Sennedjem lived in Deir el-Medina, the village of the artisans, during
the Dynasty XIX reigns of Seti I and Rameses II. He was one of the
necropolis workers and his title was 'Servant in the Place of Truth'.
This tomb was discovered intact in 1886. The burial chamber contained
20 mummies, 9 of them in coffins belonging to the deceased and members
of his family, along with a rich hoard of funerary equipment, now in
Cairo Museum and other museums.
Like many of the private tombs the paintings are simply executed, but
remarkable for their colours and interesting scenes. The decoration in
the burial chamber is on a yellow ochre background and is extremely
well-preserved.
The entrance to Sennedjem's tomb is above the workmen's village at
Deir el-Medina. A very steep staircase leads to a small entrance
chamber which originally had a decorated wooden door, now in Cairo
Museum. In the short passage leading to the vaulted burial chamber
Sennedjem is depicted worshipping the god Atum on the lintel, while on
the right-hand side the solar cat slays the Apophis serpent. On the
left side of the doorway are two lions facing the hieroglyph for
'horizon' (symbolising yesterday and today) and on the inner lintel
the deceased is seen adoring the horizon disc held up by the goddess
Nut.
To the left of the entrance (the southern wall of the burial chamber)
Sennedjem is seen lying mummified on his lion couch tended by Isis and
Nephthys as kites. His sons and other relatives are shown in the
register below with a sem-priest named as Ramo, offering to the
deceased and his wife Iy-neferti. They are dressed in their finest
clothes and have perfume cones on their heads.
On the western wall (moving in a clockwise direction) the top register
below the vaulted ceiling are two Anubis jackals, guardians of the
Netherworld gates, on shrines facing each other. Below, Sennedjem is
with his wife Iy-neferti worshipping 11 gods of the Netherworld in two
rows, led by Osiris and Re-Horakhty. Between the rows of deities is a
text from the 'Book of the Dead' (Spell 190).
The first scene on the northern wall shows the deceased again
mummified and lying on his funerary couch being attended to by a
priest wearing the mask of Anubis with an accompanying text from the
'Book of the Dead' (Spell 1). The next scene depicts Sennedjem
kneeling before a mummiform Osiris, who stands on the hieroglyph for 'ma'at',
wears an atef crown and holds his sceptre and flail. The god is inside
a shrine with an 'imiut' fetish (representing renewal) on either side
of him. The third scene on the northern wall shows Sennedjem being led
by Anubis who holds his hand, to Osiris. Above this is a little cameo
of Sennedjem and Iy-neferti receiving offerings from Nut as a
tree-goddess.
The most famous picture from the tomb of Sennedjem is on the eastern
wall, which depicts in great detail the expected afterlife of the
deceased and his wife in the Fields of Iaru. Here the deceased couple
share a happy life sowing, ploughing and reaping an abundant harvest
of grain and fruit, surrounded by the eternal waters of the Nile. In
the register above, Sennedjem and Iy-neferti kneel before the gods Re-Horakhty,
Osiris, Ptah and other deities, followed by a small son in a boat and
another son performing the 'Opening of the Mouth Ritual'. The register
at the top of this wall shows two baboons worshipping the barque of Re
during its morning journey.
The final scene in the tomb on the southern (entrance) wall shows the
deceased and his wife worshiping 10 guardians of the Gates of the
Netherworld, each crouching on a ma'at symbol and holding knives, with
texts naming the gates and the guardians. The register below again
portrays relatives of the deceased couple bringing bouquets and
offerings and each one is named in the text.
Even the ceiling is brightly painted, with scenes and texts of the
deceased worshipping different divinities. The whole tomb portrays in
a very lively and colourful way, traditional funerary scenes from 'The
Book of the Dead' and represents Sennedjem's journey to the
Netherworld and his life afterwards. |
