Sennefer was 'Mayor of the Southern City' (Thebes), an important
official during the reign of Amenhotep II in Dynasty XVIII. His tomb,
called by nineteenth century travellers the 'Tomb of the Vineyards',
can be found in the upper enclosure of Sheikh 'Abd el-Qurna, high on
the hillside above Rekhmire's tomb (TT100).
The tomb's name, 'Tomb of the Vineyards' comes from the beautiful
decoration on some of the ceilings which give the impression of
standing under an arbour hung with big bunches of grapes. |
The upper parts of the tomb are used as storage, now inaccessible to
visitors and the modern entrance leads down a steep staircase directly
into an antechamber to the four-pillared burial chamber. Both of these
rooms are decorated, unlike most of the other private tombs of Dynasty
XVIII which had an undecorated burial chamber. The upper chambers
contained funerary representations of harvesting, banqueting and
offering scenes similar to those in other private tombs.
The walls of the underground chambers were covered with a mud plaster
which left the surface uneven, then painted in bright colours which
are extremely well-preserved. In the antechamber Sennefer sits under
his grape-arbour ceiling, while his daughter Mut-tuy, a 'Chantress of
Amun' leads a procession of priests bringing offerings of bread, beef,
torches and linen. Mut-tuy herself offers two necklaces and a heart
amulet to her father. On the right-hand wall another procession of
offering bearers carry the burial goods to the tomb. |
By the door to the burial chamber a lady named Senet-nefert 'beloved
sister (wife) and Chantress of Amun', appears with the deceased and
holds a sistrum and a menat necklace. She is named as the wife of
Sennefer and 'Royal Wetnurse'. There is some confusion over Sennefer's
wives, as the ladies names are Senet-nay in the upper chambers and
Senet-nefert in the antechamber, with other names bearing the element
'Senet….' elsewhere. Only the name of the lady Meryt appears in the
burial chamber. Either the deceased had several wives over a period of
time, or they are variations of the same name, with 'Meryt' used as a
title in the burial chamber, meaning 'beloved'.
The decoration in the short passage to the burial chamber is badly
damaged but above the doorway inside the chamber is a double-scene of
Anubis jackals sitting on top of pylon-shaped shrines on either side
of an altar.
The ceiling of the burial chamber is spectacular in its decoration.
The grape design gives way to a multicoloured carpet of geometric
designs on the uneven surface, giving the impression that the visitor
is standing under an undulating canvas tent. This first impression is
perhaps reinforced by the four square pillars which support the
ceiling.
Looking into the burial chamber, to the left of the doorway Sennefer
is depicted standing, with his wife Meryt - 'beloved sister (wife),
the Chantress of Amun' behind him. Sennefer holds his staff of office,
his wife holds her sistrum and menat and the caption states that they
are 'going forth to see the sun-disc'. Further scenes on this wall
show the couple seated on a loin couch in their festival clothes, with
a text of traditional offering formulae.
The left-hand wall is damaged, but the scenes are those of the funeral
procession, with men and oxen dragging the sarcophagus, shrines,
statues and food to the tomb. The bottom register shows dancers and
mourners taking part in the funeral ceremonies, which include setting
up two obelisks and a depiction of the 'teknu' on a stool. At the end
of the wall Sennefer and Meryt are shown before Osiris and the Goddess
of the West (now almost completely gone).
The rear wall of the burial chamber shows Sennefer and Meryt before an
offering table and three registers of priests offering hes-vases,
censers and torches. Sennefer is playing a board game called 'senet',
which had religious significance. Here also in two registers, charming
scenes of the 'Abydos Pilgrimage' are depicted with the deceased
couple seated in a cabin in their boat during the voyage. This is a
traditional funerary scene in New Kingdom private tombs, as every
Egyptian's wish (either actually or symbolically) was to make the holy
journey to the cult centre of Osiris at Abydos. There they would
participate in the ceremonies of the Resurrection of Osiris which took
place there since ancient times.
The wall on the right-hand side of the chamber shows Sennefer and
Meryt worshipping Osiris and Anubis (as funerary gods) who are seated
in a shrine. The grape motif winds around the tops of the walls and
hangs in vines around the next scene - a collection of funerary texts
from the 'Book of the Dead' (Spell 151) depicted in a large square
frame. The following scene shows Sennefer and his wife being purified
with water from a nemset-jar by a sem-priest wearing a leopard skin.
Sennefer wears a double heart amulet around his neck and holds a
bouquet of stalks and lotus buds. Meryt also holds a bouquet as well
as her sistrum and menat. This purification ritual is the beginning of
the ritual of the 'Opening of the Mouth'.
The wall on the right-hand side of the doorway depicts the deceased
couple seated before an offering table, with their son as a sem-priest
burning incense and offering libations to them. The texts give the
traditional offering formula - '1000 of bread, beer, cattle, fowl, and
all good and pure things to be offered for your Ka'. The texts above
also explain the scene.
The four pillars are decorated on each side with representations of
Sennefer and Meryt mostly in offering scenes which are also part of
the funerary rites. On three sides of each pillar, Meryt is seen
offering flowers, ointments, food, or protective amulets to her
husband. On the fourth side of each pillar the scenes differ, with
portrayals of the Goddess of the Sycamore and representations of parts
of the 'Opening of the Mouth' ritual. |