolisms of his royal authority as the Shepard of his people, his body form radiates no impression of the raw brutality strength or power from  within his body that previous pharaohs had amplified, he was an enigma, a man whose body portrayed both male and female characteristics with his sweeping wide female child bearing hips. Akenaten's  mind held the key to his power and his strength, the wealth of his position and centuries of belief that the pharaoh was a living god fueled his defiance of the priests of Amun to eradicate their powers and install  his chosen God the Aten to rule supreme, like a despot he blindly pursued his belief and forced his will over others, but his will  was only as strong as his own mortal life and his beliefs and suppression of the priests of Amun, ended with his mortal  life, and Egypt returned to the religion worshiping Amun and all the ancient Gods once more

In the fifth year of his reign, the king arrived at the site of his new city Akhetaten (now known as Amarna). A month before this Amenhotep IV had officially changed his name to Akhenaten
After his death his religion the sanctuary he had created in the desert at Akhetaten was abandoned by his people,  the lonely life he had lead as a child, and his vision of one god, the Aten was rejected, he had brought Egypt to the brink of economic disaster with his non violent policy, and his life of seclusion, his only interests in life had been the love of his wife Nefertiti his children and the worship of the Aten. Regardless of his faults   I admired him for his determination to stand up for his own beliefs and for the obvious love of his wife and daughters; he had tried to create a haven of peace within a country that needed the wars and suppression of its neighbors to survive.

Akhenaten was a rare pharaoh indeed and was not afraid to be shown in the tender embrace of his family something that no other pharaoh has ever been portrayed for, a man of the family, a child that had begun life as an outcast he blindly soared to the heights to live his dreams. Sadly his dream had broken him; he tried to change too much too soon. I sat and stared at his face for a long time, was this really him? Had he been as honest in his strange portrayal as he had been as open in is love for his wife and daughters? I sat and reflected for a long while, and then I left with the memory of his unusual face in my mind, as nothing else in Luxor museum could compare to this enigma of a pharaoh.