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Horemheb and His Contemporaries
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Just south of the Unas Pyramid, the tomb of Horemheb, general under Tutankhamen at the end of Dynasty 18 was revealed ias late as 1975. Close to it by a few meters, the tomb of Maya, the treasurer of Tutankhamen and his wife Meryt was found. In front of this one, the tomb of Ramose, also contemporary with Horemheb and a high dignitary, was buried. Between the toms of Maya and Horemheb, is the tomb of Tia and Tia, which were not contemporary but lived only a generation or so later.  Horemheb This tomb is made as a small pyramid built of brick and covered with limestone slabs. During its construction many mastabas from the 5th and 6th Dynasties were demolished and the building material was reused for the tomb of Horemheb. Even the Djoser Complex was utilized in this way. The main layout is like a mortuary temple with two courtyards. Here is first a forecourt with a pylon which is more than 7 meter high, through which you enter into a colonnaded courtyard.
 The court. Photo: www.egyptarchive.co.uk The wall decorations here are mostly gone but a few scenes remains to be seen and some are nowadays restored. One of them is a lively depiction of daily life in a military camp, full of details. Some of the pictures are only scetches and were never hewn out in relief. Also unfinished statues were found. Maybe the work stopped when Horemheb ascended the throne after the death of Ay who only reigned a few years after Tutankhamun. From this court a shaft leads down into the burial chamber, 28 meters below. This is a vast system of chambers and shafts, which in the end was only used for Horemheb´s wifes. The first one we don´t have a name for, it might be Amenia but the second one is MutNodjmet. Next is a big square room for the statue and two side rooms for storage. Here are statues of Horemheb and Yinepu. The statue room was built in brick and the walls were painted white. During the time of Ramesses II, this room was used as a cult room for the deified Horemheb as he was considered the founder of the Ramesside dynasty. Horemheb had no son of his own, but he decided that he would be succeeded by a highranking military by name of Paramessu. This Paramessu changed his name to Ramesses I and became the founder of the 19th Dynasty. After the statue room you come to the second courtyard, although somewhat smaller but with columns like the ones in the outer court. Here are relifes preserved at least up to a height of 2.25 meters. Many of the reliefs depict a triumfatory Horemheb, bringing rows of prisoners - asiatic, libyans, nubians - before Tutankhamun. These are reliefs with a high level of artistry, with a composition which is quite dramatic and realistic, and masterly executed in both raised and sunk relief. Besides the military scenes, there are scenes depicting the burial ritual, complete with offerings, butchering of bulls and professional weepers. Some regards the reliefs as being influenced of the Amarna art, here we see draped garments, wigs changing, and finely furnished rooms At the western end of the second courtyard you enter into the offering room which was the central place for the cult of Horemheb, with two chapels on either side. On the roof of this chamber was originally a pyramidion but it is now lost. The reliefs in this tomb have provided egyptologists with great amounts of information on the period, especially the military doings of Horemheb. The tomb is very well restored but is generally not open for visitors.
 Statues of Maya and Merit. Photo copyright Uniersity of Leiden This tomb was not discovered until 1987, though two sitting statues, more than lifesize, of Maya and his wife Meryt had been in the Rijksmuseum van Ouden in Leiden since 1828 withthe Anastasi collection. This led to the museum starting excavations on the site in 1975. It is situated only a few meters from Horemheb´s tomb and is constructed in the same manner. Maya was Overseer of the Treasury and Overseer of Works during the reign of Tutankhamun, and was responsible for his burial. This means also that it was Maya who helped to restore the worship of Amun after the short rule of the heretic AkhenAten. He also had new statues made for the many shrines around Egypt and was active at the same time as Horemheb who gave him the responsibility to oversee his building projects at Karnak. He died around year 9 of Horemheb’s reign, his wife Meryt had predeceased him. They had two daughters and no son, so the funeral was led by Maya’s half-brother Nahuher. The tomb is located east-west and you enter through a broad pylon where there are big reliefs of Maya on either side. Inside is a first court with columns. The ground is of brick and there are only columns, formed as bunches of papyrus, on the west side. Then comes a room for statues, which leads to the second court of coulmns, here they run around the court. At the western end of the structure, is the main cult room with a chapel on either side. Here no reliefs have survived. Most of the reliefs have been destroyed, both by ancient tomb robbers and by modern (19th century)stone hunters, blocks from the inner courtyard were used at the Monstery of Jeremiah. The few reliefs which remain are mostly of religious character. There are funeral processions and worship of HetHert in her cow aspect. But there is also the story of Maya´s career,like a well preserved depiction of offering bearers. The subterranean level with the tomb chambers had however all their decorations there but damaged. It shows the couple Maya and Merit worswhipping the gods.
The Tomb of Ramose Ramose is mentioned in the tomb of Horemheb, depicted behind his chair. Possibly he was an assistant of Horemheb. His funeral rites were performed by his brother Tjay, so it´s likely that Ramose had no sons. There are speculations about his origin but nothing is clear.
The Tomb of Tia and Tia  The pyramid tomb of the Tia´s. In the background the Step Pyramid of Djoser. Photo: www.egyptarchive.co.uk There are several other New Kingdom tombs found in the area. They will be covered in another article.
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~ Table of Contents ~
Early Claim
Thessalonike The Tragic Queen Icelandic History The Althingi Odin's lament A FATEFUL CHARIOT RACE: The STORY of PELOPS and OENOMAUS Mastabas in the Vicinity of Unas Pyramid Pepi II - an Unusually Long Reign The Unas Pyramid and Surroundings. The Last Royal Tombs of the Old Kingdom The Step Pyramid of Djoser, Saqqara Northern Saqqara - The Pyramids of Teti and Queens Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep - Royal Manicurists and Prophets of Re. Benu of Iunu - The Prototype Phoenix Northern Saqqara - The Mastaba of Mereruka, His Wife & Son Northern Saqqara - The Mastaba of Kagemni Northern Saqqara III: The Tomb of Ankhmahor Northern Saqqara IV: The Tomb of Akhethotep & Ptahotep Northern Saqqara V: The Mastaba of Ti Northern Saqqara VI: Early Dynastic & 3rd Dynastic Tombs Northern Saqqara VII: The Serapeum History of Devon Styles of Houses in Ancient Egypt I Styles of House in Ancient Egypt II Styles of Houses in Ancient Egypt III Northern Saqqara VII: Other Animal Burials Calendar of Festivals of Aset Aset Through History Places of Worship Aset in the Ancient Texts Lady of Philae, Lady of Abaton An Aretalogy of Aset Aset in Festival |
